Deuteronomy 15:12-18

12 ¹“If your brother, a Hebrew man or a Hebrew woman, is sold^[a] to you, he shall serve you six years, and in the seventh year you shall let him go free from you.

13 And when you let him go free from you, you shall not let him go empty-handed.

14 You shall furnish him liberally out of your flock, out of your threshing floor, and out of your winepress. ²As the Lord your God has blessed you, you shall give to him.

15 ³You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God redeemed you; therefore I command you this today.

16 But ⁴if he says to you, ‘I will not go out from you, ’ because he loves you and your household, since he is well-off with you,

17 then you shall take an awl, and put it through his ear into the door, and he shall be your slave^[b] forever. And to your female slave^[c] you shall do the same.

18 It shall not seem hard to you when you let him go free from you, for at half the cost of a hired worker he has served you six years. So the Lord your God will bless you in all that you do.

Deuteronomy 15:12-18 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO DEUTERONOMY 15

This chapter treats of a release of debts every seventh year, to which a blessing is promised if attended to, De 15:1-6, which seventh year of release should not hinder lending to a poor man in distress, even though it was nigh at hand, De 15:7-11 and of letting servants go free, whether manservant or maidservant, at the end of six years' servitude, De 15:12-15 but if unwilling to go, and desirous of staying, must have his ear bored through with an awl, and serve to the year of jubilee, De 15:16-18 and of sanctifying and eating the firstlings of the herd and flock where the Lord directs, De 15:19-23.

Cross References

• 1. 15:12 Ex. 21:2; Jer. 34:14; [Lev. 25:39-41]
• 2. 15:14 ch. 8:18; 16:17
• 3. 15:15 See ch. 5:15
• 4. 15:16 Ex. 21:5, 6

Footnotes

• [a] 15:12 Or 'sells himself'
• [b] 15:17 Or 'servant'; the Hebrew term '‘ebed' designates a range of social and economic roles (see Preface)
• [c] 15:17 Or 'servant'