Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Deuteronomy 15:12
[And] if thy brother, a Hebrew man, or a Hebrew woman, be sold unto thee, and serve thee six years; then in the seventh year thou shalt let him go free from thee.
12. thy brother ] See on Deu 15:2.
an Hebrew man, or an Hebrew woman ] E, Exo 21:2, an Hebrew slave. In O.T. Hebrew is used either when foreigners are speaking of Israelites, or in order to distinguish Israelites from foreigners. Here the Heb. gives only the adj. masc. and fem., Hebrew and Hebrewess, without adding man (so Jer 34:9; Jer 34:14; cp. Gen 14:13, Abram the Hebrew and Gen 39:17 (J) the Hebrew slave). The fuller phrase Hebrew man occurs in J and E (Gen 39:14; Exo 2:11), also the plur. Hebrews (Gen 40:15; Exo 2:6; Exo 2:13, etc.). Fem. sing. only here and Jer 34:9, plur. in E (Exo 1:15, etc.). Not found in P. On the addition Hebrew woman, see Introd. 3.
be sold unto thee ] Lev 25:39 A.V.: but the vb. equally means sell himself. E, Exo 21:2, has if thou buy.
and serve ] more probably he shall serve (cp. Exo 21:2).
in the seventh year thou shalt let him go ] send or dismiss him. Neither in E nor D is there any hint of this number being suggested by the weekly sabbath; this association first appears in H’s law of the seventh fallow year, Lev 25:2 ff.
free ] the same adj. in Exo 21:2; Exo 21:5, and elsewhere of freedom from slavery.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
12 18. The Year of Remission: (2) of Slaves
If a Hebrew, man or woman, serves as a slave for six years, in the seventh he shall not only go free but be liberally equipped from his owner’s property; as Israel was a slave and redeemed by God (Deu 15:12-15). If, however, the slave elects to remain with his owner because he loves him, then he shall be bound to his service for ever (Deu 15:16 f.). Nor must his emancipation seem hard to the owner: six years’ profit from a slave is double the hire of a hireling (Deu 15:18). Sg. throughout. Whether there are any editorial additions is uncertain: the prevailing use of the masc. for slave seems to some to point to the phrase or an Hebrew woman ( Deu 15:12 ; Deu 15:17 b) as such [Holzinger, Einleitung, 313, n. 1; cp. Steuern.).
The corresponding law in E, Exo 21:1-6 (see Driver’s notes), also directs the emancipation of a Hebrew bondman after six years’ service, does not mention bondwoman (for the slave-concubine he has a further law, Deu 15:7-11) but provides (as D does not) for the bondman’s wife: if he has entered service married he takes his wife out; if his master has given him a wife she and their children remain his master’s property; and to his love for his master E adds that for his wife and children as a motive for his electing to remain. The ceremony of binding him to the service is the same as in D with an addition (see on Deu 15:17). E does not provide equipment for the freed slave.
The law in Lev 25:39-55 (H expanded by P) deals with both the Hebrew and the foreign bondman. The former is not to serve as slave but as a hired servant, up to the year of jubile (when all land returns to its original owners), and then go free with his children to his own family and his father’s possession; nothing, therefore, is said of a provision for him from his master’s goods, nor of manumission in the seventh year. Thus practically no Israelite is to be a slave: one Israelite shall not rule over another with rigour. But slaves of foreign birth or from among the grm are their purchaser’s possession for ever and heritable property. If a poor Hebrew sell himself to a foreigner, he may be redeemed by himself or his family, and a scale is fixed for his price, but if he be not redeemed by the year of jubile, he and his children shall then go free. Throughout nothing is said as to the bondman’s wife.
The gradation of these laws, though not so marked as in the case of some others, is sufficiently clear. E’s is the most primitive; D’s dependence on E is probable but not so evident as in other cases; it might be a different codification of the same consuetudinary law. Besides stating the law in his own phraseology (more particularly that of the Sg. address) and pleading motives for it which are characteristic of him (e.g. Deu 15:15 ; Deu 15:18), D has the equally characteristic addition about the equipment of the freed slave. Lev 25:39-55, with its addition upon Hebrew slaves sold to foreigners, reflects conditions which may sometimes have happened before the Exile, but were more prevalent only after it.
Besides, the postponement of the emancipation from the 7th year to that of the jubile seems to imply that E’s and D’s laws which fixed it for the former had been found impracticable; P (or H?) therefore prolongs the period of service, but compensates for this by commanding that the Hebrew slave shall be treated as a free man (Driver, Deut. 185). Calvin’s explanation that the term jubile is extended to mean every seventh year; or that the slaves to be freed at the jubile were those who refused enfranchisement in the seventh year and being so fully in their owner’s power needed the Levitical directions for their humane treatment is impossible.
On the neglect of the law see Jer 34:8 ff.; Neh 5:5.
Two other things need to be noted: (1) The causes by which Israelites fell into slavery were mainly poverty and crime. A man unable to pay the mohar or purchase money for a bride might serve for her a term of years, like Jacob (Gen 29:18); a father might sell his children, especially his daughters (Exo 21:7), either for poverty or from the wish to connect his house with that of an influential neighbour; the insolvent debtor might be sold (2Ki 4:1; Amo 2:6; Amo 8:6; Neh 5:5; Neh 5:8), or, though not a debtor, might be driven by sheer want to sell himself (Lev 25:39); or a man might be sold for theft, which he could not make good (Exo 22:2 f.; Josephus, iv. Antt. viii. 2); and there were born slaves (Gen 14:14). Stealing and selling a slave was punishable by death (Exo 21:16). (2) The condition of slaves was good. The slave of an Israelite was a member of the family, who enjoyed its religious fellowship and took part in the rites and benefits of this, e.g. the Sabbath (Deu 5:12, Deu 12:18, Deu 16:11; Exo 23:12) and must therefore have been circumcised (P expressly commands this, Gen 17:12). He had sometimes great influence and authority in the household and might marry his master’s daughter, or even become his heir (Gen 15:2 ff; Gen 24:1 ff.; 1Sa 25:14 ff.; 1Ch 2:34 f.). Even the oldest law, though it considers slaves to be their master’s property (Exo 21:21; Exo 21:32), does not allow him to kill them ( id. 20), and if he destroy the eye or tooth of a slave he must set him free (Exo 21:26 f.).
Similarly in Arabia to-day, where the condition of slaves well illustrates their condition in Israel and especially their religious standing. The treatment of course varies according to the character of the master, and in particular slaves seem less well-treated in the large towns. But on the whole the conditions of service in Arabia are good. Snouck-Hurgronje, Mekka, ii. 12 ff., 18 f.: ‘even the “slave of all work” has no hard time and all are members of the family they serve’: ‘take it all in all the condition of the Moslem slaves is one only technically different from that of the European servant and workman.’ Doughty ( Ar. Des. i. 554): ‘the condition of a slave is always tolerable and often happy in Arabia; bred up as poor brothers of the sons of the household, they are a manner of God’s wards of the pious Mohammedan householder, who is ammy, the “eme” of their servitude and aby “my father.” The patrons who paid their price have adopted them into their households, the males are circumcised and that which enfranchises their souls, even in the long passion of home-sickness God has visited them in their mishap; they can say, “ it was His grace ” since they be thereby entered into the saving religion. This therefore they think is the better country where they are the Lord’s free men, etc.’ Musil ( Ethn. Ber. 224): ‘Among the r and wt the slave is almost always married to a slave-girl and serves his lord, sleeps in his tent and accompanies him to war and on forays. Also he guards his flocks and enjoys almost perfect freedom; therefore only the very few run away. My escort, the slave ‘Abdallah, told me that he had several times visited his relatives in Egypt, but had always returned to his master, since it was better for him with the latter than at home.’ See further the notes below.
The Code of ammurabi has this law ( 117): If a man owes a debt and he has given his wife, his son or his daughter [as hostage] for the money, or has handed some one over to work it off, the hostage shall do the work of the creditor’s house; but in the fourth year he shall set them free (C. H. W. Johns, Babylonian and Assyrian Laws, etc. 52).
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Deu 15:12-18
Remember that thou wast a bondman.
Remember
In an autobiography of William Jay we read that on one occasion he called to see the famous Mr. John Newton at Olney, and he observed that over the desk at which he was accustomed to compose his sermons he had written up in very large letters the following words: Remember that thou wast a bondman in the land of Egypt, and the Lord thy God redeemed thee. To my mind this story invests the text with considerable interest; it was most fitting that such a remarkable convert as he should dwell upon such a theme, and place such a text conspicuously before his own eyes. Might it not with great propriety be placed in a similar position by each one of us? Mr. Newton lived and acted under the influence of the memory which the text commands, as was seen that very morning in his conversation with Mr. Jay. Sir, said Mr. Newton, I am glad to see you, for I have a letter just come from Bath, and you can perhaps assist me in the answer to it. Do you know anything of So-and-so (mentioning the name)? Mr. Jay replied that the man was an awful character, had once been a hearer of the Gospel, but had become a leader in every vice. But, sir, said Mr. Newton, he writes very penitently; and who can tell. Perhaps a change may have come over him. Well, said Mr. Jay, I can only say that if ever he should be converted I should despair of no one. And I, said Mr. Newton, never have despaired of anybody since I was converted myself. So, you see, as he thought of this poor sinner at Bath he was remembering that he also was a bondman in the land of Egypt, and the Lord his God had redeemed him; and why should not the same redemption reach even to this notorious transgressor and save him? The memory of his own gracious change of heart and life gave him tenderness in dealing with the erring, and hopefulness with regard to their restoration.
