Leviticus 25:39 "'If any of your fellow Israelites become poor and sell themselves to you, do not make them work as slaves.

◄ Leviticus 25:39 ►

Parallel Verses

New International Version
"'If any of your fellow Israelites become poor and sell themselves to you, do not make them work as slaves.

English Standard Version
“If your brother becomes poor beside you and sells himself to you, you shall not make him serve as a slave:

New American Standard Bible
'If 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.

King James Bible
And if thy brother that dwelleth by thee be waxen poor, and be sold unto thee; thou shalt not compel him to serve as a bondservant:

Holman Christian Standard Bible
If your brother among you becomes destitute and sells himself to you, you must not force him to do slave labor.

International Standard Version
"If your brother with you becomes so poor that he sells himself to you, you are not to make him serve like a bond slave.

American Standard Version
And if thy brother be waxed poor with thee, and sell himself unto thee; thou shalt not make him to serve as a bond-servant.

Douay-Rheims Bible
If thy brother constrained by poverty, sell himself to thee, thou shalt not oppress him with the service of bondservants:

Darby Bible Translation
And if thy brother grow poor beside thee, and be sold unto thee, thou shalt not compel him to serve as a bondservant:

Young's Literal Translation
'And when thy brother becometh poor with thee, and he hath been sold to thee, thou dost not lay on him servile service;

Cross References

Matthew 18:25
But for as much as he had not to pay, his lord commanded him to be sold, and his wife, and children, and all that he had, and payment to be made.

Exodus 21:2
If you buy an Hebrew servant, six years he shall serve: and in the seventh he shall go out free for nothing.

Deuteronomy 15:12
And if your brother, an Hebrew man, or an Hebrew woman, be sold to you, and serve you six years; then in the seventh year you shall let him go free from you.

1 Kings 9:22
But of the children of Israel did Solomon make no slaves: but they were men of war, and his servants, and his princes, and his captains, and rulers of his chariots, and his horsemen.

2 Kings 4:1
Now there cried a certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets to Elisha, saying, Your servant my husband is dead; and you know that your servant did fear the LORD: and the creditor is come to take to him my two sons to be slaves.

2 Chronicles 28:10
And now you purpose to keep under the children of Judah and Jerusalem for slaves and bondwomen to you: but are there not with you, even with you, sins against the LORD your God?

Nehemiah 5:5
Yet now our flesh is as the flesh of our brothers, our children as their children: and, see, we bring into bondage our sons and our daughters to be servants, and some of our daughters are brought to bondage already: neither is it in our power to redeem them; for other men have our lands and vineyards.

Jeremiah 34:8
This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD, after that the king Zedekiah had made a covenant with all the people which were at Jerusalem, to proclaim liberty to them;

Jeremiah 34:9
That every man should let his manservant, and every man his maidservant, being an Hebrew or an Hebrewess, go free; that none should serve himself of them, to wit, of a Jew his brother.

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Bond Bondservant Bond-Servant Compel Countryman Dwelleth Gives Grow Grown Lay Money Poor Property Regard Sell Sells Servant Serve Service Slave Slave's Sold Subject Use Waxed Waxen Work

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Bond Bondservant Bond-Servant Compel Countryman Dwelleth Gives Grow Grown Lay Money Poor Property Regard Sell Sells Servant Serve Service Slave Slave's Sold Subject Use Waxed Waxen Work

Commentaries

Matthew Henry's Commentary

25:39-55 A native Israelite, if sold for debt, or for a crime, was to serve but six years, and to go out the seventh. If he sold himself, through poverty, both his work and his usage must be such as were fitting for a son of Abraham. Masters are required to give to their servants that which is just and equal, Col 4:1. At the year of jubilee the servant should go out free, he and his children, and should return to his own family. This typified redemption from the service of sin and Satan, by the grace of God in Christ, whose truth makes us free, Joh 8:32. We cannot ransom our fellow-sinners, but we may point out Christ to them; while by his grace our lives may adorn his gospel, express our love, show our gratitude, and glorify his holy name.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown

39-46. if thy brother … be waxen poor, and be sold unto thee, thou shalt not compel him to serve as a bond-servant—An Israelite might be compelled, through misfortune, not only to mortgage his inheritance, but himself. In the event of his being reduced to this distress, he was to be treated not as a slave, but a hired servant whose engagement was temporary, and who might, through the friendly aid of a relative, be redeemed at any time before the Jubilee. The ransom money was determined on a most equitable principle. Taking account of the number of years from the proposal to redeem and the Jubilee, of the current wages of labor for that time, and multiplying the remaining years by that sum, the amount was to be paid to the master for his redemption. But if no such friendly interposition was made for a Hebrew slave, he continued in servitude till the year of Jubilee, when, as a matter of course, he regained his liberty, as well as his inheritance. Viewed in the various aspects in which it is presented in this chapter, the Jubilee was an admirable institution, and subservient in an eminent degree to uphold the interests of religion, social order, and freedom among the Israelites.