Then he and his children are to be released, and he may return to his clan and to the property of his fathers. Sermons I. IN THE KINDNESS ENJOINED TOWARDS THE POOR. 1. Their necessities are to be relieved. (1) Though they be strangers. The stranger "with" the Hebrew, and so, subject to his law, is recognized as a brother (see verses 35, 36). (2) Usury is not to be taken from the poor. "That thy brother may live." Rights of property must not override those of existence (Matthew 6:25). "That thy brother may live with thee." The hands of the poor are as necessary to the rich as is the wealth of the rich to the poor. 2. The reasons for mercy are edifying. (1) "I am the Lord your God." I stand in covenant relationship to you. I have a right to require this of thee. (2) I "brought thee out of the land of Egypt." The remembrance of thy miseries in Egypt should influence thee to consider those of the poor stranger by thee. (3) I "gave you the land of Canaan." Gratitude to me should move thee. I can yet more gloriously reward thy mercy in giving thee inheritance in the heavenly Canaan. II. IN THE KINDNESS ENJOINED TOWARDS THE SLAVE. 1. The Hebrew must show it. (1) Not to his brother only, but also towards the stranger. (2) Yet there is a difference. The Hebrew slave goes out in the jubilee; but the power of a Hebrew master over the stranger is not then removed. This law prefigured the dominion which the righteous will have over the wicked in the morning, viz. of the resurrection (see Psalm 49:14). (3) The stranger, by becoming a proselyte, might claim the privilege of the Hebrew. So may the wicked, by repentance towards God and faith in the Lord Jesus, become a Christian, and enjoy the privileges of the righteous. 2. The stranger must show it. (1) The stranger is presumed to be not so merciful as the Hebrew. Privileges of grace should make men generous. (2) The cruelty of the wicked must be restrained by the laws of the good. III. IN THE DETERMINATION OF THE RANSOM PRICE. In this determination: 1. The rate of wages is an element. The principles of hired service should be remembered by masters in the treatment of slaves. 2. This rate was then multiplied into the years prospective to the jubilee. (1) This determination of the rate was in favour of the slave; for if the law had not settled it, then it must be settled by agreement, in which case the master would be in a position to drive a hard bargain to the prejudice of the slave. Law should, for the same reason, control the claims of landlords where they prejudice the rights of their tenantry. (2) In this law there is equity also with respect to the master. Any difference in the value to him of a slave over that of a hired servant is compensated in the risk of life, in which, after the redemption, he has now no pecuniary concern. IV. IN THE DIFFERENCE OF THE LAW RELATING TO A COUNTRY HOUSE AS COMPARED WITH A HOUSE IN A WALLED CITY. 1. The country house returned to the owner of the land. (1) This house is presumed to be simply a residence. The inconvenience of removal of residence is not formidable. (2) To a Christian the removal of residence from this world should not be formidable. 2. The house in the walled city did not so return. (1) Such a house may be presumed to be a place of business. In this case, establishment in a locality is often of great importance. Landlords should consider the interests of their tenants as well as their own. (2) But within the first twelve months after the sale of a house in a walled city, the owner bad a power of redemption. This was before the business could be said to be established. It gave the seller an opportunity to repent of a bargain which may have been forced upon him by the pressure of a temporary necessity. (3) What a mercy that the sinner has space for repentance! - J.A.M.