I. First let us consider our bondage. It was exceedingly like the bondage of the children of Israel in Egypt.
1. First, when we were unregenerate, and sold under sin, we were enslaved to a mighty power against which we could not contend. If man had been capable of his own redemption there would never have descended from heaven the Divine Redeemer; but because the bondage was all too dire for man to set himself free, therefore the eternal Son of God came hither that He might save His people from their sins. The prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience, held us beneath his iron sway, and sin exercised a tyrannical dominion over us, from which we could not break.
2. Our slavery had so degraded us that we had no heart to desire an escape. One of the worst points of slavery is, that it frequently degrades men into contentment with their condition. That would be thought by some to be a benefit, but it is a giant evil, for a man has no right to be satisfied in slavery. Such contentment is an ensign of debased manhood.
3. Remember, again, that you were in a bondage similar to that of Egypt, for while in that condition you toiled hard and found that all the service wherein Satan made you to serve was with rigour. The Israelites built treasure cities for Pharaoh, and they are supposed to have erected some of the pyramids; but their wage was very small, and their taskmasters were brutal. Could not many a sinner tell of horrible nights and woeful mornings, when under the power of his passions? Who hath woe? who hath redness of the eyes? who is filled with dread of death? who flees when no man pursueth? Of all tyrants, sin and Satan are the most cruel. If men were but in their senses, drunkenness, gambling, gluttony, wantonness, and many other vices would be rather punishments than pleasures, and yet they abide in them.
4. There was a time when, in addition to our hard toil, our bondage brought us misery. Do you not remember when you dared not think a days conduct over for the life of you? I recollect also when a sense of sin came over me; and then, indeed, my life was made bitter with hard bondage.
5. All this while our enemy was aiming at our destruction. This was what Pharaoh was driving at with Israel; he intended to cut off the nation by severe tasks, or at least to reduce its strength. As his first policy did not succeed, he set about to destroy the male children; and even so Satan, when he has men under his power, labours by all means utterly to destroy them; for nothing short of this will satisfy him. Every hopeful thought he would drown in the river of despair, lest by any means the man should shake off his yoke. The total overthrow of the soul of man is the aim of the great enemy. What a mercy to have been redeemed out of the hand of the enemy!
6. And like Israel in Egypt, we were in the hands of a power that would not let us go, Your sins captivated you. Then came the reading of the Scriptures, or a mothers exhortation, or another earnest sermon, and again the voice was heard, Thus saith the Lord, let My people go You began to feel uneasy in your condition, and to venture somewhat into the border country, but you could not escape, the iron had entered into your soul, your heart was captive. Blessed was the day when the strong man armed that kept you as a man keeps his house was overcome by a stronger than he and cast out forever. Then Jesus took possession of your nature, never to leave it, but to hold His tenancy world without end. We were bondmen in Egypt, but the Lord our God redeemed us, and let His name be praised.
II. The blessed fact of our redemption: The Lord thy God redeemed thee. Here again there is a parallel.
1. He redeemed us first by price. Israel in Egypt was an unransomed nation. God claimed of that nation the firstborn to be His. That portion had been His claim from the first, and the law was afterwards carried out by the setting apart of the Levitical tribe to take the place of the firstborn; but Israel in Egypt had never set apart its firstborn at all, and was therefore an unredeemed people. How was all that indebtedness to be made up? The nation must be redeemed by a price, and that price was set forth by the symbol of a lamb which was killed, and roasted, and eaten, while the blood was smeared upon the lintel and the two side posts. You and I have been redeemed with blood (Rev 5:9; 1Pe 1:18).
2. But there would not have been a coming out of Egypt unless there had been a display of power as well as a payment of price, for with a high hand and an outstretched arm the Lord brought forth His people. Greater than Moses rod was Christs pierced hand. Our tyrant hath no more power to hold us in chains, for Christ hath vanquished him forever.
3. Another form of redemption was also seen by Israel, namely, in the power exerted over themselves. I think sufficient stress has never been laid upon this. That they should have been willing to come out of Egypt was no small thing,–universally willing, so that not a single person remained behind. Marvellous display of power this; and so we will tell it to the praise of God this day, that He made us willing to come out of the Egypt of our sin to which we were rooted; and making us willing, He made us able too; the power of the Spirit came upon us and the might of His grace overshadowed us, and we did arise and come to our Father. Let grace have all the glory. Shall I need to press upon you, then, to let your minds fly back to the time when you realised your redemption, and came up out of the land of Egypt?
(1) It was Divine interposition. The Lord thy God redeemed thee.
(2) And it was personally experienced, for The Lord thy God redeemed thee. It was a matter of clear consciousness to your own soul. Thou wast a bondman; thou didst know it and feel it: the Lord thy Cod redeemed thee, and thou didst know it and feel that also.
III. The influence which this double memory ought to have upon you.
1. We should naturally conclude, without any reference to Scripture, that if a Christian man kept always in mind his former and his present state it would render him humble. Thou wouldst have been in hell now if it had not been for sovereign grace; or if not there, perhaps thou wouldst have been among drunkards and swearers, and lewd men and women, or at least among the proud, self-righteous Pharisees. When thou art honoured of the Lord and happy in the full assurance of faith, still remember that thou wast a bondman, and walk humbly with thy God.
2. In the next place, be grateful. If you have not all the temporal mercies that you would desire, yet you have received the choicest of all mercies, liberty through Jesus Christ, therefore be cheerful, happy, and thankful.
3. Being grateful, be patient too. If you are suffering, or if sometimes your spirits are cast down, or if you are poor and despised, yet say to yourself, Why should I complain? My lot may seem hard, yet it is nothing in comparison with what it would have been if I had been left a prisoner in the land of Egypt. Thank God, I am no longer in bondage to my sins.
4. Next, be hopeful. What may you not yet become? It doth not yet appear what we shall be. You were a bondman, but grace has set you free. Who knows what the Lord may yet make of you?
5. Then be zealous. Here earnestness should find both fire and fuel; we were bondmen, but the Lord has redeemed us. What, then, can be too hard for us to undertake for His sake? John Newton persisted in preaching even when he was really incapable of it, for he said, What, shall the old African blasphemer leave off preaching Jesus Christ while there is breath in his body? No, never. He felt that he must continue to bear testimony, for our text was always before him, Remember that thou wast a bondman in the land of Egypt, and the Lord thy God redeemed thee.
6. But now follow me while I show you the Lords own use of this remembrance; and the first text I shall quote will be found in chap. 5:14. You were a bondman. What would you have given for rest then? Now that the Lord has given you this hallowed day of rest, guard it sacredly. Rest in the Lord Jesus yourself, but endeavour to bring all your family into the same peace, that thy manservant and thy maidservant may rest as well as thou. In chap.
7. we have another use of this remembrance. Here the chosen people are commanded to keep separate from the nations. They were not to intermarry with the Canaanites, nor make alliances with them. Israel was to be separated, even as Moses said, thou art a holy people unto the Lord thy God. And the reason he gives in the eighth verse is this: the Lord redeemed thee out of the house of bondmen. Ah, if we are redeemed from among men, then as the specially blood-bought ones we are under solemn obligations to come out from the world and to be separate from it. In the eighth chapter redemption is used as an argument for obedience, and they are exhorted not to forget the laws and statutes of the Lord, and above all warned lest in the midst of prosperity their heart should be lifted up so as to forget the Lord their God, who brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage. The same argument runs through the eleventh chapter, and is a very clear one. We ought to render glad obedience to Him who has wrought us so great a deliverance. We find in the thirteenth chapter that the redemption from bondage is used as an argument for loyal attachment to the one and only God. Our own text is set in the following connection. If a man entered into forced servitude, or came under any bonds to his fellow man among the Jews, he could only be so held for six years, and on the seventh he was to go free. The Lords people should be considerate of those who are in their employment. The recollection of their own bondage should make them tender and kind to those who are in subservience to themselves, and never should a Christian man be ungenerous, illiberal, severe, churlish with his servant, or with any who are dependent upon him. There should be in a man redeemed with the blood of Christ something like nobility of soul and benevolence to his fellow men, and so even this stern book of law teaches us. I remind you that they were bound to keep the Passover because of their deliverance from Egypt as we find in the sixteenth chapter at the first verse. So let us also take heed unto ourselves that we keep all the statutes and ordinances of the Lord blamelessly. Let us keep the ordinances as they were delivered unto us, and neither alter nor misplace them. Again, in the sixteenth chapter, verses 10 to 12, you have the great redemption used as an argument for liberality towards the cause of God: they were to give unto the Lord rejoicingly of that which the Lord had given to them. Every man shall give as he is able, according to the blessing of the Lord thy God which He hath given thee; and that because of the twelfth verse, Thou shalt remember that thou wast a bondman in Egypt: and thou shalt observe and do these statutes. In the twenty-sixth chapter the same teaching is reduced to a set form, for they were there commanded to bring each one a basket of first fruits and offer it unto the Lord, saying, The Lord brought us forth out of Egypt, etc. Last of all, in the twenty-fourth chapter there remains one more lesson. We are there exhorted to be careful concerning the fatherless and the widow (Deu 24:17). A generous spirit was to be exhibited towards the poor. Be ye thoughtful of all your fellow men. You that have been redeemed with price, be ye tender-hearted, full of compassion, putting on bowels of mercy. In spiritual things take care that you never rake the corners of your fields. Do not rob the Gospel of its sweetness. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
The release of bond-servants
In this ordinance we may see–
I. An encouraging emblem. It represents–
1. The redemption which God vouchsafes to His people.
2. The mercy which He exercises towards His redeemed.
II. An instructive lesson. We are to regard Gods mercies as–
1. A pattern for our imitation.
2. A notice for our exertion. (C. Simeon, M. A.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
If thy brother be sold unto thee. See Poole “Exo 22:3“.
