Devarim 15:14

14 Thou shalt furnish him liberally out of thy tzon, and out of thy threshing floor, and out of thy winepress; of that wherewith Hashem Eloheicha hath blessed thee thou shalt give unto him.

Devarim 15:14 Meaning and Commentary

Deuteronomy 15:14

Thou shalt furnish him liberally
Not only to supply his present wants, but for his future use, and to set him up in the world: "loading thou shall load him" F8, so some render the words; give him as much as he can carry, and well stand up under; the word used has the signification of chains wore about the neck for honour or ornament, and so may signify he should be very honourably dismissed, with plain marks of honour and respect; and the order is, to supply him

out of thy flock, and out of thy floor, and out of thy winepress;
with sheep or lambs out of the flock, with corn out of the floor, wheat, or barley, or both, and wine out of the winepress; which take in all the necessaries and comforts of life: of that

wherewith the Lord thy God hath blessed thee thou shall give unto him;
be it what it will, and in proportion to it, as of money as well as goods; it is asked, how much shall be given to him? not less than the value of thirty shekels, whether of one kind or whether of many kinds, according to the thirty shekels for the price of a servant, ( Exodus 21:32 ) {i}. All this may be an emblem both of the servitude the people of God are in to sin, Satan, and the law, while in a state of nature; and of their freedom from it by Christ, and of the sufficiency and fulness of food and raiment, and large measures of divine grace; even all things richly to enjoy, all things pertaining to life and godliness, which are given to them when brought out of that state; who otherwise come out of it destitute of all good things, having neither food nor clothes, nor money to buy either, but have all from Christ freely and fully.


FOOTNOTES:

F8 (qynet qyneh) "onerando oneratis", Munster, Pagninus, Vatablus.
F9 Maimon. Hilchot Obedim, c. 3. sect. 14.

Devarim 15:14 In-Context

12 And if thy brother, an Ivri (a Hebrew), or an Ivriyyah (Hebrew woman), be sold unto thee, and serve thee shesh shanim; then in the shanah hashevi’it thou shalt let him go free from thee.
13 And when thou sendest him out chafshi (free) from thee, thou shalt not let him go away empty-handed:
14 Thou shalt furnish him liberally out of thy tzon, and out of thy threshing floor, and out of thy winepress; of that wherewith Hashem Eloheicha hath blessed thee thou shalt give unto him.
15 And thou shalt remember that thou wast an eved in Eretz Mitzrayim, and Hashem Eloheicha redeemed thee; therefore I command thee this thing today.
16 And it shall be, if he say unto thee, I will not go away from thee; because he loveth thee and thine bais, because he fares well with thee;
The Orthodox Jewish Bible fourth edition, OJB. Copyright 2002,2003,2008,2010, 2011 by Artists for Israel International. All rights reserved.