Leviticus 25:39

“And if thy brother [that dwelleth] by thee be waxen poor, etc.] The above laws and instructions seem designed to prevent such extreme poverty as obliged to what follows, namely, a brother being sold either to an Israelite or to a stranger, by relieving his wants or lending him money; but when these were insufficient to support him, and keep him from sinking into the lowest state of distress and misery, then he was obliged to be sold, as follows: and be sold unto thee; either by himself, being ready to starve and perish, or by the sanhedrim, having stolen something, as Aben Ezra observes; in such a case the civil magistrate had a power of selling a man, (<022203>Exodus 22:3); thou shall not…”

“if thy brother . . . be waxen poor, and be sold unto thee, thou shalt not compel him to serve as a bond-servant--An Israelite might be compelled, through misfortune, not only to mortgage his inheritance, but himself. In the event of his being reduced to this distress, he was to be treated not as a slave, but a hired servant whose engagement was temporary, and who might, through the friendly aid of a relative, be redeemed at any time before the Jubilee. The ransom money was determined on a most equitable principle. Taking account of the number of years from the proposal to redeem and the Jubilee, of the current wages of labor for that time, and multiplying the remaining years by that sum, the…”

“The law here appears harmoniously to supplement the earlier one in Exodus 21:1-6. It was another check applied periodically to the tyranny of the rich. Compare Jeremiah 34:8-17. return to 'Top of Page'”

“As a bond - man - Neither for the time, for ever, nor for the manner, with the hardest and vilest kinds of service, rigorously and severely exacted. Leviticus 25:41”

“be sold: Exo 21:2, Exo 22:3; Deu 15:12; Kg1 9:22; Kg2 4:1; Neh 5:5; Jer 34:14 compel him to serve as: Heb. serve thyself with him with the service of, etc. Lev 25:46 \*marg. Exo 1:14; Jer 25:14, Jer 27:7, Jer 30:8 Leviticus 25:40”