Six years; to be computed, either,
1. From the year of release; as they gather from hence that personal and real debts were both released together. But that seems to be supposed rather than proved; nay, there is a manifest difference between them, for the release of real debts is expressly mentioned and required in the year of release, but so is not the release of the personal debt of servitude, either here or elsewhere. Or rather,
2. From the beginning of this servitude, which is every where limited unto the space of six years, as here and below, Deu 15:18; Exo 21:2; Jer 34:14. And it seems a strange and forced exposition, to take these six years for so much of the six years as remains until the year of release, which possibly might not be one quarter of a year, whereas a hired servant serves for a far longer time, and this is said to be worth a double-hired servant, in regard of the longer time of his service, Deu 15:18. Add to this, that it is mentioned as the peculiar privilege of the year of jubilee, that such servants were then freed, though their six years of service were not expired.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
12. if thy brother, an Hebrew man,or an Hebrew woman, be sold unto theeThe last extremity of aninsolvent debtor, when his house or land was not sufficient to cancelhis debt, was to be sold as a slave with his family (Lev 25:39;2Ki 4:1; Neh 5:1-13;Job 24:9; Mat 18:25).The term of servitude could not last beyond six years. They obtainedtheir freedom either after six years from the time of their sale orbefore the end of the seventh year. At the year of jubilee, suchslaves were emancipated even if their six years of service were notcompleted [see on Le 25:39].
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And if thy brother, an Hebrew man, or an Hebrew woman, be sold unto thee,…. By others, as by the sanhedrim for theft, for which a man might be sold, but not a woman, as Jarchi observes; but then a father might sell his daughter for an handmaid, if little and under age; and to such cases this law is supposed to refer; see
Ex 21:2 though a man on account of poverty might sell himself:
and serve thee six years; as he was bound to do, if his master lived so long; if he died before the six years were out, he was obliged to serve his son, but not his daughter, nor his brother, nor his heirs, as the Jewish writers affirm g: then in the seventh year thou shalt let him go free from thee; that is, at the end of the sixth, and beginning of the seventh year; see Ex 21:2.
g Maimon. & Bartenora in Misn. Kiddushin. c. 1. sect. 2.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
These provisions in favour of the poor are followed very naturally by the rules which the Israelites were to be urged to observe with reference to the manumission of Hebrew slaves. It is not the reference to the sabbatical year in the foregoing precepts which forms the introduction to the laws which follow respecting the manumission of Hebrews who had become slaves, but the poverty and want which compelled Hebrew men and women to sell themselves as slaves. The seventh year, in which they were to be set free, is not the same as the sabbatical year, therefore, but the seventh year of bondage. Manumission in the seventh year of service had already been commanded in Exo 21:2-6, in the rights laid down for the nation, with special reference to the conclusion of the covenant. This command is not repeated here for the purpose of extending the law to Hebrew women, who are not expressly mentioned in Ex 21; for that would follow as a matter of course, in the case of a law which was quite as applicable to women as to men, and was given without any reserve to the whole congregation. It is rather repeated here as a law which already existed as a right, for the purpose of explaining the true mode of fulfilling it, viz., that it was not sufficient to give a man-servant and maid-servant their liberty after six years of service, which would not be sufficient relief to those who had been obliged to enter into slavery on account of poverty, if they had nothing with which to set up a home of their own; but love to the poor was required to do more than this, namely, to make some provision for the continued prosperity of those who were set at liberty. “ If thou let him go free from thee, thou shalt not let him go (send him away) empty: ” this was the new feature which Moses added here to the previous law. “ Thou shalt load ( , lit., put upon the neck) of thy flock, and of thy floor (corn), and of thy press (oil and wine); wherewith thy God hath blessed thee, of that thou shalt give to him.”
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
12 And if thy brother, a Hebrew man, or a Hebrew woman, be sold unto thee, and serve thee six years; then in the seventh year thou shalt let him go free from thee. 13 And when thou sendest him out free from thee, thou shalt not let him go away empty: 14 Thou shalt furnish him liberally out of thy flock, and out of thy floor, and out of thy winepress: of that wherewith the LORD thy God hath blessed thee thou shalt give unto him. 15 And thou shalt remember that thou wast a bondman in the land of Egypt, and the LORD thy God redeemed thee: therefore I command thee this thing to day. 16 And it shall be, if he say unto thee, I will not go away from thee; because he loveth thee and thine house, because he is well with thee; 17 Then thou shalt take an awl, and thrust it through his ear unto the door, and he shall be thy servant for ever. And also unto thy maidservant thou shalt do likewise. 18 It shall not seem hard unto thee, when thou sendest him away free from thee; for he hath been worth a double hired servant to thee, in serving thee six years: and the LORD thy God shall bless thee in all that thou doest.
Here is, I. A repetition of the law that had been given concerning Hebrew servants who had sold themselves for servants, or were sold by their parents through extreme poverty, or were sold by the court of judgment for some crime committed. The law was, 1. That they should serve but six years, and in the seventh should go out free, v. 12. Compare Exod. xxi. 2. And, if the year of jubilee happened before they served out their time, that would be their discharge. God’s Israel were a free people, and must not be compelled to perpetual slavery; thus are God’s spiritual Israel called unto liberty. 2. That if, when their six years’ service had expired, they had no mind to go out free, but would rather continue in service, as having less care, though taking more pains, than their masters, in this case they must lay themselves under an obligation to serve for ever, that is, for life, by having their ears bored to the door-posts,Deu 15:16; Deu 15:17. Compare Exod. xxi. 6. If hereby a man disgraced himself with some, as of a mean and servile spirit, that had not a due sense of the honour and pleasure of liberty, yet, we may suppose, with others he got reputation, as of a quiet contented spirit, humble, and diligent, and loving, and not given to change.
II. Here is an addition to this law, requiring them to put some small stock into their servants’ hands to set up with for themselves, when they sent them out of their service, Deu 15:13; Deu 15:14. It was to be supposed that they had nothing of their own, and that their friends had little or nothing for them, else they else they would have been redeemed before they were discharged by law; they had no wages for their service, and all they got by their labour was their masters’, so that their liberty would do them little good, having nothing to begin the world with; therefore their masters are here commanded to furnish them liberally with corn and cattle. No certain measure is prescribed: that is left to the generosity of the master, who probably would have respect to the servant’s merit and necessity; but the Jewish writers say, “He could not give less than the value of thirty shekels of silver, but as much more as he pleased” The maid-servants, though they were not to have their ears bored if they were disposed to stay, yet, if they went out free, they were to have a gratuity given them; for to this those words refer, Unto thy maid-servant thou shalt do likewise, v. 17. The reasons for this are taken from the law of gratitude. They must do it, 1. In gratitude to God, who had not only brought them out of Egypt (v. 15), but brought them out greatly enriched with the spoils of the Egyptians. Let them not send their servants out empty, for they were not sent empty out of the house of bondage. God’s tender care of us and kindness to us oblige us to be careful of, and kind to, those that have a dependence upon us. Thus we must render according to the benefit done unto us. 2. In gratitude to their servants, v. 18. “Grudge not to give him a little out of thy abundance, for he has been worth a double hired servant unto thee. The days of the hireling at most were but three years (Isa. xvi. 14), but he has served thee six years, and, unlike the hired servant, without any wages.” Masters and landlords ought to consider what need they have of, and what ease and advantage they have by, their servants and tenants, and should not only be just but kind to them. To these reasons it is added, as before in this chapter (Deu 15:4; Deu 15:6; Deu 15:10), The Lord they God shall bless thee. Then we may expect family blessings, the springs of family-prosperity, when we make conscience of our duty to our family-relations.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
Verses 12-18:
This is a repetition of the law stated in Exo 21:1-6, and expanded in the present text, particularly verse 14.
If a slave insisted on his freedom, the master must let him go without grudge. His six years’ of servitude was double in value to a hired servant.
The reason for this provision: a reminder of Israel’s servitude as slaves in Egypt, and of their deliverance.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
(4) SLAVERY (Deu. 15:12-18)
12 If thy brother, a Hebrew man, or a Hebrew woman, be sold unto thee, and serve thee six years; then in the seventh year thou shalt let him go free from thee. 13 And when thou lettest him go free from thee, thou shalt not let him go empty: 14 thou shalt furnish him liberally out of thy flock, and out of thy threshing-floor, and out of thy wine-press; as Jehovah thy God hath blessed thee thou shalt give unto him. 15 And thou shalt remember that thou wast a bondman in the land of Egypt, and Jehovah thy God redeemed thee; therefore I command thee this thing today. 16 And it shall be, if he say unto thee, I will not go out from thee; because he loveth thee and thy house, because he is well with thee; 17 then thou shalt take an awl, and thrust it through his ear unto the door, and he shall be thy servant for ever. And also unto thy maid-servant thou shalt do likewise. 18 It shall not seem hard unto thee, when thou lettest him go free from thee; for to the double of the hire of a hireling hath he served thee six years: and Jehovah thy God will bless thee in all that thou doest.
