Verse 53
(53) And as a yearly hired servant shall he be.—Better, As a yearly servant, &c, without the “and,” which is not in the original, and is not wanted. That is, as long as he is in service his master must not treat him like a slave, but is to behave to him as if he were simply one who hires out his services from year to year, and who, after a short time, will be his own master again.
And the other shall not rule with rigour over him.—Better, he shall not rule, &c, that is, the heathen master. The words “and the other” are not in the original, and the sense of the passage is quite plain without them.
In thy sight.—The Israelite is here admonished not to be a tacit spectator of the cruel treatment of his brother Israelite by a heathen master, and though he is not to resent in the same way in which the Lawgiver himself resented it (Exodus 2:11-12), still he is to remonstrate with the cruel Gentile, and invoke the protection of the powers that be.
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