Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Leviticus 25:45
Moreover of the children of the strangers that do sojourn among you, of them shall ye buy, and of their families that [are] with you, which they begot in your land: and they shall be your possession.
Moreover, of the children of the strangers, that do sojourn among you,…. The uncircumcised sojourners as they are called in the Targums of Onkelos and Jonathan, proselytes of the gate, such of the nations round about who came and sojourned among them, being subject to the precepts given to the sons of Noah respecting idolatry, c. but were not circumcised, and did not embrace the Jewish religion:
of them shall ye buy for bondmen and bondmaids:
and of their families that [are] with you, which they begat in your land; but, as the Targum of Jonathan adds, are not of the Canaanites; though the Jewish writers x say, that one of the nations that lies with a Canaanitish woman, and begets a son of her, he may be bought for a servant; and so if a Canaanitish man lies with one of the nations, and begets a son of her, he may also be bought for a servant:
and they shall be your possession; as servants, as bondmen and bondmaids, and be so for ever to them and their heirs, as follows.
x Torat Cohanim apud Yalkut, par. 1. fol. 195. 1.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(45) Moreover of the children of the strangers.Besides the surrounding nations, the Hebrews are also permitted to obtain their slaves from those strangers who have taken up their abode in the Holy Land. By these strangers the ancient authorities understand those who have been permitted to settle down among the Jews on condition that they submit to the seven commandments given to Noah, but have not embraced Judaism. Hence the Chaldee Version translates this phrase, the children of uncircumcised strangers.
And they shall be your possession.These, but not the Hebrews, the masters may hold as their absolute property.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
45. Children of the strangers shall ye buy It is very natural that the institution which originated in war, should be perpetuated in peace, and that the offspring of the first captives should follow the status of their parents, and that the system should embrace the children of foreigners who should offer them for sale. This often prevented the crime of infanticide, widely prevalent among the heathen. Thus was formed in the Hebrew state a sort of helot-class, mentioned especially under David (2Ch 2:17, compare with 2Sa 20:24, note, and Solomon, 1Ki 9:20; 2Ch 8:7.) This class, which was employed on the public works, is estimated at one hundred and fifty-three thousand six hundred persons. As the Old Testament never mentions the importation of slaves as chattels, nor alludes to slave-markets, it is to be supposed that no slaves proper were bought in foreign lands. The Hebrews came in contact with the Phoenician slave-trade only as sufferers. Joe 3:4-6; Amo 1:9. Among the Jews the number of servants was comparatively much smaller than the number of slaves among other nations of antiquity. In Athens the proportion of slaves to citizens at one time was as high as four to one; but among the Israelites immediately after the Babylonian captivity the servants were to the masters as one to six. Ezr 2:64-65; Neh 7:66-67. We have reason to believe that the number subsequently decreased, the influential sect of the Pharisees in particular being opposed to the system.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Isa 56:3-6
Reciprocal: Exo 21:2 – and in the Exo 21:21 – General
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
25:45 Moreover of the children of the strangers that do sojourn among you, of them shall ye buy, and of their families that [are] with you, which they begat in your land: and they shall be your {t} possession.
(t) For they shall not be bought out at the Jubile.