THOUGHT QUESTIONS 15:1218
271.
Does this text sanction some form of slavery? Cf. Exo. 21:2-6; Lev. 25:39-46.
272.
Why be careful to provide the livelihood of the former slave? Cf. Deu. 15:18.
273.
Wasnt it unreasonable to expect anyone to become a lifetime slave? Discuss.
AMPLIFIED TRANSLATION 15:1218
12 And if your brother, a Hebrew man, or a Hebrew woman, be sold to you and serve you six years, then in the seventh year you shall let him go free from you.
13 And when you send him out free from you, you shall not let him go away empty-handed;
14 You shall furnish him liberally out of your flock, your threshing floor, and your winepress; of what the Lord your God has blessed you, you shall give to him.
15 And you shall [earnestly] remember that you were a bondman in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God redeemed you; therefore I give you this command today.
16 But if the servant says to you, I will not go away from you, because he loves you and your household, since he does well with you.
17 Then take an awl and pierce his ear through to the door, and he shall be your servant always. And also to your bondwoman you shall do likewise.
18 It shall not seem hard to you when you let him go free from you; for at half the cost of a hired servant he has served you six years, and the Lord your God will bless you in all you do.
COMMENT 15:1218
Is this the same seventh year as referred to abovethe sabbath year? Probably not. It seems to refer to any six years during which the individual has been in bondage. As Deu. 15:13-14 specify, this servant was not to be left to the elements, but the spirit of love was to prompt a generous furnishing of his needs, so he could set up house for himself. If, however, he desired to stay, he could, and would be branded as specified in Deu. 15:16-17. Compare Exo. 21:2-6; also Lev. 25:39-46.
IT SHALL NOT SEEM HARD FOR THEE (Deu. 15:18)An appreciative and grateful spirit, as well as a generous one, should have kept the master from disobeying this law (Cf. Deu. 15:9).
FOR TO THE DOUBLE OF THE HIRE OF A HIRELING HATH HE SERVED THEE (Deu. 15:18)At half the cost of a hired servant (R.S.V., Amplified). . . . for at half the cost of a hired workman he has served you six years (Berkeley, and similarly rendered by several others). The master had used this mans services at a bargain pricenow let him show his appreciation and gratitude toward him.
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
(12) If thy brother, an Hebrew man, or an Hebrew woman, be sold unto thee.This law is expressly referred to in Jer. 34:9; Jer. 34:13-14, as given in the time of the Exodus, and as applicable both to men and women. It first appears in Exo. 21:2-11, where it occupies the first section of the Sinaitic code. There is no need to suppose that anything enacted here is contradictory to the Law as given there; but there are certain peculiarities about the case of the female slave which create exceptions. (See below on Deu. 15:17.) Rashi notes two fresh points in the Law as given in Deuteronomy: one concerning the Hebrew woman (an Hebrew or an HebrewessDeu. 15:12; Jer. 34:9) and another concerning the furnishing (Deu. 15:14).
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
(12) In the seventh year.This is to be understood of the Sabbatical year whenever it came. It would rarely happen that the Hebrew slave would serve for the full period of six years.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
12. In the seventh year thou shalt let him go free The seventh year was not of necessity the sabbatical year, but the seventh year from the beginning of his servitude. The humane features of the Hebrew law in respect to slavery was very marked. The slave was not only manumitted, but he was not allowed to go away in poverty.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Release Of Hebrew Bondsmen and Bondswomen ( Deu 15:12-18 ).
Similar generosity must be shown to ‘Hebrew bondsmen and bondswomen’ when they are released after their seven year contract. What follows is not simply the law relating to such as in Exo 21:1 onwards, most of which is ignored, it is rather an emphasising of attitudes of heart, both the generous attitude which must be shown to the bondspeople when they leave service, and the wonderful relationship that could have been built up between maser and servant which went even beyond that. And while Exodus 21 has in mind a foreign Habiru, here Moses is speaking of a ‘brother or sister’, an Israelite or circumcised proselyte. The emphasis is all on the generosity and love which will be pleasing to Yahweh when they come to Him in worship.
The phrase ‘Hebrew bondsman’ is an unusual one in the context of the Pentateuch so firstly we must consider what is meant by a Hebrew bondsman. Early Israel never thought of themselves as Hebrews. That idea came very much later. They were called Hebrews by outsiders and would refer to themselves as Hebrews when speaking to outsiders, but it was not a name they ordinarily applied to themselves (see Gen 14:13; Gen 39:14; Gen 39:17; Gen 41:12; Exo 1:15 to Exo 2:13). Abram was ‘the Hebrew’ to the people who composed the covenant described in Genesis 14. Joseph was ‘a Hebrew’ in Potiphar’s house and to the chief butler. The children of Israel were ‘Hebrews’ to Pharaoh. The Philistines described the Israelites as ‘Hebrews’ (1Sa 4:6; 1Sa 4:9; etc.). But in all cases the description related to the view of outsiders. It was not a name that Yahweh would apply to them or that they would apply to themselves in internal affairs. Why then is it used in this Law?
In fact it is probable that the reason foreigners saw Israel as ‘Hebrews’ was because they linked them with the landless and stateless peoples known as ‘Habiru’. The term Habiru had a long history but in all cases it referred to those who were perceived as landless and stateless, (or were insultingly to be described as such), until at some stage some settled down just as Israel did. They could be mercenaries, slaves, shepherds, miners etc. but they stood out as belonging to no country, and as being ‘have-nots’. This was why Israel were seen as Habiru by others, (although it is possible that they themselves much later took the name and altered it to ‘Hebrew’ in their writings to connect back to their ancestor Eber, making it respectable. There is, however, a slight difference etymologically even then. But the ‘coincidence’ is too striking to be ignored in the light of the Scripture we have considered).
This being so this would suggest that the Hebrew bondsman or bondswoman who are in mind in Exodus 21 are such persons, landless and stateless persons who have been bought into bondage by an Israelite, either through purchase or through a slave contract. They are persons of no status. It is quite probable that there were many such ‘Hebrew’ bondspeople who escaped among the children of Israel, for they had been in Egypt where such bondspeople were available. Here in Deuteronomy the idea is expanded to recognising that there might be Israelite ‘Hebrews’, or the idea may be of Habiru who have been circumcised and thus have become ‘brothers’.
Note first that they could only be enslaved for six years. This was stated to be because the children of Israel had been slaves in Egypt and should therefore remember and be merciful as they have received mercy (Deu 15:12). But it is significant in this regard that at Nuzi we learn that ‘Hapiru’ there similarly entered into limited servitude, limited to seven years, after which their obligation ended. Thus there seems to have been a general custom that Habiru/Hapiru contracts were for seven years. The point therefore being stressed here is that the seventh year of service must not be required of them in view of Israel’s own deliverance from bondage.
So Israel were to be more generous. While theirs was also a seven year contract, they were to give him the seventh year free so that his obligation finished after six years, by this mean taking into account the principles of the Sabbath.
Thus the seven year contract for Hapiru/Habiru seems to have been a general custom of the time. As is pointed out in Deu 15:18 this was double the normal length of service for an Israelite. Three years are the years of a hired servant (Isa 16:14).
However here in Deuteronomy Moses is looking at a slightly different situation than that in Exodus 21 for in contrast this man or woman are seen as a ‘brother/sister’, and are not described as ‘slaves’. It is not the six years or the seven years that is in mind here but the attitude when the persons are released.
Analysis in the words of Moses:
a If your brother, a Hebrew man, or a Hebrew woman, be sold to you, and serve you six years, then in the seventh year you shall let him go free from you (Deu 15:12).
b And when you let him go free from you, you shall not let him go empty, you shall furnish him liberally out of your flock, and out of your threshing-floor, and out of your winepress: as Yahweh your God has blessed you, you shall give to him (Deu 15:13-14).
c And you will remember that you were a bondsman in the land of Egypt (Deu 15:15 a)
c And Yahweh your God redeemed you, therefore I command you this thing today (Deu 15:15).
b And it shall be, if he say to you, “I will not go out from you,” because he loves you and your house, because he is well with you, then you shall take an awl, and thrust it through his ear to the door, and he shall be your servant for ever. And also to your maidservant you shall do likewise. (Deu 15:16-17).
a It shall not seem hard to you, when you let him go free from you, for to the double (or ‘equivalence’) of the hire of a hireling has he served you six years, and Yahweh your God will bless you in all that you do (Deu 15:18).
Note that in ‘a’ the Hebrew servant is to be released after only six years of the seven, and in the parallel the master must not be annoyed about this for he has had a good six years of service from him and he can know that Yahweh his God will bless him for it. In ‘b’ he must let him go well provided for, and in the parallel if the servant does not wish to go free because he loves the household he may be indentured ‘for ever’, and that will be equal to him as being well provided for. In ‘c’ and its parallel this will be because they remember that they were bondsmen in the land of Egypt and were redeemed by Yahweh from it. That is why Yahweh feels that He can justly demand this ‘favour’.
Deu 15:12
‘ If your brother, a Hebrew man, or a Hebrew woman, be sold to you, and serve you six years, then in the seventh year you shall let him go free from you.’
