Deuteronomy 15:16

“And it shall be, if he say unto thee, I will not go away from thee, etc.] Out of his house, nor quit his service: because he loveth thee and thine house; his master and his family, and so loath to leave them, but chooses rather to stay with them than have his liberty; hence the Jews say f170, if his master has not a wife and children, his ear is not to be bored: because he is well with thee; lives well with him, is well used by him, wants for nothing, and enjoys peace and quietness, and has everything to make him happy as such a state will admit of, and with the which he is well contented, and highly pleased. This is an emblem of the cheerful and constant obedience of the people of Christ to…”

“if he say unto thee, I will not go away from thee--If they declined to avail themselves of the privilege of release and chose to remain with their master, then by a peculiar form of ceremony they became a party to the transaction, voluntarily sold themselves to their employer, and continued in his service till death.”

“The commands here are repeated from Exodus 21:2-6, with amplifications relative to the maidservant Deuteronomy 15:12 and to the making (Deuteronomy 15:13 ff) liberal provision for launching the freedman on an independent course of life. The release of the servant is connected with the sabbatical principle though not with the sabbatical year. It is noteworthy also that the prospect of a gift of this sort, the amount of which was left to the master’s discretion, would be likely to encourage diligence and faithfulness during the years of servitude. Deuteronomy 15:18 He hath been worth a double hired servant to thee, in serving thee six years - “i. e.” such a servant has earned twice as much as…”

“15:16 he loves you: In the context of a covenant, this phrase speaks of a binding relationship with both legal and emotional overtones.”

“Exo 21:5, Exo 21:6; Psa 40:6, Psa 40:8 Deuteronomy 15:17”

“But if the man-servant and the maid-servant should not wish for liberty in the sixth year, because it was well with them in the house of their master, they were not to be compelled to go, but were to be bound to eternal, i.e., lifelong bondage, in the manner prescribed in Exo 21:5-6. (Note: Knobel's assertion, that the judicial process enjoined in Exo 21:6 does not seem to have been usual in the author's own time, is a worthless argumentum e silentio.) This is repeated from Ex 21, to guard against such an application of the law as might be really cruelty under the circumstances rather than love. Manumission was only an act of love, when the person to be set free had some hope of success and…”