Leviticus 25:35-46

Of Poor Countrymen

35 '1Now in case a countryman of yours becomes poor and his means with regard to you falter, then you are to sustain him, like a stranger or a sojourner, that he may live with you.
36 '2Do not take usurious interest from him, but revere your God, that your countryman may live with you.
37 'You shall not give him your silver at interest, nor your food for gain.
38 '3I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt to give you the land of Canaan and 4to be your God.
39 '5If 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 6if 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 '7You shall not rule over him with severity, but are to revere your God.
44 'As for your male and female slaves * whom you may have -you may acquire male and female slaves * from the pagan nations that are around you.
45 'Then, too, it is out of the sons of the sojourners who live as aliens among you that you may gain acquisition, and out of their families who are with you, whom they will have produced in your land; they also may become your possession.
46 'You may even bequeath them to your sons after you, to receive as a possession; you can use them as permanent slaves. 8But in respect to your countrymen, the sons of Israel, you shall not rule with severity over one another.

Leviticus 25:35-46 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 8

  • 1. Deuteronomy 15:7-11; Deuteronomy 24:14, 15
  • 2. Exodus 22:25; Deuteronomy 23:19, 20
  • 3. Leviticus 11:45
  • 4. Genesis 17:7
  • 5. Exodus 21:2-6; Deuteronomy 15:12-18; 1 Kings 9:22
  • 6. Exodus 21:2
  • 7. Exodus 1:13, 14; Leviticus 25:46, 53; Ezekiel 34:4; Colossians 4:1
  • 8. Leviticus 25:43

Footnotes 7

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