“Brother” need not always indicate an Israelite. The term can be used of any close relationship such as there would be here. But in Deuteronomy ‘brother’ does almost always refer to an Israelite, (although Edom is called a brother – Deu 23:7), and especially in this chapter, sometimes even being contrasted with the ‘foreigner’. Thus it would seem that we have here the unfortunate example of an Israelite man or woman (or a proselyte) who had fallen on such hard times that they had become the equivalent of a Habiru even in Israelite eyes, and were being treated as such. They had lost their land and were seen as a kind of refugee, having had to sell themselves into bondage under a seven year bond.
We should note that there were a variety of different forms of service in Israel (and among their neighbours). Putting it simply these included hired servants, debt slaves who had to work off a debt by a period of service, and people who entered into a bond to perform service for a certain period in return for an initial payment or a guarantee of a livelihood or some other basis of obligation (bondsmen). The Habiru often survived in this way so that ‘a Hebrew man’ probably means that this man was taken on on the same basis as a Habiru. Then there were foreign slaves who were purchased or captured, and so on. The position of these last was permanent. But Lev 25:39-41 says that no Israelite must be enslaved by another Israelite. He may be purchased but he must be treated as though he were a hired servant and released in the year of Yubile. There the idea was of a permanent ‘slavery’ situation, but somewhat ameliorated because the person was an Israelite. That is different from here.
This person is seen as under a typical Habiru seven year contract, but because he/she is an Israelite (either trueborn or proselyte) they are not called slaves (in contrast with Exodus 21), while still having the same responsibilities. They presumably had to be treated as a hired servant as in the provision in Leviticus 25. But this was a different type of obligation from that in Leviticus. It was simply a seven year bond, although as in Leviticus the word ‘slave’ was not used. The fact that he/she was an Israelite (including proselytes) would explain why nothing needed to be said about wife and children on his departure. They would, as a family, already be within the covenant (contrast the position in Exodus 21), and therefore would not need to be divided. They would be released with him/her, for when they went out it would not be outside the covenant situation. In Exodus a non-member of the covenant was in mind, which was why the issue of what happened to his wife and children became important.
But the point is that here this Israelite is being bound by a standard Habiru contract to serve for seven years, although in fact because of the sabbath laws he/she will only be required to serve six years. He/she is to be let free in the seventh year.
Deu 15:13-14
‘ And when you let him go free from you, you shall not let him go empty, you shall furnish him liberally out of your flock, and out of your threshing-floor, and out of your winepress: as Yahweh your God has blessed you, you shall give to him.’
But because he is a brother/sister, when he is released he must be amply provided for with food of all kinds, on a level consonant with the wealth of the master who releases him. The master must give as Yahweh has blessed him and provide for him liberally with ample food and wine to take with him. He must not go away empty.
Deu 15:15
‘ And you will remember that you were a bondsman in the land of Egypt, and Yahweh your God redeemed you, therefore I command you this thing today.’
And the master will do this generously because he will remember that he himself had been a bondsman in the land of Egypt, and that he himself had been delivered by Yahweh Who had bought him out of his bondage. In gratitude he will be as generous as Yahweh has been to him. It is this generosity to his bondsman that is the major emphasis here. It will bring pleasure to Yahweh.
Deu 15:16
‘ And it shall be, if he say to you, “I will not go out from you,” because he loves you and your house, because he is well with you,’
However, even an Israelite bondsman/woman may prefer such service to being released and having to face the world. We must not compare this with slavery as known in the last few hundred years. In those days such people could hold high and privileged positions and be seen as one of the family. They may well prefer to remain in their cosy sinecure. In that case they could request to become an ‘ebed ‘olam (a perpetual henchman), regularly someone of value and importance. Such slaves were known from elsewhere and are mentioned at Ugarit. This might especially appeal to an older person without family, or someone who might find it difficult to build a life on the ‘outside’. They would have a place for life in a satisfactory environment, loving and being loved.
Note here that in contrast with Exodus 21 the reason for wanting to stay is love for the master. It is totally amicable and with no constraint. There was no danger in this case (in the case of the bondsman) of him not being able to take his wife with him, for both would continue within the covenant (see for this our commentary on Exodus). But he does not want to go out because he loves his master.
Deu 15:17
‘ Then you shall take an awl, and thrust it through his ear to the door, and he shall be your servant for ever. And also to your maidservant you shall do likewise.’
This ceremony is paralleled in Exodus 21 but there it is an official one before justices. It may in fact also be so here, but if it is Moses does not mention it. It may, however, be that because he/she is an Israelite it could be more informal. The fastening of the ear to the door represented him/her as becoming a member of the household for ever. He/she had been permanently adopted into the household. All would recognise their ‘attachment’ to the household.
Deu 15:18
‘ It shall not seem hard to you, when you let him go free from you, for to the double (or ‘equivalence’) of the hire of a hireling has he served you six years, and Yahweh your God will bless you in all that you do.’
On the other hand if the person opts for freedom, the contract being ended, the master must not be grudging about it. He has after all performed double the service of a hired servant (three years – Isa 16:14). Or it may mean ‘the equivalent service of a hired servant’. And the master is promised that Yahweh will see his generous attitude and bless him in all he does.
The point behind all this is the generosity of spirit that must be shown, especially to fellow-members of the covenant, which will be pleasing to Yahweh, especially when worshipping at the Central Sanctuary, a matter which Moses now returns to. It goes along with their having been chosen by Yahweh and redeemed from bondage.
Not many of us have Habiru bondsmen whom we have to release. But many do release people who have been working for them for years, and all of us are sometimes obliged to people for service performed. The principle is that we too should be generous when the situation ceases.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
The Release of Hebrew Servants
v. 12. And if thy brother, an Hebrew man or an Hebrew woman, be sold unto thee and serve thee six years, then in the seventh year thou shalt let him go free from thee. v. 13. And when thou sendest him out free from thee, v. 14. thou shalt furnish him liberally out of thy flock and out of thy floor, v. 15. And thou shalt remember that thou wast a bondman in the land of Egypt, and the Lord, thy God, redeemed thee; therefore I command thee this thing today. v. 16. And it shall be, if he say unto thee, I will not go away from thee, because he loveth thee and thine house, v. 17. then thou shalt take an awl and thrust it through his ear unto the door, and he shall be thy servant forever. And also unto thy maid-servant thou shalt do likewise. v. 18. It shall not seem hard unto thee, when thou sendest him away free from thee,
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
DISCOURSE: 209
THE RELEASE OF BOND-SERVANTS
Deu 15:12-15. If thy brother, an Hebrew man, or an Hebrew woman, be sold unto thee, and serve thee six years; then in the seventh year thou shalt let him go free from thee. And when thou sendest him out free from thee, thou shalt not let him go away empty: thou shalt furnish him liberally out of thy flock, and out of thy floor, and out of thy wine-press: of that wherewith the Lord thy God hath blessed thee thou shalt give unto him. And thou shalt remember that thou wast a bond-man in the land of Egypt, and the Lord thy God redeemed thee: therefore I command thee this thing to-day.
BENEVOLENCE characterized the whole of the Jewish law; as well of that law which regulated the state, as of that which was to govern the souls of individuals. Some things indeed were tolerated under that dispensation which do not accord with the more sublime morality of the Gospel. Polygamy and divorce were suffered, on account of the hardness of the peoples hearts, and in order to prevent the still greater evils which would have resulted from the entire prohibition of them. Slavery also was permitted for the same reasons: but still there were restraints put upon men in relation to these things, and many regulations were framed, to counteract the abuses which were likely to flow from the licence afforded them. It was permitted to men to purchase slaves, and that even from among their brethren. But an express command was given, that no man should rule over them with rigour; that every slave should be liberated after six years of service; and that ample provision should be made for him on his dismission, in order that he might be able in future to support himself. It is of this ordinance that we are now to speak: and in it we may see,
I.
An encouraging emblem
As the whole of the ceremonial law, so parts also of the judicial law, were of a typical nature. This appointment in particular emblematically represented two things;
1.
The redemption which God vouchsafes to his people
[Both Scripture and experience attest, that all mankind are in a state of bondage. They are tied and bound with the chain of their sins: they are led captive by the devil at his will But the time is come when we are permitted to assert our liberty. The Lord Jesus Christ has proclaimed liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound: and it must be by our own voluntary consent alone that we can be retained any longer in our former bondage. Whatever had been the occasion of the Hebrew servants bondage, whether he had sold himself through poverty, or been sold by a relentless creditor to pay his debts, or been sentenced to such a punishment by the civil magistrate for his crimes, he was equally free the very moment that the six years of his servitude were expired. Thus it is with us: there is no room to ask in desponding strains, Shall the prey be taken from the mighty, or the lawful captive delivered [Note: Isa 49:24-25.]? for the truth now sounds in our ears, and the truth shall make us free [Note: Joh 8:32.]. As surely as ever Moses was sent to the oppressd Israelites to deliver them, so surely are the tidings of salvation now sent to us: and though our tyrannical master may use his utmost efforts to keep us in subjection, he shall not prevail. The Lord Jesus Christ is come to deliver us; and if the Son make us free, we shall be free indeed [Note: Joh 8:36.].]
2.
