Imamat 25:49-55

25:49 or his uncle or his cousin ¹  may redeem him, or anyone of the rest of his blood relatives – his family ²  – may redeem him, or if ³  he prospers he may redeem himself. 25:50 He must calculate with the one who bought him the number of years ⁴  from the year he sold himself to him until the jubilee year, and the cost of his sale must correspond to the number of years, according to the rate of wages a hired worker would have earned while with him. ⁵  25:51 If there are still many years, in keeping with them ⁶  he must refund most of the cost of his purchase for his redemption, 25:52 but if only a few years remain ⁷  until the jubilee, he must calculate for himself in keeping with the remaining years and refund it for his redemption. 25:53 He must be with the one who bought him ⁸  like a yearly hired worker. ⁹  The one who bought him ¹⁰  must not rule over him harshly in your sight. 25:54 If, however, ¹¹  he is not redeemed in these ways, he must go free ¹²  in the jubilee year, he and his children with him, 25:55 because the Israelites are my own servants; ¹³  they are my servants whom I brought out from the land of Egypt. I am the Lord your God.

¹ tn Heb “the son of his uncle.”

² tn Heb “or from the remainder of his flesh from his family.”

³ tc The LXX, followed by the Syriac, actually has “if,” which is not in the MT.

⁴ tn Heb “the years.”

⁵ tn Heb “as days of a hired worker he shall be with him.” For this and the following verses see the explanation in P. J. Budd, Leviticus (NCBC), 358-59.

⁶ tn Heb “to the mouth of them.”

⁷ tn Heb “but if a little remains in the years.”

⁸ tn Heb “be with him”; the referent (the one who bought him) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁹ tn Heb “As a hired worker year in year.”

¹⁰ tn Heb “He”; the referent (the one who bought him) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

¹¹ tn Heb “And if.”

¹² tn Heb “go out.”

¹³ tn Heb “because to me the sons of Israel are servants.”