Leviticus 25:35-46

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  25:36 Do not take interest or profit from him, ⁶  but you must fear your God and your brother must live ⁷  with you. 25:37 You must not lend him your money at interest and you must not sell him food for profit. ⁸  25:38 I am the Lord your God who brought you out from the land of Egypt to give you the land of Canaan – to be your God. ⁹ 

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. ¹⁰  25:40 He must be with you as a hired worker, as a resident foreigner; ¹¹  he must serve with you until the year of jubilee, 25:41 but then ¹²  he may go free, ¹³  he and his children with him, and may return to his family and to the property of his ancestors. ¹⁴  25:42 Since they are my servants whom I brought out from the land of Egypt, they must not be sold in a slave sale. ¹⁵  25:43 You must not rule over him harshly, ¹⁶  but you must fear your God.

25:44 “‘As for your male and female slaves ¹⁷  who may belong to you – you may buy male and female slaves from the nations all around you. ¹⁸  25:45 Also you may buy slaves ¹⁹  from the children of the foreigners who reside with you, and from their families that are ²⁰  with you, whom they have fathered in your land, they may become your property. 25:46 You may give them as inheritance to your children after you to possess as property. You may enslave them perpetually. However, as for your brothers the Israelites, no man may rule over his brother harshly. ²¹ 

[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).

[25:36]  ⁶ 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]  ⁷ 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).

[25:37]  ¹¹ tn Heb “your money” and “your food.” With regard to “interest” and “profit” see the note on v. 36 above.

[25:38]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “to be to you for a God.”

[25:39]  ²¹ 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.

[25:40]  ²⁶ tn See the note on Lev 25:6 above.

[25:41]  ³¹ tn Heb “and.” The Hebrew conjunction ו (vav, “and”) can be considered to have adversative force here.

[25:41]  ³² tn Heb “may go out from you.”

[25:41]  ³³ tn Heb “fathers.”

[25:42]  ³⁶ tn Or perhaps reflexive Niphal rather than passive, “they shall not sell themselves [as in] a slave sale.”

[25:43]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “You shall not rule in him in violence”; cf. NASB “with severity”; NIV “ruthlessly.”

[25:44]  ⁴⁶ tn Heb “And your male slave and your female slave.” Smr has these as plural terms, “slaves,” not singular.

[25:44]  ⁴⁷ tn Heb “ from the nations which surround you, from them you shall buy male slave and female slave.”

[25:45]  ⁵¹ tn The word “slaves” is not in the Hebrew text, but is implied here.

[25:45]  ⁵² tn Heb “family which is” (i.e., singular rather than plural).

[25:46]  ⁵⁶ tn Heb “and your brothers, the sons of Israel, a man in his brother you shall not rule in him in violence.”