Imamat 25:35-36

Debt and Slave Regulations

25:35 “‘If your brother ¹  becomes impoverished and is indebted to you, ²  you must support ³  him; he must live ⁴  with you like a foreign resident. ⁵  25:36 Do not take interest or profit from him, ⁶  but you must fear your God and your brother must live ⁷  with you.

Imamat 25:47-49

25:47 “‘If a resident foreigner who is with you prospers ⁸  and your brother becomes impoverished with regard to him so that ⁹  he sells himself to a resident foreigner who is with you or to a member ¹⁰  of a foreigner’s family, 25:48 after he has sold himself he retains a right of redemption. ¹¹  One of his brothers may redeem him, 25:49 or his uncle or his cousin ¹²  may redeem him, or anyone of the rest of his blood relatives – his family ¹³  – may redeem him, or if ¹⁴  he prospers he may redeem himself.

Imamat 25:53

25:53 He must be with the one who bought him ¹⁵  like a yearly hired worker. ¹⁶  The one who bought him ¹⁷  must not rule over him harshly in your sight.

[25:35]  ¹ tn It is not clear to whom this refers. It is probably broader than “sibling” (cf. NRSV “any of your kin”; NLT “any of your Israelite relatives”) but some English versions take it to mean “fellow Israelite” (so TEV; cf. NAB, NIV “countrymen”) and others are ambiguous (cf. CEV “any of your people”).

[25:35]  ² tn Heb “and his hand slips with you.”

[25:35]  ³ tn Heb “strengthen”; NASB “sustain.”

[25:35]  ⁴ tn The form וָחַי (vakhay, “and shall live”) looks like the adjective “living,” but the MT form is simply the same verb written as a double ayin verb (see HALOT 309 s.v. חיה qal, and GKC 218 §76.i; cf. Lev 18:5).

[25:35]  ⁵ tn Heb “a foreigner and resident,” which is probably to be combined (see B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 170-71).

[25:36]  ⁶ tn The meaning of the terms rendered “interest” and “profit” is much debated (see the summaries in P. J. Budd, Leviticus [NCBC], 354-55 and B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 178). Verse 37, however, suggests that the first refers to a percentage of money and the second percentage of produce (see J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 421).

[25:36]  ⁷ tn In form the Hebrew term וְחֵי (vÿkhey, “shall live”) is the construct plural noun (i.e., “the life of”), but here it is used as the finite verb (cf. v. 35 and GKC 218 §76.i).

[25:47]  ⁸ tn Heb “And if the hand of a foreigner and resident with you reaches” (cf. v. 26 for this idiom).

[25:47]  ⁹ tn Heb “and.” The Hebrew conjunction ו (vav, “and”) can be considered to have resultative force here.

[25:47]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “offshoot, descendant.”

[25:48]  ¹¹ tn Heb “right of redemption shall be to him.”

[25:49]  ¹² tn Heb “the son of his uncle.”

[25:49]  ¹³ tn Heb “or from the remainder of his flesh from his family.”

[25:49]  ¹⁴ tc The LXX, followed by the Syriac, actually has “if,” which is not in the MT.

[25:53]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “be with him”; the referent (the one who bought him) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[25:53]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “As a hired worker year in year.”

[25:53]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “He”; the referent (the one who bought him) has been specified in the translation for clarity.