If thy brother... be sold unto thee. — I. TEXTS RELATING TO SLAVES. 1. Called bondmen (Genesis 43:18; Genesis 44:9). 2. By birth (Genesis 14:14; Psalm 116:16; Jeremiah 2:14). 3. By purchase (Genesis 17:27; Genesis 37:36). 4. Sometimes captives taken in war (Deuteronomy 20:14; 2 Kings 5:2). 5. Strangers, under certain restrictions (ver. 45). 6. Foreigners, might be purchased (ver. 44). 7. Debtors, liable to be sold (2 Kings 4:1; Nehemiah 5:4, 5; Matthew 18:25). 8. Thieves were sold (Exodus 22:3). 9. Israelites to be kindly treated (vers. 39, 40, 46), and to be liberated after six years (Exodus 21:2; Deuteronomy 15:12); or if they refused to be free, then (Exodus 21:5, 6; Deuteronomy 15:16, 17), when sold to foreigners might be redeemed (vers. 47-55), or be free at the jubilee (vers. 10, 40, 41, 54), but could not demand wife and child procured during bondage (Exodus 21:3, 4); were to be furnished liberally on regaining liberty (Deuteronomy 15:13, 14). 10. Foreign slaves to rest on Sabbath (Exodus 20:10), to share in national rejoicing (Deuteronomy 12:18; Deuteronomy 16:11, 14). 11. If ill-treated by masters, to be set free (Exodus 21:26, 27). 12. Laws respecting killing slaves (Exodus 21:20, 21). 13. If they ran away, not to be delivered up (Deuteronomy 23:15). 14. Sometimes rose to rank (Ecclesiastes 10:7), and might intermarry with master's family (1 Chronicles 2:34, 35). 15. Kidnapping condemned (Exodus 21:16; Deuteronomy 24:7; 1 Timothy 1:10). II. NOTE ON THE ABOVE TEXTS. Consider — 1. The nature of slavery as practised by the heathen world (the treatment of Israelites by Egyptians). 2. The restraint laid upon these Israelites in their conduct to foreign bondsmen. But for these laws how might these people — who had been slaves of foreigners themselves — have treated foreigners when in their turn they became masters? 3. The relation of Israelitish slaves to Israelitish masters, with their privileges (social and religious), and certain freedom. 4. The causes for which alone they might become slaves. 5. Especially consider that while these laws ameliorated the condition Of slavery as it then existed — eliminating the elements of cruelty, &c., leaving, in fact, nothing of bondage but the name — they paved the way, by the training of justice and mercy, for the total extinction of slavery. 6. Christianity in spirit, precept, and practice against slavery.(1) Asserts that there is no bond or free, but that all are one in Christ.(2) Teaches the fraternity of the race. "God hath made of one blood," &c. "All we are brethren."(3) Strikingly illustrates this by the case of a runaway slave — Onesimus — whom Paul sent back to his master, whom in some way he had wronged, not as a slave, but as a brother beloved (Philemon). Learn: 1. No warrant for modern slavery in the Word of God (Isaiah 58:6). 2. Spiritual slavery the worst form (2 Timothy 2:26). 3. This may be the state of men who are politically free (John 8:34; 2 Peter 2:19). 4. Jesus the great Emancipator (John 8:32-36; Romans 6:18-22; Galatians 5:1; 1 Peter 2:16). (J. C. Gray.). People Israelites, Levites, MosesPlaces Canaan, Egypt, Mount SinaiTopics Clan, Depart, Family, Fathers, Forefathers, Possession, Property, Return, Sons, TurnOutline 1. the Sabbath of the seventh year8. The jubilee in the fiftieth year 14. Of oppression 18. A blessing of obedience 23. The redemption of land 29. Of houses 35. Compassion to the poor 39. The usage of bondmen 47. The redemption of servants Dictionary of Bible Themes Leviticus 25:41 6659 freedom, acts in OT 5378 law, OT Library Sojourners with God'The land shall not be sold for ever: for the land is Mine; for ye are strangers and sojourners with Me.' --LEV. xxv. 23. The singular institution of the Jubilee year had more than one purpose. As a social and economical arrangement it tended to prevent the extremes of wealth and poverty. Every fiftieth year the land was to revert to its original owners, the lineal descendants of those who had 'come in with the conqueror,' Joshua. Debts were to be remitted, slaves emancipated, and so the mountains … Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture God's Slaves The Kinsman Redeemer Boniface viii Ad 1294-1303. The Kinsman-Redeemer The Day of Atonement Appeal to the Christian Women of the South Sin and Forgiveness Between Brethren. Commerce "And the Redeemer Shall Come unto Zion, and unto them that Turn," The Eighth Commandment Baptism Leviticus Links Leviticus 25:41 NIVLeviticus 25:41 NLT Leviticus 25:41 ESV Leviticus 25:41 NASB Leviticus 25:41 KJV Leviticus 25:41 Bible Apps Leviticus 25:41 Parallel Leviticus 25:41 Biblia Paralela Leviticus 25:41 Chinese Bible Leviticus 25:41 French Bible Leviticus 25:41 German Bible Leviticus 25:41 Commentaries Bible Hub |