Deuteronomy 15:12

12 And if thy brother , a Hebrew man or a Hebrew woman, be sold to thee, he shall serve thee six years, and in the seventh year thou shalt send him out free from thee.

Deuteronomy 15:12 Meaning and Commentary

Deuteronomy 15:12

And if thy brother, an Hebrew man, or an Hebrew woman, be sold
unto thee
By others, as by the sanhedrim for theft, for which a man might be sold, but not a woman, as Jarchi observes; but then a father might sell his daughter for an handmaid, if little and under age; and to such cases this law is supposed to refer; see ( Exodus 21:2 Exodus 21:7 ) ( 22:3 ) though a man on account of poverty might sell himself:

and serve thee six years;
as he was bound to do, if his master lived so long; if he died before the six years were out, he was obliged to serve his son, but not his daughter, nor his brother, nor his heirs, as the Jewish writers affirm F7: then in the seventh year thou shalt let him go free from thee; that is, at the end of the sixth, and beginning of the seventh year; see ( Exodus 21:2 ) .


FOOTNOTES:

F7 Maimon. & Bartenora in Misn. Kiddushin. c. 1. sect. 2.

Deuteronomy 15:12 In-Context

10 Thou shalt surely give to him, and thou shalt lend him as much as he wants, according as he is in need; and thou shalt not grudge in thine heart as thou givest to him, because on this account the Lord thy God will bless thee in all thy works, and in all things on which thou shalt lay thine hand.
11 For the poor shall not fail off thy land, therefore I charge thee to do this thing, saying, Thou shalt surely open thine hands to thy poor brother, and to him that is distressed upon thy land.
12 And if thy brother , a Hebrew man or a Hebrew woman, be sold to thee, he shall serve thee six years, and in the seventh year thou shalt send him out free from thee.
13 And when thou shalt send him out free from thee, thou shalt not send him out empty.
14 Thou shalt give him provision for the way from thy flock, and from thy corn, and from thy wine; as the Lord thy God has blessed thee, thou shalt give to him.

The Brenton translation of the Septuagint is in the public domain.