Leviticus 25:39-55 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

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Leviticus 25:43

Thou shalt not rule over him with rigour ,.... As the Egyptians ruled over the Israelites, and made them to serve, Exodus 1:13 ; where the same word is used as here, and seems designed to put them in mind of it, that so they might abstain from such usage of their brethren, which they had met with from their most cruel enemies; it signifies tyranny and oppression, treating them with great severity, laying hard and heavy tasks and burdens upon them they could not bear; enjoining them things... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Leviticus 25:44

Both thy bondmen, and thy bondmaids, which thou shalt have ,.... Such it seems were allowed them, if they had need of them; but if they had them, they were to be not of the nation of Israel, but of other nations; this is an anticipation of an objection, as Jarchi observes; if so, who shall I have to minister to me? The answer follows, they shall be of the heathen that are round about thee, of them shall ye buy bondmen and bondmaids ; that is, of the Ammonites, Moabites, Edomites, and... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Leviticus 25:45

Moreover, of the children of the strangers, that do sojourn among you ,.... The uncircumcised sojourners as they are called in the Targums of Onkelos and Jonathan, proselytes of the gate, such of the nations round about who came and sojourned among them, being subject to the precepts given to the sons of Noah respecting idolatry, &c.; but were not circumcised, and did not embrace the Jewish religion: of them shall ye buy ; for bondmen and bondmaids: and of their families that are... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Leviticus 25:46

And ye shall take them as an inheritance for your children after you ,.... Which they might leave them at their death to inherit, as they did their estates and lands; for such servants are, with the Jews F25 Maimon. & Bartenora in Misn. Kiddushin, c. 1. sect. 3. , said to be like immovable goods, as fields, vineyards: to inherit them for a possession ; as their property, as anything else that was bequeathed to hem, as negroes now are in our plantations abroad: thy shall be... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Leviticus 25:47

And if a sojourner or stranger wax rich by thee ,.... An uncircumcised one, as the Targums, a proselyte of the gate, who by living among and trading with the Israelites, might grow rich and wealthy in money, at least so as to be able to purchase an Hebrew servant, though not his lands, which he might not buy: and thy brother that dwelleth by him wax poor ; comes into low circumstances, and is reduced to great poverty, even extreme poverty; for only in such a case might he sell himself... 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

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Leviticus 25:43

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Leviticus 25:44

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Leviticus 25:45

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Leviticus 25:46

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Leviticus 25:47

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