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

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,

Leviticus 25:47

25:47 “‘If a resident foreigner who is with you prospers ⁷  and your brother becomes impoverished with regard to him so that ⁸  he sells himself to a resident foreigner who is with you or to a member ⁹  of a foreigner’s family,

Leviticus 19:18

19:18 You must not take vengeance or bear a grudge ¹⁰  against the children of your people, but you must love your neighbor as yourself. ¹¹  I am the Lord.

Leviticus 25:6

25:6 You may have the Sabbath produce ¹²  of the land to eat – you, your male servant, your female servant, your hired worker, the resident foreigner who stays with you, ¹³ 

Leviticus 25:36

25:36 Do not take interest or profit from him, ¹⁴  but you must fear your God and your brother must live ¹⁵  with you.

Leviticus 25:39

25:39 “‘If your brother becomes impoverished with regard to you so that he sells himself to you, you must not subject him to slave service. ¹⁶ 

[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.

[25:47]  ¹¹ tn Heb “And if the hand of a foreigner and resident with you reaches” (cf. v. 26 for this idiom).

[25:47]  ¹² tn Heb “and.” The Hebrew conjunction ו (vav, “and”) can be considered to have resultative force here.

[25:47]  ¹³ tn Heb “offshoot, descendant.”

[19:18]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “and you shall not retain [anger?].” This line seems to refer to the retaining or maintaining of some vengeful feelings toward someone. Compare the combination of the same terms for taking vengeance and maintaining wrath against enemies in Nahum 1:2 (see J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 305).

[19:18]  ¹⁷ sn Some scholars make a distinction between the verb אָהַב (’ahav, “to love”) with the direct object and the more unusual construction with the preposition לְ (lamed) as it is here and in Lev 19:34 and 2 Chr 19:2 only. If there is a distinction, the construction here probably calls for direct and helpful action toward one’s neighbor (see the discussion in J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 305, and esp. 317-18). Such love stands in contrast to taking vengeance or bearing a grudge against someone and, in NT terms, amounts to fulfilling the so-called “golden rule” (Matt 7:12).

[25:6]  ²¹ tn The word “produce” is not in the Hebrew text but is implied; cf. NASB “the sabbath products.”

[25:6]  ²² tn A “resident who stays” would be a foreign person who was probably residing as another kind of laborer in the household of a landowner (B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 170-71). See v. 35 below.

[25:36]  ²⁶ tn The meaning of the terms rendered “interest” and “profit” is much debated (see the summaries in P. J. Budd, Leviticus [NCBC], 354-55 and B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 178). Verse 37, however, suggests that the first refers to a percentage of money and the second percentage of produce (see J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 421).

[25:36]  ²⁷ tn In form the Hebrew term וְחֵי (vÿkhey, “shall live”) is the construct plural noun (i.e., “the life of”), but here it is used as the finite verb (cf. v. 35 and GKC 218 §76.i).

[25:39]  ³¹ tn Heb “you shall not serve against him service of a slave.” A distinction is being made here between the status of slave and indentured servant.