Leviticus 25:48

48 after he is sold he may be redeemed again. One of his brothers may redeem him;

Leviticus 25:48 Meaning and Commentary

Leviticus 25:48

After that he is sold he may be redeemed again
Though an Heathen, sold to an Israelite, was to be a bondman for ever, and could not be released by the year of jubilee, yet an Israelite sold to an Heathen might be redeemed before, and if not, he was freed then. The Jewish writers understand this of an obligation upon the man, or his friends, or the congregation, to redeem him, and that immediately, as the Targum of Jonathan, and Jarchi, because of the danger he was in by being in the family of an idolater, lest he be polluted F3, that is, with idolatry; or be swallowed up among the Heathens, as Maimonides {d}; but it is plain from ( Leviticus 25:54 ) , that there was no obligation for an immediate redemption; nor was the person sold in such danger as suggested, since the sojourner, to whom he is supposed to be sold, was no idolater, whether a proselyte either of righteousness, or of the gate one of his brethren may redeem him;
which may be taken in a strict and proper sense, for any of his brethren who were in circumstances sufficient to redeem him, or for any near akin to him, as the following words seem to explain it. No mention is made of his father: the reason of which Abarbinel F5 says, because it cannot be thought that a father would suffer his son to be sold, if it was in his power to redeem him, since a father is pitiful to his son.


FOOTNOTES:

F3 Pesikta apud Drusium in loc.
F4 Hilchot Abadim, c. 2. sect. 7.
F5 Apud Muis. Varia Sacra, p. 373.

Leviticus 25:48 In-Context

46 And you may take them as an inheritance for your children after you, to inherit them as a possession; they shall be your permanent slaves. But regarding your brethren, the children of Israel, you shall not rule over one another with rigor.
47 'Now if a sojourner or stranger close to you becomes rich, and one of your brethren who dwells by him becomes poor, and sells himself to the stranger or sojourner close to you, or to a member of the stranger's family,
48 after he is sold he may be redeemed again. One of his brothers may redeem him;
49 or his uncle or his uncle's son may redeem him; or anyone who is near of kin to him in his family may redeem him; or if he is able he may redeem himself.
50 Thus he shall reckon with him who bought him: The price of his release shall be according to the number of years, from the year that he was sold to him until the Year of Jubilee; it shall be according to the time of a hired servant for him.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.