Deuteronomy 15:12
in Deuteronomy 15If a fellow Hebrew, a man or a woman, is sold to you and serves you six years, then in the seventh year you must set him free.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
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.
KJV
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.
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This verse in Deuteronomy 15
Commentary
5 notes on this verseIf 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.
This site's exposition
And if thy brother, an Hebrew man
on Deuteronomy 15:12-14
Exodus 21:2-6 gave this law first and two things move here. The Hebrew woman is placed under the same six years and the same seventh-year freedom, where Exodus 21:7 said a daughter sold as a maidservant shall not go out as the menservants do, and readers have long worked at how the two passages stand together. The second change is the furnishing, out of thy flock, and out of thy floor, and out of thy winepress, which Albert Barnes reads as capital that lets a freed man begin again. Jeremiah 34:8-17 is where Judah keeps this law for a moment, takes the freed servants back, and is answered with a release of another kind.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
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.
And if thy brother, an Hebrew man, or an Hebrew woman, be sold unto thee,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
if thy brother, an Hebrew man, or an Hebrew woman, be sold unto thee--The last extremity of an insolvent debtor, when his house or land was not sufficient to cancel his debt, was to be sold as a slave with his family (Le 25:39;
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase+unbalanced-parens
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
כי ימכר לך IF [THY BROTHER …] BE SOLD UNTO THEE by others (not one that sells himself as a servant on account of his destitution, of which case Scripture deals in Leviticus:46 ff); Scripture is speaking of one whom the court has sold for a theft that he has committed. But has it not already been stated.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 6 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
15 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| כִּֽי־ | ki- | if | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| יִמָּכֵ֨ר | yimakher | he will sell himself | H4376 → | 80 times |
| לְךָ֜ | lekha | to <the> you | ||
| אָחִ֣יךָ | ʾachikkha | countryman your | H251 → | 630 times |
| הָֽעִבְרִ֗י | haivri | <the> Hebrew [masc] | H5680 → | |
| א֚וֹ | ʾo | or | H176 → | 321 times |
| הָֽעִבְרִיָּ֔ה | haivriyah | <the> Hebrew [fem] | H5680 → | |
| וַעֲבָֽדְךָ֖ | vaavadekha | and he will serve you | H5647 → | 288 times |
| שֵׁ֣שׁ | shesh | six | H8337 → | 216 times |
| שָׁנִ֑ים | shanim | years | H8141 → | 877 times |
| וּבַשָּׁנָה֙ | uvashanah | and in the year | H8141 → | 877 times |
| הַשְּׁבִיעִ֔ת | hasheviit | <the> seventh | H7637 → | 98 times |
| תְּשַׁלְּחֶ֥נּוּ | teshallechenu | you will let go him | H7971 → | 845 times |
| חָפְשִׁ֖י | chafeshi | a free [person] | H2670 → | 17 times |
| מֵעִמָּֽךְ׃ | meimakh | from with <the> you | H5973 → | 1050 times |
כִּֽי־if
ki-H3588 →4482 times
יִמָּכֵ֨רhe will sell himself
yimakherH4376 →80 times
לְךָ֜to <the> you
lekha
אָחִ֣יךָcountryman your
ʾachikkhaH251 →630 times
הָֽעִבְרִ֗י<the> Hebrew [masc]
haivriH5680 →
א֚וֹor
ʾoH176 →321 times
הָֽעִבְרִיָּ֔ה<the> Hebrew [fem]
haivriyahH5680 →
וַעֲבָֽדְךָ֖and he will serve you
vaavadekhaH5647 →288 times
שֵׁ֣שׁsix
sheshH8337 →216 times
שָׁנִ֑יםyears
shanimH8141 →877 times
וּבַשָּׁנָה֙and in the year
uvashanahH8141 →877 times
הַשְּׁבִיעִ֔ת<the> seventh
hasheviitH7637 →98 times
תְּשַׁלְּחֶ֥נּוּyou will let go him
teshallechenuH7971 →845 times
חָפְשִׁ֖יa free [person]
chafeshiH2670 →17 times
מֵעִמָּֽךְ׃from with <the> you
meimakhH5973 →1050 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Deuteronomy 15:1At the end of every seven years you must cancel debts.
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 31:10
Then Moses commanded them, “At the end of every seven years, at the appointed time in the year of remission of debt, during the Feast of Tabernacles,
- Exodus 23:10–11
For six years you are to sow your land and gather its produce,
- Leviticus 25:2–4
“Speak to the Israelites and say to them: When you enter the land that I am giving you, the land itself must observe a Sabbath to the LORD.
- Exodus 21:2
If you buy a Hebrew servant, he is to serve you for six years. But in the seventh year, he shall go free without paying anything.
- Luke 4:18–19
“The Spirit of the Lord is on Me, because He has anointed Me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight…
- Deuteronomy 31:10
Through
Jeremiah 34:14Every seventh year, each of you must free his Hebrew brother who has sold himself to you. He may serve you six years, but then you must let him go free. But your fathers…
it leads to
- 2 Kings 17:13–14
Yet through all His prophets and seers, the LORD warned Israel and Judah, saying, “Turn from your wicked ways and keep My commandments and statutes, according to the entire Law that I commanded your…
- 1 Samuel 8:7–8
And the LORD said to Samuel, “Listen to the voice of the people in all that they say to you. For it is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected Me as…
- 1 Kings 9:22
But Solomon did not consign any of the Israelites to slavery, because they were his men of war, his servants, his officers, his captains, and the commanders of his chariots and cavalry.
- 2 Kings 17:13–14
About Deuteronomy
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: The Pentateuch and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.