Leviticus 25:45

45 And of the strangers that sojourn among you, or that were born of them in your land. These you shall have for servants:

Leviticus 25:45 Meaning and Commentary

Leviticus 25:45

Moreover, of the children of the strangers, that do sojourn
among you
The uncircumcised sojourners as they are called in the Targums of Onkelos and Jonathan, proselytes of the gate, such of the nations round about who came and sojourned among them, being subject to the precepts given to the sons of Noah respecting idolatry but were not circumcised, and did not embrace the Jewish religion: of them shall ye buy;
for bondmen and bondmaids: and of their families that [are] with you, which they begat in your
land;
but, as the Targum of Jonathan adds, are not of the Canaanites; though the Jewish writers F24 say, that one of the nations that lies with a Canaanitish woman, and begets a son of her, he may be bought for a servant; and so if a Canaanitish man lies with one of the nations, and begets a son of her, he may also be bought for a servant: and they shall be your possession;
as servants, as bondmen and bondmaids, and be so for ever to them and their heirs, as follows.


FOOTNOTES:

F24 Torat Cohanim apud Yalkut, par. 1. fol. 195. 1.

Leviticus 25:45 In-Context

43 Afflict him not by might: but fear thy God.
44 Let your bondmen, and your bondwomen, be of the nations that are round about you:
45 And of the strangers that sojourn among you, or that were born of them in your land. These you shall have for servants:
46 And by right of inheritance shall leave them to your posterity, and shall possess them for ever. But oppress not your brethren the children of Israel by might.
47 If the hand of a stranger or a sojourner grow strong among you, and thy brother being impoverished sell himself to him, or to any of his race:
The Douay-Rheims Bible is in the public domain.