The mercy which he exercises towards his redeemed
[There was a direction given to Moses, that the people at their departure from Egypt should borrow of their neighbours jewels of silver and jewels of gold, and that they should spoil the Egyptians; When ye go, said God to them, ye shall not go empty [Note: Exo 3:21-22.]. In like manner this injunction was given to the Hebrew master, at the time when he should be required to liberate his slave; Thou shall not let him go away empty: thou shalt furnish him liberally out of thy flock, and out of thy floor, and out of thy wine-press: of that wherewith the Lord thy God hath blessed thee, thou shalt give unto him. And is it not thus that God deals with his redeemed people? Does he require any man to go a warfare at his own charges? True it is, he does not set up his people with a stock of grace, that they may afterwards live independent of him; but he will supply all their need out of the fulness which he has treasured up for them in Christ Jesus: and out of that fulness they shall all receive, even grace for grace [Note: Col 1:19 with Joh 1:16.]. Yes assuredly, this picture shall be realized in all who assert their liberty: for they that fear the Lord shall want no manner of thing that is good.]
But besides this emblematical representation, there is in the test,
II.
An instructive lesson
The Hebrew masters were bidden to remember, that they themselves were once bond-men in the land of Egypt, and that on that very account God had given them this command in relation to their bond-slaves. From hence it appears, that we are to regard Gods mercies,
1.
As a pattern for our imitation
[When Israel were groaning under their burthens in Egypt, God said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people; I know their sorrows: and on another occasion we are told, His soul was grieved for the misery of Israel [Note: Jdg 10:16.]. And when once they were liberated from their bondage, what incessant kindness did he shew them, administering to all their wants, and fulfilling all their desires! This was the conduct which the Hebrew masters were to imitate: and this tenderness, this compassion, this sympathy, this love, is to characterize his people to the end of time. Remarkable is that direction given us by the Apostle Paul; Be ye followers (imitators [Note: , Eph 5:1-2.]) of God, as dear children; and walk in love, as Christ has loved us. Here the same principle is established: we are to imitate God in all his imitable perfections, and especially in that which is the crown and summit of them all, unbounded love. We are, as far as it is possible for finite creatures to do it, to tread in the very steps of Christ himself, and to follow him even in that stupendous effort of love, his dying on the cross; for St. John, having spoken of his love in laying down his life for us, adds, And we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren [Note: 1Jn 3:16.]. What an object for our ambition is here! O that we might be satisfied with nothing short of this! that instead of admiring ourselves on account of more common exercises of love, we might rather see how defective we are even in our best duties; and might learn to overlook all past attainments as nothing, and to be pressing forward for higher degress of conformity to our God and Saviour [Note: Php 3:13-15.]!]
2.
As a motive for our exertion
[The mercy vouchsafed to the Jewish nation was to operate on all of them as an incentive to obedience; and, as God has required acts of love to our brethren as the best evidence of our love to him, it is in that more especially that we must endeavour to requite the loving-kindness of our God. The man that grudges a few pence to a fellow-servant after having been forgiven by his Lord a debt of ten thousand talents, can expect nothing but indignation from the hands of God [Note: Mat 18:32-34.]. The true spirit of Gods redeemed people was well exemplified in the Apostle Paul, when he declared, The love of Christ constraineth us, because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead; and that he died for all, that they who live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto Him who died for them, and rose again. If then we have any hope that we ourselves have been partakers of mercy, let us feel our obligations, and say with David, What shall I render unto the Lord for all the benefits that he hath done unto me? and, if we have in ourselves an evidence that God hath bought us with a price, let us strive to the uttermost to glorify him with our bodies and our spirits, which are his [Note: 1Co 6:20.].]
Address,
1.
Those who are yet in bondage to sin and Satan
[Why should you continue in bondage another day? May not the past rime suffice to have served such hard masters? and is not liberty at this moment proclaimed to you? Behold, this is the accepted time, this is the day of salvation. Think not of the difficulties that are in your way, but of the power that will enable you to surmount them. He who rescued Israel from Egypt, yet liveth: and will shew himself strong in behalf of all who call upon him. If you continue in your bondage. O think of the wages that you will receive! the wages of sin is death:but if you assert your liberty, you shall be numbered among the freemen of the Lord, and have him for your portion in time and in eternity.]
2.
Those who profess to have been freed from their bondage
[You have seen wherein you are to glorify your God. Remember, that it is in relative life especially you are to shew forth the power of divine grace. Let it be seen in your households, that you are enabled to walk worthy of your high calling. It is in your families that the truth and excellence of your principles is to be displayed. It is easy enough to be kind and liberal abroad: but look to it that these graces are exercised at home: let your wife, your children, your servants, reap the benefit of your conversion. Let liberality be in your hearts, and the law of kindness in your lips. Shew that religion is an operative principle: and that it is uniform in its operation: and know that a profession of religion without such an exhibition of its power, will be accounted no better than hypocrisy either by God or man. If you would be approved of God at last, you must adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour in all things.]
Fuente: Charles Simeon’s Horae Homileticae (Old and New Testaments)
Observe, it is a brother that is here spoken of: one included in the covenant promises. To everyone of this character there is a year of release, whether male or female. Col 3:11 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Great Principles Applied
Deu 15:12-18
It appears, then, that even bondage does not destroy brotherhood. Observe how the permanent and the temporary are joined in this verse. The brother continues for ever. It is not brotherhood but slavery that ceases. When the man goes out he goes out a brother: his old yesterday of bondage is a cloud blown away; but the fraternal instinct and the fraternal responsibility can only end with life. Yet how wonderfully accidents or temporary circumstances modify all things and create somewhat curious and often difficult relations between man and man! Why should one brother be master and another brother be bondman? The question cannot be answered abstractly or argumentatively. We must recognise facts as they are. Of all the most obvious facts which appeal to our attention there is none more obvious than that one man is set over another, that one man is destined, for a period at least, to be the servant of another. Were we creating a society upon a philosophical basis we might try to create some other kind of structure; but we are not called to the creation of society but to its interpretation. We are servants one of another. The Queen is the subject of her kingdom. No man can be a true king who is not first a subject. There is a greater king than any merely nominal monarch who represents an individuality: a kinghood of humanity, the royalty of right, the princeliness of strength helping weakness and being the guarantee of weakness against unjust and overwhelming oppression. Let the situation be accepted. To chafe under the yoke is to destroy some of our best faculties and to render progress simply impossible. Good is to be obtained from servitude. We learn to rule by learning to serve; we learn to be good men by being good little children. There is a period of bondage in every life. Even those who are apparently born to great masterliness and even royalty have to stoop and serve and accept discipline and find their way to any throne worth occupying through a process of labour and self-denial.
“And when thou sendest him out free from thee, thou shalt not let him go away empty” ( Deu 15:13 ).
Duty on the one side does not end with service on the other. We ought to be careful how we apply this word duty to our life. Duty is in some respects a cold word, and quite measurable: it begins at a certain chime of the clock, and ends with a certain other and nameable chime; it lives within the day; it does not carry its work home with it, or dream about it, or discover the poetry and religiousness of service; it is in some respects duty mere duty, very severe duty, performed to the last jot and tittle; but still it is only a hireling’s service. The Lord would add love to duty; he would add beauty to strength. The value of the gift is at the point where it begins to run over. What we give is to be given after the fashion of a vessel filled, filled to the brim, pressed down, running over; with somewhat of the poetry of wastefulness about it wastefulness, that is, as interpreted by dull and worldly eyes, but quite celestial poetry and music after the fashion of the Cross of Christ, when viewed by him who is the Giver of every good and every perfect gift. We cannot do our duty to a good servant; there must be more than duty; there must be remembrance, thoughtfulness, gratitude, downright, frank affection: for the work has been well done: no hireling fingers have touched it, but a devoted heart has thought about it, dreamed about it, planned it in a hundred different ways, and loving attention has been given to every detail. Let no man leave your life empty-handed. You may give him at least a flower, a smile, a grip with meaning in it, a look charged with the radiance of gratitude. Do not regard life as a temporary arrangement, and all social relations but so many mechanical puttings together for transient and vanishing ends; life should be a religious solidity, a complete unity, so that whether one member suffer all the members shall suffer with it, or whether one member rejoice all the members shall share its gladness. Towards this happy consolidation of social relations and rights all things under Christian inspiration are tending; whilst they are tending in this direction there will be misunderstanding, jarring, somewhat of bitterness of criticism, it may be, and a good deal of exasperation and reproach: yet all the while the central line is moving towards understanding, sympathy, confidence, liberality. All good work should be well rewarded, and all human connections should be so conducted that it costs the heart grief to give them up. Men have been so brought into unity of mind and feeling in a short Atlantic trip that the good-bye spoken the last day on the ship has quite made strong men quiver with tender emotion. The breaking-up of the ship’s company seemed to have in it the breaking-up of all things; men go on their different ways: they see one another no more; they remember the days and the nights, and the talks upon the dreary waste of water, and one touch of the hand dissolves the company. How sad to part in ill-feeling, with misunderstanding and bitterness of heart! and how sadder still only with a solemn and noble pathos to part in real friendship, genuine love, mutual, unquestioning trust and confidence! The parting will come; we can so arrange our relations now that when the parting comes its sorrow shall be sweet, its sadness shall be but a cloud for a moment veiling a celestial light.
