Leviticus 25:35-55

Leviticus 25:35-55

[35] And if thy brother  be waxen poor,  and fallen in decay  with thee;  then thou shalt relieve  him: yea, though he be a stranger,  or a sojourner;  with thee. [36] Take  thou no usury  but fear  thy God;  that thy brother  [37] Thou shalt not give  him thy money  upon usury,  nor lend  him thy victuals  for increase.  [38] I am the LORD  your God,  which brought you forth  out of the land  of Egypt,  to give  you the land  of Canaan,  and to be your God.  [39] And if thy brother  that dwelleth by thee be waxen poor,  and be sold  unto thee; thou shalt not compel  him to serve  as a bondservant:  [40] But as an hired servant,  and as a sojourner,  he shall be with thee, and shall serve  thee unto the year  of jubile:  [41] And then shall he depart  from thee, both he and his children  with him, and shall return  unto his own family,  and unto the possession  of his fathers  shall he return.  [42] For they are my servants,  which I brought forth  out of the land  of Egypt:  they shall not be sold  as  bondmen.  [43] Thou shalt not rule  over him with rigour;  but shalt fear  thy God.  [44] Both thy bondmen,  and thy bondmaids,  which thou shalt have, shall be of the heathen  that are round about  you; of them shall ye buy  bondmen  and bondmaids.  [45] Moreover of the children  of the strangers  that do sojourn  among you, of them shall ye buy,  and of their families  that are with you, which they begat  in your land:  and they shall be your possession.  [46] And ye shall take them as an inheritance  for your children  after  you, to inherit  them for a possession;  they shall be your bondmen  for ever:  but over your brethren  the children  of Israel,  ye shall not rule  one  over another  with rigour.  [47] And if a sojourner  or stranger  wax rich  by thee,  and thy brother  that dwelleth by him wax poor,  and sell  himself unto the stranger  or sojourner  by thee, or to the stock  of the stranger's  family:  [48] After  that he is sold  he may be redeemed again;  one  of his brethren  may redeem  him: [49] Either his uncle,  son,  may redeem  him, or any that is nigh  of kin  unto him of his family  may redeem  him; or if he be able,  he may redeem  himself.  [50] And he shall reckon  with him that bought  him from the year  that he was sold  to him unto the year  of jubile:  and the price  of his sale  shall be according unto the number  of years,  according to the time  of an hired servant  shall it be with him. [51] If there be yet many  years  behind, according  unto them he shall give again  the price of his redemption  out of the money  that he was bought  [52] And if there remain  but few  years  of jubile,  then he shall count  with him, and according  unto his years  shall he give him again  the price of his redemption.  [53] And as a yearly  hired servant  shall he be with him: and the other shall not rule  with rigour  over him in thy sight.  [54] And if he be not redeemed  in these years, then he shall go out  in the year  of jubile,  both he, and his children  [55] For unto me the children  of Israel  are servants;  whom I brought forth  out of the land  of Egypt:  I am the LORD  your God. 

What does Leviticus 25:35-55 Mean?

Contextual Meaning

The Israelites were not to exploit one another ( Leviticus 25:35-38). Specifically they were not to charge one another interest on loans ( Leviticus 25:37; cf. Exodus 22:25; Deuteronomy 23:19-20). This policy would have helped a poor farmer to buy enough seed for the next year. This law was evidently unique among the ancient Near Eastern nations, though not among smaller tribal groups. [1]
When poor Israelites sold themselves as servants to wealthier Israelites, their masters were to treat them as brothers and not as slaves ( Leviticus 25:39-43).
". . . the original law in the Book of the Covenant [2] had to do with the "Hebrew" in the social, not ethnic sense, i.e, with the landless man who survived by selling his services to an Israelite household. Leviticus 25:39 ff, by contrast, deals with the man who is an Israelite landholder but who has been forced by poverty to mortgage it and then to sell his family and himself into the service of a fellow-Israelite." [3]
God permitted the Israelites to own slaves from other nations ( Leviticus 25:44-46). That they were not to mistreat them goes without saying. Slavery in itself, as the Mosaic Law regulated it, did not violate basic human rights, but the abuse of slaves did.
"In the first place, for one people or person to enslave another Isaiah , by that very Acts , to claim the other as one"s own; it is in a fundamental sense to claim another"s life as belonging to oneself. Such a claim, however, flies in the face of the biblical story that we have heard thus far. If the creation narratives of Genesis tell us anything, they tell us that the sovereign source and lord of life is God-and God alone. It is in just that sense that to God-and God alone-all life, "the work of his hands," ultimately rightly belongs. Therefore, from the standpoint of these biblical narratives, anyone besides God laying such ultimate claims to another"s life would in effect be arrogating to oneself another"s prerogatives. In essence, such a one would be making the most presumptuous claim any human being could make-the claim to be God." [4]
Israelites could also buy back (redeem) their countrymen who had sold themselves as slaves to non-Israelites who were living in the land ( Leviticus 25:47-55). An Israelite slave could also buy his own freedom. In these cases the Israelites were to calculate the cost of redemption in view of the approaching year of jubilee when all slaves in the land went free anyway.
"The jubilee release does not apply to foreign slaves ( Leviticus 25:44-46). A theological reason underlies this discrimination: God redeemed his people from Egyptian slavery, to become his slaves ( Leviticus 25:42; Leviticus 25:55). It is unfitting, therefore, that an Israelite should be resold into slavery, especially to a foreigner (cf. Romans 6:15-22; Galatians 4:8-9; Galatians 5:1). The jubilee law is thus a guarantee that no Israelite will be reduced to that status again, and it is a celebration of the great redemption when God brought Israel out of Egypt, so that he might be their God and they should be his people ( Leviticus 25:38; Leviticus 25:42; Leviticus 25:55; cf. Exodus 19:4-6)." [5]
The provision of redemption by a kinsman ( Leviticus 25:47-55) is a very important legal point in the Book of Ruth (cf. also Jeremiah 32:7-15). Boaz fulfilled the responsibility of a kinsman redeemer by buying Mahlon"s land for Ruth. Furthermore he fulfilled the duty of a levir by marrying Ruth. [6]
The system of land ownership in Israel prevented complete capitalism or complete socialism economically. There was a balance of state (theocratic) ownership and private ownership.
We who live under the New Covenant also have a promise from God that if we put His will first He will provide for our physical needs ( Matthew 6:25-33). [7]
"The acceptance of God"s sovereignty over his people and all their possessions leads to the magnanimous and compassionate treatment of the poor and the destitute, because at the end of the age everyone will be released from bondage." [4]0