Leviticus 25:45

45 And you may buy also from the children of the temporary residents who are dwelling with you as aliens and from their clan who are with you, who have children in your land; indeed, they may be as property for you.

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.

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FOOTNOTES:

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

Leviticus 25:45 In-Context

43 You shall not rule over him with ruthlessness, but you shall revere your God.

44 " 'As for your slave and your slave woman who are yours, from the nations that [are] all around you, from them you may buy a slave or a slave woman.

45 And you may buy also from the children of the temporary residents who are dwelling with you as aliens and from their clan who are with you, who have children in your land; indeed, they may be as property for you.

46 And you may pass them on as an inheritance to your sons after you to take possession of as property {for all time}--you may let them work. But [as for] your countrymen, the {Israelites}, you shall not rule with ruthlessness over {one another}.

47 " 'And if [the] alien or [the] temporary resident [who are] with you {prosper}, but your countryman [who is] with him becomes poor and he is sold to an alien, a temporary resident [who is] with you, or to a descendant of an alien's clan,

Footnotes

• [a]. Plural throughout this verse
• [b]. Or "sons"
• [c]. Or "and"