Texts in Conversation
Deuteronomy requires freeing a Hebrew servant in the seventh year. Leviticus reshapes this to say a poor Israelite is not a servant at all but a hired worker, who stays until the Jubilee year rather than going free after six.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Deuteronomy 15:12
Hebrew Bible
11 There will never cease to be some poor people in the land; therefore, I am commanding you to make sure you open your hand to your fellow Israelites who are needy and poor in your land. 12 If your fellow Hebrew—whether male or female—is sold to you and serves you for six years, then in the seventh year you must let that servant go free. 13 If you set them free, you must not send them away empty-handed. 14 You must supply them generously from your flock, your threshing floor, and your winepress—as the Lord your God has blessed you, you must give to them. 15 Remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt and the Lord your God redeemed you; therefore, I am commanding you to do this thing today.
Leviticus 25:39
Hebrew Bible
38 I am the Lord your God who brought you out from the land of Egypt to give you the land of Canaan—to be your God. 39 “‘If your brother becomes impoverished with regard to you so that he sells himself to you, you must not subject him to slave service. 40 He must be with you as a hired worker, as a resident foreigner; he must serve with you until the Year of Jubilee, 41 but then he may go free, he and his children with him, and may return to his family and to the property of his ancestors.
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Notes and References
"... The movement of inner-biblical exegesis running from Exodus 21:2–11 through Deuteronomy 15:12–18 to Leviticus 25:39–46 places the dispensation of justice in an ever-wider-reaching theological context and becomes increasingly critical of the enslavement of Israelites. For Exodus 21:2–11, slavery is an unquestioned reality that should, however, be subjected to specific regulations. For Deuteronomy 15:12–18, the enslavement of Israelites is a necessary, temporary, and limited evil. For theological reasons it should be worked against so that it occurs as seldom as possible. While for Leviticus 25:39–46 the theological perspective is given such strong priority that the enslavement of compatriots is banned on theological grounds. How these three slave laws are to be read together is an open question. Rabbinical exegesis understood them as three separate ordinances that are all accorded the same applicability. If one follows the narrative location of each slave law, then Exodus 21:2–11 and Leviticus 25:39–46 are anchored in the Sinai giving of the law, while Deuteronomy 15:12–18 takes place within the context of the lawgiving in the Transjordan and therefore possesses lower authoritative status. ..."
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