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Deuteronomy 15:18

in Deuteronomy 15

Do not regard it as a hardship to set your servant free, because his six years of service were worth twice the wages of a hired hand. And the LORD your God will bless you in all you do.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

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.

KJV

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.

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This verse in Deuteronomy 15

Commentary

4 notes on this verse
It shall not seem hard to thee when thou sendest him away free from thee,.... He should not grudge him his liberty, nor what he gives to him when he dismisses him: for he hath been worth a double hired servant to thee in serving thee six years; since a hired servant a man is obliged to pay him wages for his work, besides his food, whereas a bondservant received no wages.

This site's exposition

It shall not seem hard unto thee

The master is told what the six years were worth, a double hired servant, and John Gill gives the arithmetic, that a hired man draws wages on top of his keep and a bondservant draws none. Readers differ over whether double weighs the value of the labour or the length of the term a hired man would have served. The clause names the master's resentment before he feels it and answers it with a blessing on all that thou doest.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

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 (

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The Nineteenth Century1 voice

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

proposed

he hath been worth a double hired servant to thee--that is, he is entitled to double wages because his service was more advantageous to you, being both without wages and for a length of time, whereas hired servants were engaged yearly (Le 25:53), or at most for three years (Isa 16:14).

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The words behind it

20 Hebrew words

Every 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.

  • לֹא־not

    lo'-H3808 →5168 times

  • יִקְשֶׁ֣הit will be hard

    yikshehH7185 →28 times

  • בְעֵינֶ֗ךָin view your

    veeinekhaH5869 →887 times

  • בְּשַׁלֵּֽחֲךָ֙when letting go you

    beshalechakhaH7971 →845 times

  • אֹת֤וֹ<obj.> him

    ʾotoH853 →10935 times

  • חָפְשִׁי֙a free [person]

    chafeshiH2670 →17 times

  • מֵֽעִמָּ֔ךְfrom with <the> you

    meimakhH5973 →1050 times

  • כִּ֗יfor

    kiH3588 →4482 times

  • מִשְׁנֶה֙double

    mishnehH4932 →

  • שְׂכַ֣ר[the] hire of

    sekharH7939 →

  • שָׂכִ֔ירa hired laborer

    sakhirH7916 →

  • עֲבָֽדְךָ֖he has served you

    ʾavadekhaH5647 →288 times

  • שֵׁ֣שׁsix

    sheshH8337 →216 times

  • שָׁנִ֑יםyears

    shanimH8141 →877 times

  • וּבֵֽרַכְךָ֙and he will bless you

    uverakhaH1288 →330 times

  • יְהוָ֣הYahweh

    yahwehH3068 →6520 times

  • אֱלֹהֶ֔יךָGod your

    ʾeloheikhaH430 →2601 times

  • בְּכֹ֖לin all

    bekholH3605 →5413 times

  • אֲשֶׁ֥רthat

    ʾasherH834 →5497 times

  • תַּעֲשֶֽׂה׃ פyou will do

    taasehH6213 →2628 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

Related verses

6 in all, six open

The number beside each verse is how many compiled reference works tie it to this one. The strongest six stand open.

Exodus 21:2If 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.4 worksJob 7:1“Is not man consigned to labor on earth? Are not his days like those of a hired hand?3 worksIsaiah 21:16For this is what the Lord says to me: “Within one year, as a hired worker would count it, all the glory of Kedar will be gone.2 worksLuke 17:7–8Which of you whose servant comes in from plowing or shepherding in the field will say to him, ‘Come at once and sit down to eat’?2 worksIsaiah 16:14And now the LORD says, “In three years, as a hired worker counts the years, Moab’s splendor will become an object of contempt, with all her many people. And those who are left will be few and feeble.”2 worksLeviticus 25:50He and his purchaser will then count the time from the year he sold himself up to the Year of Jubilee. The price of his sale will be determined by the number of years, based on the daily wages of a hired hand.2 works

The walk

8 stops

Each 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

    Isaiah 21:16

    For this is what the Lord says to me: “Within one year, as a hired worker would count it, all the glory of Kedar will be gone.

    it leads to

    • Isaiah 16:14

      And now the LORD says, “In three years, as a hired worker counts the years, Moab’s splendor will become an object of contempt, with all her many people. And those who are left will…

    • Isaiah 60:7

      All the flocks of Kedar will be gathered to you; the rams of Nebaioth will serve you and go up on My altar with acceptance; I will adorn My glorious house.

    • Psalms 120:5

      Woe to me that I dwell in Meshech, that I live among the tents of Kedar!

    • Song of Solomon 1:5

      I am dark, yet lovely, O daughters of Jerusalem, like the tents of Kedar, like the curtains of Solomon.

    • Ezekiel 27:21

      Arabia and all the princes of Kedar were your customers, trading in lambs, rams, and goats.

  • Through

    Isaiah 16:14

    And now the LORD says, “In three years, as a hired worker counts the years, Moab’s splendor will become an object of contempt, with all her many people. And those who are left will…

    it leads to

    • Jeremiah 48:42

      Moab will be destroyed as a nation because he vaunted himself against the LORD.

    • Isaiah 21:16

      For this is what the Lord says to me: “Within one year, as a hired worker would count it, all the glory of Kedar will be gone.

    • Jeremiah 48:46–47

      Woe to you, O Moab! The people of Chemosh have perished; for your sons have been taken into exile and your daughters have gone into captivity.

About Deuteronomy

Moses Comes Down from Mount Sinai, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
Moses Comes Down from Mount Sinai, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
Deuteronomy: the study guide →Read Deuteronomy 15 →

This page draws on Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: The Pentateuch and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.

Read on in Deuteronomy 15 →