The same idea is continued in the fourteenth verse:
“Thou shalt furnish him liberally out of thy flock, and out of thy floor, and out of thy winepress.” ( Deu 15:14 )
He who has served well should be treated well. That must be the law in all our life. We must have done with all merely mechanical and hireling relations if ever we are to realise Christ’s idea of society. There should be no orphan children; there should be no unattended sick; there should be no outcast city. It is worse than vain it reaches the highest point of profanity; it aggravates itself, indeed, into an appalling blasphemy that we should first cast out the city and then make a charity of attending to the city we have outcast. Something has to be done within all operating social arrangements that will prevent the catastrophe. Service has no right to end in poverty. After a man’s day’s work is done he should carry with him liberally out of the flock, and out of the floor, and out of the winepress; this he should do by right: the issue should not be a happy accident but a logical and just conclusion. The idea is of universal application. If any man be mean enough to serve as a man-pleaser and with a view to the ultimate bounty, he ought to be disappointed and disappointed he certainly will be. All such men will exist to the end of time; but we cannot arrange society upon a basis of suspicion and distrust Whoever has served well should have a quiet eventide, no wolf of hunger pursuing him, no dark cloud lying over the roof like a burden which the house can but ill bear. Preacher, merchant, thinker, writer, tradesman of every kind, master, servant the time of labour completed should go into green pastures, and walk by still waters, and have a quiet watching and waiting time, bread being given and water being made sure, and a “Well done, good and faithful servant,” floating upon the whole life like a blessing from heaven. Many men render this impossible by their own misconduct Misconduct would ruin creation; a selfish and rebellious spirit would render heaven impossible, on earth or otherwhere. Why fix attention upon the exceptions unless it be with a view to reduce their number? Our love-duty remains the same. If we would be well served we must rule well. It seems as if we escaped with all our bounty: we allowed the good servant, of whatever name or degree, to go, and we gave nothing; the arrangement that had existed for years two, four, six, seven years was dissolved without a single gift out of the flock, or the floor, or the winepress; and we have reasoned that therefore we have saved so much. It is a fallacy. That is a selfishness that lives upon its own life-blood. Only generosity can be happy; only liberality puts the top-stone on justice. In forgetting the liberal donation we have laid up wrath against the day of wrath even for our own souls: we have shut out light from the south: we have wronged our own spirits.
“And thou shalt remember that thou wast a bondman in the land of Egypt, and the Lord thy God redeemed thee: therefore I command thee this thing today” ( Deu 15:15 ).
Memory should be called in to the aid of duty. We must not forget the great general principles in looking at the momentary details. One man is master, we say; but only in a very narrow sense. The master now was himself once a slave. We were all slaves. If any man now is good, he must remember the mire out of which he was lifted, and the hole out of which he was digged. No man amongst us has come down from the untainted clouds, and is conferring a favour upon human society by mingling with it. The whitest robe is blackness compared with the snow of celestial righteousness. We are respectable as amongst ourselves and between ourselves, and in contrast with other nameable people; but boasting ourselves amongst ourselves we become foolish: the standard is not with us: “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.” The great principle of this direction involves all life. Memory is to play a wonderful part in the education of the soul. When we see a prodigal, are we to gather our skirts about us and assume a relation of severe respectability to the poor sore-footed wanderer? Remember we are all prodigals. One man is seen more upon the road than another, and is more obviously departing from the Father’s house; but movement is a very subtle action. Some men move in the night-time, ay, they move at flying pace! In the day they are at church: in the light they are demure: in society they are irreproachable; but no sooner does the cloud curtain out the sun no sooner does night come than they fly: their feet are swift in the way of destruction. Remember! When we hear of men getting wronged in this way or in that way in the city, at home, in all the various relations of life it suits our illicit and calculated piety to sigh over the ruin which we have perceived. It may be a hypocritical sigh. Remember! We need not go into words; reproach is useless. Let the soul look backward steadily, closely, fully, critically and in that retrospect there will be fire enough to light a hell. We are cursed through not looking back far enough. We now have “respectable” people in the Church the Church that ought to be the gathering-ground of prodigals, broken hearts, shattered lives, a place of tears! It has become a boasting-ground the paradise of a Pharisee. We have forgotten the Egypt of our own bondage and humiliation.
“It shall not seem hard unto thee, when thou sendest him away free from thee; for he hath been worth a double hired servant to thee, in serving thee six years” ( Deu 15:18 ).
Religious inspiration should be mightier than selfish instincts. Man must be conquered by God. That which is natural must be chastened out of the soul: “Ye must be born again.” Does it not seem a hard thing for a servant to be taking away liberally out of the flock, and out of the floor, and out of the winepress? Does it not seem a hard thing that the servant should have both hands filled and should be blessed with a sense of fulness and prosperity? It all might have been saved. Such is the reasoning of the hard heart. Whatever you save as against righteousness, justice, and love has no lasting in it: there is a ghost among the money. God’s judgment or blessing rests upon the whole flock, floor, and winepress. The money saved from the man who had a right to it shall be lost. Do not imagine that God has abandoned all the commercial relations of life and handed over marts and exchanges to the dominion of the devil. The Lord still reigneth, and all history, interpreted by a Christian spirit, ends in this: that whoever endeavours selfishly to upset the divine regulation is never really the richer for the money he has stolen. We dare not spend stolen money: we are quite sure if we lay it down on the counter that the man who looks at it will see written upon it “This money was stolen.” We dare not unroll the sheaf of stolen notes: in the very crinkle of the paper there is an accusation. Honest money goes far, and brings sweetness with it and light and hope, and a blessing full of unction may be asked upon the little loaf bought by the honestly-earned penny. Whatever we have let it be honest money, and then the more we have the more everybody else will have, for we shall be but trustees and stewards, sowing with both hands and reaping with both hands night and day. This is God’s law; this doctrine lies at the very root of divine legislation and social economy.
All this would be interesting in itself, and would be full of holy and happy impulse as mere matter of history Hebrew, or Greek, or Roman; but the matter does not end there. The legislator is seen in the legislation. You find the mind of God in the law of God. What does God ask? He only asks what he has first given. The fourteenth verse proves this:
“…of that wherewith the Lord thy God hath blessed thee thou shalt give unto him.” ( Deu 15:14 )
We do not create property; we do not create gold. It pleases us to think ourselves creators and proprietors, and it delights our misguided spirits to constitute ourselves into boards of directors and managers and comptrollers: whereas we have nothing that we have not received; a Voice sounds from heaven, saying, The gold and the silver are mine, and the cattle upon a thousand hills; all souls are mine. God opens his hand and satisfies the desire of every living thing. God only asks what he has first given; the Giver condescends to become the Suppliant. Reading such legislation, how easy it is for us to believe that “God is love”! It required a highly spiritual Christian to put that revelation into words: “God is love” but all such sayings go back over the whole field of history, and express in their conciseness what all the best men have been long thinking. One of the greatest of our departed statesmen defined a proverb as “the wisdom of many, and the wit of one.” So with this sentence, “God is love”; it is the instinct of many; it is the experience of many; it is the utterance of one. The Old Testament is as full of love as the New Testament. The legislation of Moses culminates in the redemption of Christ.
Selected Note
“And thou shalt remember that thou wast a bondman in the land of Egypt, and the Lord thy God redeemed thee: therefore I command thee this thing today” ( Deu 15:15 ). The Israelites were frequently reminded, after their exode from Egypt, of the oppressions they endured in that “house of bondage” from which they had been delivered by the direct interposition of God. The design of these admonitions was to teach them justice and kindness towards their servants when they should become settled in Canaan (Deu 5:15 ; Deu 8:14 ; Deu 10:19 ; Deu 15:15 ; Deu 23:7 , etc.), as well as to impress them with gratitude towards their great Deliverer. The Egyptians had domestic servants, who may have been slaves (Exo 9:14 , Exo 9:20-21 ; Exo 11:5 ). But the Israelites were not dispersed among the families of Egypt they formed a special community. They had exclusive possession of the land of Goshen, “the best part of the land of Egypt.” They lived in permanent dwellings, their own houses, and not in tents ( Exo 12:22 ). Each family seems to have had its own house (Exo 12:4 ; comp. Act 7:20 ); and judging from the regulations about eating the passover, they could scarcely have been small ones (Exod, xii., etc.). They appear to have been well clothed ( Exo 12:11 ). They owned “flocks and herds, and very much cattle” (Exo 12:4 , Exo 12:6 , Exo 12:32 , Exo 12:37-38 ). They had their own form of government; and although occupying a province of Egypt, and tributary to it, they preserved their tribes and family divisions, and their internal organisation throughout. The service required from the Israelites by their taskmasters seems to have been exacted from males only, and probably a portion only of the people were compelled to labour at any one time. As tributaries, they probably supplied levies of men, from which the wealthy appear to have been exempted (Exo 3:16 ; Exo 4:29 ; Exo 5:20 ). The poor were the oppressed; “and all the service, wherewith they made them serve, was with rigour” ( Exo 1:11-14 ). But Jehovah saw their “afflictions and heard their groanings,” and delivered them, after having inflicted the most terrible plagues on their oppressors.
