New International Version
Deuteronomy 15:13
13And when you release them, do not send them away empty-handed.
Deuteronomy 15:13 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)And when thou sendest him out free from thee, thou shalt not let him go away empty:
- English Standard Version (ESV)And when you let him go free from you, you shall not let him go empty-handed.
- New King James Version (NKJV)And when you send him away free from you, you shall not let him go away empty-handed;
- New Living Translation (NLT)“When you release a male servant, do not send him away empty-handed.
Context of Deuteronomy 15:13
11There will always be poor people in the land. Therefore I command you to be openhanded toward your fellow Israelites who are poor and needy in your land. 12If any of your people—Hebrew men or women—sell themselves to you and serve you six years, in the seventh year you must let them go free. And when you release them, do not send them away empty-handed. 14Supply them liberally from your flock, your threshing floor and your winepress. Give to them as the Lord your God has blessed you. 15Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and the Lord your God redeemed you. That is why I give you this command today.
Read all of Deuteronomy 15Deuteronomy 15:13 word by word
וְכִֽי־תְשַׁלְּחֶ֥נּוּ חָפְשִׁ֖י מֵֽעִמָּ֑ךְ לֹ֥א תְשַׁלְּחֶ֖נּוּ רֵיקָֽם׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Deuteronomy 15:13
- Exodus 21:2“If you buy a Hebrew servant, he is to serve you for six years. But in the seventh year, he shall go free, without paying anything.
- Deuteronomy 15:14Supply them liberally from your flock, your threshing floor and your winepress. Give to them as the Lord your God has blessed you.
- Genesis 31:42If the God of my father, the God of Abraham and the Fear of Isaac, had not been with me, you would surely have sent me away empty-handed. But God has seen my hardship and the toil of my hands, and last night he rebuked you.”
- Exodus 3:21“And I will make the Egyptians favorably disposed toward this people, so that when you leave you will not go empty-handed.
- Leviticus 25:42Because the Israelites are my servants, whom I brought out of Egypt, they must not be sold as slaves.
- Proverbs 3:27Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in your power to act.
- Jeremiah 22:13“Woe to him who builds his palace by unrighteousness, his upper rooms by injustice, making his own people work for nothing, not paying them for their labor.
- Malachi 3:5“So I will come to put you on trial. I will be quick to testify against sorcerers, adulterers and perjurers, against those who defraud laborers of their wages, who oppress the widows and the fatherless, and deprive the foreigners among you of justice, but do not fear me,” says the Lord Almighty.
- Colossians 4:1Masters, provide your slaves with what is right and fair, because you know that you also have a Master in heaven.
Commentaries on Deuteronomy 15:13
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 13Thou shalt not let him go away empty - Because during the time he served thee, he made no property for himself, having been always honest towards thee; and now when he leaves thee, he has nothing to begin the world with.Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 12-18Verses 12-18 Here the law concerning Hebrew servants is repeated. There is an addition, requiring the masters to put some small stock into their servants' hands to set up with for themselves, when sent out of their servitude, wherein they had received no wages. We may expect family blessings, the springs of family prosperity, when we make conscience of our duty to our family relations. We are to remember that we are debtors to Divine justice, and have…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 1-23The law of Moses included rules about borrowing and lending. Here, God commanded Israel to cancel debts in the seventh year and to lend generously to the poor. These laws helped poor people survive times of need. They also placed limits on the wealthy so they would not take advantage of those who were vulnerable.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 13-1513-15. thou shalt not let him go away empty--A seasonable and wise provision for enabling a poor unfortunate to regain his original status in society, and the motive urged for his kindness and humanity to the Hebrew slave was the remembrance that the whole nation was once a degraded and persecuted band of helots in Egypt. Thus, kindness towards their slaves, unparalleled elsewhere in those days, was inculcated by the Mosaic law; and in all their conduct…Read the comment
Topics related to Deuteronomy 15:13
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Deuteronomy 15
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Calvin’s Commentaries
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
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