Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Deuteronomy 15:13
And when thou sendest him out free from thee, thou shalt not let him go away empty:
13. empty ] In Pent. only in E (Gen 31:42; Exo 3:21; Exo 23:15), J (Exo 34:20) and D (here, and Deu 16:16).
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
13, 14. Peculiar to D and characteristic of its philanthropy.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Verse 13. Thou 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.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
13-15. thou shalt not let him goaway emptyA seasonable and wise provision for enabling a poorunfortunate to regain his original status in society, and the motiveurged for his kindness and humanity to the Hebrew slave was theremembrance that the whole nation was once a degraded and persecutedband of helots in Egypt. Thus, kindness towards their slaves,unparalleled elsewhere in those days, was inculcated by the Mosaiclaw; and in all their conduct towards persons in that reducedcondition, leniency and gentleness were enforced by an appeal whichno Israelite could resist.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And when thou sendest him out free from thee,…. When he discharged him from his servitude, and made him a free man:
thou shall not let him go away empty; without anything to support himself, or to put himself in a way of business; he having in the time of his servitude worked entirely for his master, and so could not have got and saved anything for himself.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
13. And when thou sendest him out free from thee. Here not only is the enfranchisement of slaves enjoined, but an exhortation to liberality is also added, viz., that they should not send away their slaves without their hire; for this is not a civil enactment for the purpose of extorting from the avaricious more than they were willing to give. The rule of Paul here applies:
“
Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver.” (2Co 9:7.)
But, since the Hebrew slaves were brethren, God would not allow them to be placed in a worse condition than hirelings. That He commands them to be furnished out of the wine-press, and floor, and flock, does not mean that they were to be enriched, or that a large provision should be assigned to them, but He justly lays a constraint on the rich, whose varied abundance supplied them with the means of liberality; as if He would show them from whence they received their gratuitous gifts, which were at the same time a just compensation for the labors of their slaves.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
And doth not JESUS when he sends forth his brethren in the freedom of his salvation, send them forth enriched with all spiritual blessings in CHRIST JESUS? Eph 1:3 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
This is a most humane and merciful addition to the law in Exo 21:2-11, enforced upon the Israelites by the consideration of their Egyptian bondage. As a faithful servant has made no property for himself while honestly serving his master, so now, when he quits his service, he has nothing to begin the world with except what the kindness of his master may bestow upon him as a remuneration for his zeal and fidelity. Though what was to be bestowed upon servants is not fixed, yet they were to be liberally supplied – Deu 15:14. Gen 31:42, Exo 3:21, Lev 25:42-44, Pro 3:27, Pro 3:28, Jer 22:13, Mal 3:5, Col 4:1