Prayer
Almighty God, thou hast set apart a time for worship, and a place for the sacrifice of praise. This is the day the Lord hath made: we will rejoice and be glad in it; this is the place where the Lord’s name is recorded: here he will be and show himself unto those who lift up towards him eyes of expectation. We bless thee for the holy time, for the holy place, and for the holy book, a time that is separate, a place that is made a sanctuary, a book that stands above all other books, alone in its completeness and authority. May we understand these appointments, and respond to all their meaning: may the time be as a jewel among the days; may the place sanctify our habitations; may the book inspire and direct our thought and feeling and action. Thus, may we be the better not the worse for our meeting together in thy name: may we feel the mystery of sympathy; may we enter into the joy of fellowship; may we have communion one with another and with our Lord Jesus Christ by the power of the Holy Ghost. Thus, united in thy love and worshipping at thine altar, we shall be prepared to endure the burden and the suffering of life, and to wait with expectancy and hope the day of thine appearing. We bless thee for the flowers in the wilderness, for water among the rocks, for a cooling breeze at noonday; for all the mercy and lovingkindness, so tender and abundant, which have followed us all the days of our life, and made it a time of sunshine and liberty. That we have not lived up to all this call of thine, enforced by providences so tender, and ennobled by a pathos so wondrous as the sacrifice of thy Son, is our bitterest complaint: we accuse ourselves; we know that we have come short in all things, and that we have offended against thee. But thy mercy is great to forgive as well as to provide; thy lovingkindness is a redemption as well as a providence; so we come to the Cross, owning our sickness of heart, our rebellion of will, our whole evil-mindedness, asking for the pardon of God. Comfort us according to our necessities; how many they are thou knowest, how bitter and sharp thou alone canst tell. Withhold not thy consolations: let thy solaces be more in number than our sufferings; then shall we magnify God in the house of our affliction. Regard our loved ones for whom it is our delight to pray. Some are not here: they are far away upon the sea, or beyond the sea, in strange lands, in difficult places; or they are in the chamber of sickness, or in the shadow of a great sorrow, counting their loss, and not able to find the gain which thou hast hidden amid its tears; the Lord look upon them, be tender and gracious unto them, comfort them with stimulus, that they may be stirred up to nobler service and not be allowed to sink under the burden of their grief. Make the old young; make the young glad with a double joy; and may business teach us that we are children of heaven and not of earth, of eternity and not of time, and that there are no good things to be found below which can satisfy the capacity of the soul.
The Lord hear us in these things: his attention shall be a. blessing; his condescending to listen shall be a help; and as for the reply the holy answer, the gracious response of Heaven will it be less than the Cross? Will it be more than the earth and time can receive? Will it be a surprise of benefaction? We know it will be worthy, of the name in which our prayer is prayed, and there we rest. Amen.
Fuente: The People’s Bible by Joseph Parker
Deu 15:12 [And] if thy brother, an Hebrew man, or an Hebrew woman, be sold unto thee, and serve thee six years; then in the seventh year thou shalt let him go free from thee.
Ver. 12. In the seventh year, ] viz., Since he was sold unto thee.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Deu 15:12-17
12If your kinsman, a Hebrew man or woman, is sold to you, then he shall serve you six years, but in the seventh year you shall set him free. 13When you set him free, you shall not send him away empty-handed. 14You shall furnish him liberally from your flock and from your threshing floor and from your wine vat; you shall give to him as the LORD your God has blessed you. 15You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the LORD your God redeemed you; therefore I command you this today. 16It shall come about if he says to you, ‘I will not go out from you,’ because he loves you and your household, since he fares well with you; 17then you shall take an awl and pierce it through his ear into the door, and he shall be your servant forever. Also you shall do likewise to your maidservant.
Deu 15:12 This is literally brother (BDB 26), but used in the national sense of covenant partner or kinsman (cf. Lev 19:17; Lev 25:25; Lev 25:35-36; Lev 25:39; Lev 25:47; Deu 15:12; Deu 17:15). It emphasized a national unity vs. a tribal or family distinctiveness. This terminology and theology is similar to Gal 6:10.
Hebrew The word Hebrew (BDB 720, KB 782) is a rare OT word. This refers to either (1) the racial descendants of Eber, Shem’s grandson (cf. Gen 10:21; (2) a term that describes a large group of Semites (Habiru) in the Ancient Near East, who migrated across Mesopotamia as nomads in the second millennium B.C.; or (3) a loose group of poor foreign laborers (the term used by foreigners to describe Abraham’s, Jacob’s and Joseph’s family).
man or woman This shows legal equality (cf. Deu 15:17, also note Gen 1:26-27). Earlier law codes separated them (i.e., men – Exo 21:2-6; women – Exo 21:7-11). This was a radical departure from the Code of Hammurabi, a Babylonian legal document that predates Moses, and the cultural systems of the nations of Canaan. God’s people were different!
is sold to you The VERB (BDB 569, KB 581, Niphal IMPERFECT) refers to someone selling himself/herself into indentured servitude (cf. Lev 25:39; Lev 25:47-48; Lev 25:50; the fellow Hebrew is discussed in Lev. 15:39-46; Exo 21:2-6).
he shall serve you six years This seems to be unrelated chronologically to the Sabbatical year mentioned in Deu 15:1-11, but if so, then the meaning of Deu 15:9 is uncertain.
you shall set him free This VERB (BDB 1018, KB 1511, Piel IMPERFECT) is so important that it is repeated three times in Deu 15:12-13.
Deu 15:14 When a slave was freed after his six years of service, he was to be given all he would need to establish his family.
1. you shall furnish him liberally, This is another INFINITIVE ABSOLUTE and IMPERFECT VERB. It is a Hebrew idiom, literally, you shall surely make a necklace for him. See Contextual Insight C, 1, g.
2. Notice the items to be given:
a. from the flock
b. from the threshing floor
c. from the wine vat
d. added guidelines are given in Exo 21:3-4; Lev. 15:41
3. This giving was to be done in the spirit and quantity that YHWH had shown to Israel, cf. Deu 15:4; Deu 15:6; Deu 15:10; Deu 15:18 and why specifically in Deu 15:15 and Lev 25:41.
Deu 15:15 You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt The basis for the generosity of the slave owner was the fact that his family was once a slave in Egypt and God was generous to him. See full note at Deu 5:15.
the LORD your God redeemed you This VERB (BDB 804, KB 911, Qal IMPERFECT) is used several times in Deuteronomy, always referring to YHWH’s gracious act of delivering Israel from Egyptian slavery (cf. Deu 7:8; Deu 9:26; Deu 13:5; Deu 15:15; Deu 21:8; Deu 24:18). See Special Topic: Ransom/Redeem . The OT is as much a witness to the initiating love and mercy of God as is the NT! Humans did not seek God, He sought and redeemed them! His initial acts and unchanging character are our great hope! The actions of the Messiah for all are foreshadowed in the actions of YHWH for Israel!
Deu 15:16 This verse is parallel to Exo 21:5. It illustrates a voluntary submissive relationship which reflects the faith/love/obedient covenant relationship between YHWH and Israel. The goal of the covenant is a loving, blessed life on earth followed by a continuation of an even more intimate relationship in the spiritual realm. The blessings are always a by-product of the relationship, never the goal!
Deu 15:17 pierce it through his ear into the door This has two symbols: (1) the ear was symbolic of obedience and (2) the door was symbolic of love for the home (TEV). This rite was done at home not at the sanctuary or city gate, depending on to whom Elohim of Exo 21:6 refers. The Septuagint, Peshitta, and the AramaicTargums understand is as judges, which is a change from an earlier rite (cf. Exo 21:1-6). This made him a permanent slave.
forever The Hebrew term is ‘olam (BDB 761). This usage shows that the Hebrew word must be defined by its context. It can mean forever or for a long time with set boundaries. The rabbis said it meant until the year of Jubilee, but in this context it means the slave’s lifetime. See Special Topic: Forever (‘olam) .
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
brother. Supply the Ellipsis (App-6) by adding “[or thy sister]”.
Hebrew man. Compare Exo 21:2. Jer 34:13, Jer 34:14.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Deu 15:1, Exo 21:2-6, Lev 25:39-41, Jer 34:14, Joh 8:35, Joh 8:36
Reciprocal: Exo 21:3 – by himself Job 31:13 – the cause Jer 34:8 – to proclaim Jer 34:9 – Hebrew Col 4:1 – give
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Deu 15:12. If thy brother be sold Either by himself or his parents, or as a criminal. Six years To be computed from the beginning of his servitude, which is everywhere limited to the space of six years.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Moses turned now from the poor to slaves. These people also had rights in Israel. God did not condemn slavery as an institution. He permitted it in Israel. However slavery in Israel amounted to voluntary servitude. God strongly forbade the enslavement and oppression of individuals. Israelites could sell themselves as slaves as well as hired men and women (Deu 15:18). [Note: See idem, Deuteronomy, pp. 247-48.] All slaves went free at the beginning of each sabbatical year. [Note: See N. P. Lemche, "The Manumission of Slaves-The Fallow Year-The Sabbatical Year-The Jobel Year," Vetus Testamentum 26 (January 1976):38-59.] Another view is that slaves went free at the end of seven years irrespective of the sabbatical year. [Note: Kline, "Deuteronomy," p. 175.]
"The humanitarian spirit of Mosaic legislation permeates these civic and religious aspects of the Israelite society. It stands in contrast to the lack of dignity accorded to the common man in contemporary cultures of the Mosaic age." [Note: Schultz, p. 57.]
For more detailed information concerning the year of release, see Exo 23:10-11 and Lev 25:1-7. In Deuteronomy, Moses emphasized the importance of love for God and man, principles more than procedures.
The year of release was a provision of the Mosaic Covenant that God has not carried over into the present dispensation. However as Christians we have revelation concerning how to deal with our debtors. We should settle our disputes with our brethren out of court privately or in the church if necessary (1Co 6:1-6). We may take unbelievers to court, but if we cannot resolve our conflicts with our brethren out of court we should take the loss (1Co 6:7) and forgive (Mat 6:12; Mat 6:14-15). We should also be compassionate and share with others, believers and unbelievers, who may be in need (Mat 25:34-40; 2 Corinthians 8-9; Gal 6:10; Heb 13:16).