Leviticus 25:39-43

39 '1If a countryman of yours becomes so poor with regard to you that he sells himself to you, you shall not subject him to a slave's service.
40 'He shall be with you as a hired man, as 2if he were a sojourner; he shall serve with you until the year of jubilee.
41 'He shall then go out from you, he and his sons with him, and shall go back to his family, that he may return to the property of his forefathers.
42 'For they are My servants whom I brought out from the land of Egypt; they are not to be sold in a slave sale.
43 '3You shall not rule over him with severity, but are to revere your God.

Leviticus 25:39-43 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO LEVITICUS 25

In this chapter the Israelites are directed, when come into the land of Canaan, to observe every seventh year as a sabbatical year, in which there was to be no tillage of the land, and yet there would be a sufficiency for man and beast, Le 25:1-7; and every fiftieth year as a year of jubilee, in which also there was to be no tillage of the land, and every man was to return to his possession or estate, which had been sold to another any time before this, Le 25:8-17; and a promise of safety and plenty in the seventh year is made to encourage the observance of it, Le 25:18-22; and several laws and rules are delivered out concerning the sale of lands, the redemption of them, and their return to their original owner in the year of jubilee, Le 25:23-28; and the sale of houses, and the redemption of them, and the difference between those in walled cities and those in villages, with respect thereunto, Le 25:29-31; and also concerning the houses of the cities of the Levites, and the fields of the suburbs of them, Le 25:32-34; to which are added some instructions about relieving decayed, persons, and lending and giving to them, without taking usury of them, Le 25:34-38; and other laws concerning the release of such Israelites as had sold themselves for servants to the Israelites, in the year of jubilee, since none but Heathens were to be bondmen and bondmaids for ever, Le 25:39-46; and of such who were sold to proselytes, Le 25:47-55.

Cross References 3

  • 1. Exodus 21:2-6; Deuteronomy 15:12-18; 1 Kings 9:22
  • 2. Exodus 21:2
  • 3. Exodus 1:13, 14; Leviticus 25:46, 53; Ezekiel 34:4; Colossians 4:1

Footnotes 1

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