Deuteronomy 15:12-22

12 If your relative who is a Hebrew man or a Hebrew woman is sold to you, and [he or she] has served you six years, then in the seventh year you shall send that person [out] {free}.
13 And when you send him [out] free from you, you shall not send him [away] empty-handed.
14 You shall generously supply him from [among] your flocks and from your threshing floor and from your press; [according to] that [with which] Yahweh your God has blessed you, you shall give to him.
15 And remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and Yahweh your God redeemed you; therefore I [am] commanding you thus {today}.
16 And then [if] it will happen [that] he says to you, '{I do not want to go out} from you,' because he loves you and your family, because it is good for him [to be] with you;
17 then you shall take an awl, and you shall thrust [it] through his earlobe and into the door, and he shall be to you {a slave forever}; and you shall also do likewise for your slave woman.
18 It shall not be hard in your eyes {when you send him forth free}, because for six years he has served you [worth] twice the wage of a hired worker; and Yahweh your God will bless you {in whatever you will do}.
19 "Every firstling male that is born of your herd and of your flock you shall consecrate to Yahweh your God; you shall not do work with the firstling of your ox, and you shall not shear the firstling of your flock.
20 [Rather] {before Yahweh} your God you shall eat it year by year at the place Yahweh will choose, you and your household.
21 But if there is a physical defect in it, [such as] lameness or blindness, any serious defect, you shall not sacrifice it to Yahweh your God.
22 In your {towns} you shall eat it, the unclean and the clean together [may eat it], [just] as [they eat] the gazelle and as [they eat] the deer.

Deuteronomy 15:12-22 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.

Footnotes 9

  • [a]. Or "brother"
  • [b]. Literally "free from with you"
  • [c]. Literally "the day"
  • [d]. Literally "I will not go out"
  • [e]. Literally "a slave of eternity"
  • [f]. Literally "in/at you to send him forth free from [being] with you"
  • [g]. Literally "in all [of] that you will do"
  • [h]. Literally "in the face of Yahweh"
  • [i]. Literally "gates"
Scripture quotations marked (LEB) are from the Lexham English Bible. Copyright 2012 Logos Bible Software. Lexham is a registered trademark of Logos Bible Software.