Leviticus 25:39-42 NIV

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Leviticus 25:39-55

We have here the laws concerning servitude, designed to preserve the honour of the Jewish nation as a free people, and rescued by a divine power out of the house of bondage, into the glorious liberty of God's sons, his first-born. Now the law is, I. That a native Israelite should never be made a bondman for perpetuity. If he was sold for debt, or for a crime, by the house of judgment, he was to serve but six years, and to go out the seventh; this was appointed, Exod. 21:2. But if he sold... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Leviticus 25:39

And if thy brother that dwelleth by thee be waxen poor ,.... The above laws and instructions seem designed to prevent such extreme poverty as obliged to what follows, namely, a brother being sold either to an Israelite or to a stranger, by relieving his wants or lending him money; but when these were insufficient to support him, and keep him from sinking into the lowest state of distress and misery, then he was obliged to be sold, as follows: and be sold unto thee ; either by himself,... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Leviticus 25:40

But as an hired servant ,.... Who is hired by the day, or month, or year; and, when his time is up, receives his wages and goes where he pleases, and while a servant is not under such despotic power and government as a slave is: and as a sojourner ; an inmate, one that dwells in part of a man's house, or boards and lodges with him, and whom he treats in a kind and familiar manner, rather like one of his own family than otherwise: he shall be with thee ; as under the above... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Leviticus 25:41

And then shall he depart from thee, both he and his children with him ,.... His sons and daughters, and his wife also, who is included in himself: if a man had a wife and children when he sold himself, or married afterwards, with his master's consent, he was obliged to maintain them F20 Maimon. in Misn. Kiddushin, c. 3. sect. 1. ; though they were not sold to him, nor properly his servants, and so had a right to go out with him: and shall return unto his own family ; his... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Leviticus 25:42

For they are my servants, which I brought forth out of the land of Egypt ,.... The Lord redeemed them out of Egypt, made a purchase of them, and had a prior right unto them, and being his servants first, they cannot be the servants of others; his right unto them as such antecedes and prevents any other claim upon them: they shall not be sold as bondmen ; or, "with", or, "according to the sale of a bondman" F21 ממכרת עבד "venditione servi", Drusius. ; in the manner they are... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Leviticus 25:42

For they are my servants - As God redeemed every Israelite out of Egyptian bondage, they were therefore to consider themselves as his property, and that consequently they should not alienate themselves from him. It was in being his servants, and devoted to his work, that both their religious and political service consisted. And although their political liberty might be lost, they knew that their spiritual liberty never could be forfeited except by an utter alienation from God. God therefore... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Leviticus 25:39

Verse 39 39.And if thy brother. He now proceeds further, i e. , that one who has bought his brother should treat him with humanity, and not otherwise than a hired servant. We have seen, indeed, just above, that the labor of a slave is estimated at twice as much, because the humanity of his master will never go so far as to indulge or spare his slave as if he were a hireling. It is not, therefore, without reason that God puts a restraint upon that rule, which experience shows to have been often... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Leviticus 25:42

Verse 42 42.For they are my servants. God here declares that His own right is invaded when those, whom He claims as His property, are taken into subjection by another; for He says that He acquired the people as His own when He redeemed them from Egypt. Whence He infers that His right is violated if any should usurp perpetual dominion over a Hebrew. If any object that this is of equal force, when they only serve for a time, I reply, that though God might have justly asserted His sole ownership,... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Leviticus 25:1-55

The sabbatical year was instituted not for any supposed physical benefit accruing from it to the land, but, first, as serving for a link between the sabbath and the jubilee by means of the sacred number seven—the sabbatical year being the seventh year, and the jubilee being the year following the seven-times-seventh year; and secondly, and chiefly, as enforcing the lesson of the weekly sabbath in a manner that could not be overlooked, and symbolically, teaching the universal application of... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Leviticus 25:8-55

The jubilee. cf. Isaiah 61:1 -13; Luke 4:18 , Luke 4:19 . We have here a further appendix to the fourth commandment. After seven sabbatic years there came another year, called the jubilee, which was also sabbatic, and during which there was to be a universal restitution. The trumpet was to be blown on the Day of Atonement, and the captives were then to be released, the unfortunate ones who had been compelled to part with their inheritance had it restored to them, and there was a... read more

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Leviticus 25:39-55

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Leviticus 25:39

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Leviticus 25:40

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Leviticus 25:41

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Leviticus 25:42

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Leviticus 25:42

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Leviticus 25:39

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Leviticus 25:42

The Pulpit Commentary - Leviticus 25:1-55

The Pulpit Commentary - Leviticus 25:8-55

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