Deuteronomy 15:18-23

15:18 You should not consider it difficult to let him go free, for he will have served you for six years, twice ¹  the time of a hired worker; the Lord your God will bless you in everything you do.

Giving God the Best

15:19 You must set apart ²  for the Lord your God every firstborn male born to your herds and flocks. You must not work the firstborn of your bulls or shear the firstborn of your flocks. 15:20 You and your household must eat them annually before the Lord your God in the place he ³  chooses. 15:21 If they have any kind of blemish – lameness, blindness, or anything else ⁴  – you may not offer them as a sacrifice to the Lord your God. 15:22 You may eat it in your villages, ⁵  whether you are ritually impure or clean, ⁶  just as you would eat a gazelle or an ibex. 15:23 However, you must not eat its blood; you must pour it out on the ground like water.

[15:18]  ¹ tn The Hebrew term מִשְׁנֶה (mishneh, “twice”) could mean “equivalent to” (cf. NRSV) or, more likely, “double” (cf. NAB, NIV, NLT). The idea is that a hired worker would put in only so many hours per day whereas a bondslave was available around the clock.

[15:19]  ² tn Heb “sanctify” (תַּקְדִּישׁ, taqdish), that is, put to use on behalf of the Lord.

[15:20]  ³ tn Heb “the Lord.” The translation uses a pronoun for stylistic reasons. See note on “he” in 15:4.

[15:21]  ⁴ tn Heb “any evil blemish”; NASB “any (+ other NAB, TEV) serious defect.”

[15:22]  ⁵ tn Heb “in your gates.”

[15:22]  ⁶ tc The LXX adds ἐν σοί (en soi, “among you”) to make clear that the antecedent is the people and not the animals. That is, the people, whether ritually purified or not, may eat such defective animals.