Deuteronomy 15:12

Release of Debt Slaves

15:12 If your fellow Hebrew ¹  – whether male or female ²  – is sold to you and serves you for six years, then in the seventh year you must let that servant ³  go free. ⁴ 

Deuteronomy 21:14

21:14 If you are not pleased with her, then you must let her go ⁵  where she pleases. You cannot in any case sell ⁶  her; ⁷  you must not take advantage of ⁸  her, since you have already humiliated ⁹  her.

Deuteronomy 25:11

25:11 If two men ¹⁰  get into a hand-to-hand fight, and the wife of one of them gets involved to help her husband against his attacker, and she reaches out her hand and grabs his genitals, ¹¹ 

Deuteronomy 32:24

32:24 They will be starved by famine,

eaten by plague, and bitterly stung; ¹² 

I will send the teeth of wild animals against them,

along with the poison of creatures that crawl in the dust.

Deuteronomy 34:11

34:11 He did ¹³  all the signs and wonders the Lord had sent him to do in the land of Egypt, to Pharaoh, all his servants, and the whole land,

[15:12]  ¹ sn Elsewhere in the OT, the Israelites are called “Hebrews” (עִבְרִי, ’ivriy) by outsiders, rarely by themselves (cf. Gen 14:13; 39:14, 17; 41:12; Exod 1:15, 16, 19; 2:6, 7, 11, 13; 1 Sam 4:6; Jonah 1:9). Thus, here and in the parallel passage in Exod 21:2-6 the term עִבְרִי may designate non-Israelites, specifically a people well-known throughout the ancient Near East as ’apiru or habiru. They lived a rather vagabond lifestyle, frequently hiring themselves out as laborers or mercenary soldiers. While accounting nicely for the surprising use of the term here in an Israelite law code, the suggestion has against it the unlikelihood that a set of laws would address such a marginal people so specifically (as opposed to simply calling them aliens or the like). More likely עִבְרִי is chosen as a term to remind Israel that when they were “Hebrews,” that is, when they were in Egypt, they were slaves. Now that they are free they must not keep their fellow Israelites in economic bondage. See v. 15.

[15:12]  ² tn Heb “your brother, a Hebrew (male) or Hebrew (female).”

[15:12]  ³ tn Heb “him.” The singular pronoun occurs throughout the passage.

[15:12]  ⁴ tn The Hebrew text includes “from you.”

[21:14]  ⁵ sn Heb “send her off.” The Hebrew term שִׁלַּחְתָּה (shillakhtah) is a somewhat euphemistic way of referring to divorce, the matter clearly in view here (cf. Deut 22:19, 29; 24:1, 3; Jer 3:1; Mal 2:16). This passage does not have the matter of divorce as its principal objective, so it should not be understood as endorsing divorce generally. It merely makes the point that if grounds for divorce exist (see Deut 24:1-4), and then divorce ensues, the husband could in no way gain profit from it.

[21:14]  ⁶ tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis, which the translation indicates by the words “in any case.”

[21:14]  ⁷ tn The Hebrew text includes “for money.” This phrase has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[21:14]  ⁸ tn Or perhaps “must not enslave her” (cf. ASV, NAB, NIV, NRSV, NLT); Heb “[must not] be tyrannical over.”

[21:14]  ⁹ sn You have humiliated her. Since divorce was considered rejection, the wife subjected to it would “lose face” in addition to the already humiliating event of having become a wife by force (21:11-13). Furthermore, the Hebrew verb translated “humiliated” here (עָנָה, ’anah), commonly used to speak of rape (cf. Gen 34:2; 2 Sam 13:12, 14, 22, 32; Judg 19:24), likely has sexual overtones as well. The woman may not be enslaved or abused after the divorce because it would be double humiliation (see also E. H. Merrill, Deuteronomy [NAC], 291).

[25:11]  ⁹ tn Heb “a man and his brother.”

[25:11]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “shameful parts.” Besides the inherent indelicacy of what she has done, the woman has also threatened the progenitive capacity of the injured man. The level of specificity given this term in modern translations varies: “private parts” (NAB, NIV, CEV); “genitals” (NASB, NRSV, TEV); “sex organs” (NCV); “testicles” (NLT).

[32:24]  ¹³ tn The Hebrew term קֶטֶב (qetev) is probably metaphorical here for the sting of a disease (HALOT 1091-92 s.v.).

[34:11]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “to,” “with respect to.” In the Hebrew text vv. 10-12 are one long sentence. For stylistic reasons the translation divides this into two, using the verb “he did” at the beginning of v. 11 and “he displayed” at the beginning of v. 12.