Leviticus 25:35

Debt and Slave Regulations

25:35 “‘If your brother ¹  becomes impoverished and is indebted to you, ²  you must support ³  him; he must live ⁴  with you like a foreign resident. ⁵ 

Leviticus 25:40-41

25:40 He must be with you as a hired worker, as a resident foreigner; ⁶  he must serve with you until the year of jubilee, 25:41 but then ⁷  he may go free, ⁸  he and his children with him, and may return to his family and to the property of his ancestors. ⁹ 

[25:35]  ¹ tn It is not clear to whom this refers. It is probably broader than “sibling” (cf. NRSV “any of your kin”; NLT “any of your Israelite relatives”) but some English versions take it to mean “fellow Israelite” (so TEV; cf. NAB, NIV “countrymen”) and others are ambiguous (cf. CEV “any of your people”).

[25:35]  ² tn Heb “and his hand slips with you.”

[25:35]  ³ tn Heb “strengthen”; NASB “sustain.”

[25:35]  ⁴ tn The form וָחַי (vakhay, “and shall live”) looks like the adjective “living,” but the MT form is simply the same verb written as a double ayin verb (see HALOT 309 s.v. חיה qal, and GKC 218 §76.i; cf. Lev 18:5).

[25:35]  ⁵ tn Heb “a foreigner and resident,” which is probably to be combined (see B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 170-71).

[25:40]  ⁶ tn See the note on Lev 25:6 above.

[25:41]  ¹¹ tn Heb “and.” The Hebrew conjunction ו (vav, “and”) can be considered to have adversative force here.

[25:41]  ¹² tn Heb “may go out from you.”

[25:41]  ¹³ tn Heb “fathers.”