Tree of Life Version
Leviticus 25:39
39“If your brother has grown poor among you and sells himself to you, you must not subject him to slave labor.
Leviticus 25:39 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)And if thy brother that dwelleth by thee be waxen poor, and be sold unto thee; thou shalt not compel him to serve as a bondservant:
- New International Version (NIV)“ ‘If any of your fellow Israelites become poor and sell themselves to you, do not make them work as slaves.
- English Standard Version (ESV)"If your brother becomes poor beside you and sells himself to you, you shall not make him serve as a slave:
- New King James Version (NKJV)‘And if one of your brethren who dwells by you becomes poor, and sells himself to you, you shall not compel him to serve as a slave.
Context of Leviticus 25:39
37You are not to lend him your money at interest, nor give him your food for profit. 38I am Adonai your God, who brought you forth out of the land of Egypt, to give you the land of Canaan and to be your God. “If your brother has grown poor among you and sells himself to you, you must not subject him to slave labor. 40Let him stay with you as a hired worker or as a temporary resident. He will work for you until the Year of Jubilee, 41then he is to be released from you—he and his children with him—and may return to his own family and to the property of his fathers.
Read all of Leviticus 25Leviticus 25:39 word by word
וְכִֽי־יָמ֥וּךְ אָחִ֛יךָ עִמָּ֖ךְ וְנִמְכַּר־לָ֑ךְ לֹא־תַעֲבֹ֥ד בּ֖וֹ עֲבֹ֥דַת עָֽבֶד׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Leviticus 25:39
- Exodus 21:2“If you buy a Hebrew servant, he is to serve for six years, and in the seventh he is to go free, without payment.
- Exodus 22:3If the item is found in his hand alive—whether ox, donkey or sheep—he is to pay double.
- Deuteronomy 15:12“If your fellow Hebrew—a man or woman—is sold to you and serves you six years, then in the seventh year you are to set him free.
- 1 Kings 9:22But Solomon did not make slaves of the children of Israel, for they were the men of war, his servants, his officials, his captains, his charioteers and his horsemen.
- 2 Kings 4:1Now a certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets cried out to Elisha saying, “Your servant my husband is dead—you know that your servant feared Adonai. Now the creditor has come to take my two children to be his slaves.”
- Nehemiah 5:5And now, though we share the same flesh as our brothers, and our children are just like their children, still we subject our sons and our daughters to slavery. Some of our daughters have already been enslaved but our hands are tied since our fields and vineyards belong to others.”
- Jeremiah 34:14‘At the end of seven years you are to set free every man his brother that is a Hebrew who has been sold to you and has served you six years; you are let him go free from you.’ But your fathers did not obey Me, nor inclined their ear.
- Leviticus 25:46You may also leave them an inheritance for your children after you, to receive as a possession. These may become your slaves permanently. But over your brothers, Bnei-Yisrael, you must not rule over one another with harshness.
- Exodus 1:14and made their lives bitter with hard labor with mortar and brick, doing all sorts of work in the fields. In all their labors they worked them with cruelty.
- Jeremiah 25:14For many nations and great kings will make slaves of them also. So I will repay them according to their deeds and according to the work of their own hands.”
- Jeremiah 27:7All the nations will serve him—and his son, and his grandson—until the time of his own land comes, and then many nations and great kings will make him their slave.’
- Jeremiah 30:8It will be in that day” —it is a declaration of Adonai-Tzva’ot— “that I will break his yoke from off your neck, and will tear off your bonds. Foreigners will no longer enslave him.
Commentaries on Leviticus 25:39
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 39The 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.Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 39-55Verses 39-55 A native Israelite, if sold for debt, or for a crime, was to serve but six years, and to go out the seventh. If he sold himself, through poverty, both his work and his usage must be such as were fitting for a son of Abraham. Masters are required to give to their servants that which is just and equal, Col 4:1. At the year of jubilee the servant should go out free, he and his children, and should return to his own family. This typified…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 1-55Just as seven days made a week ending in a Sabbath day, every seven years ended with a Sabbath year. After seven Sabbath years, or 49 years, came a special year called the Year of Jubilee. Like so many holy days, these times were meant for reflecting on Israel's shared identity and their relationship with God. Every Israelite, both free and servant, had a place in God’s kingdom. So, those bound in servitude were set free during the Year of Jubilee…Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 39-4639-46. 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…Read the comment
Topics related to Leviticus 25:39
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Leviticus 25
- 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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