Leviticus 25:14

14. thou … ye] The variation in person indicates the combination of two sources.

thy neighbour] An unusual Heb. word (‘âmîth), occurring in the H section eleven times, 5:21 (bis), Lev_18:20, Lev_19:11; Lev_19:15; Lev_19:17, Lev_24:19, Lev_25:14 (bis), Lev_25:15; Lev_25:17; only once outside Lev., in Zec_13:7.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Lev 25:14 And if thou sell ought unto thy neighbour, or buyest [ought] of thy neighbour’s hand, ye shall not oppress one another:

Ver. 14. Ye shall not oppress.] But proceed by that golden rule, "Whatever ye would that men should do to you, even so do ye to them."

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Lev 25:14. Ye shall not oppress — Neither the seller, by requiring more, nor the buyer, by taking the advantage from his brother’s necessities to give him less than the worth of it.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

RULES FOR THE SALE OF LAND, Lev_25:14-17.

14. If thou sell aught — This relates to real estate.

Ye shall not oppress — R.V., not wrong one another. The capitalist shall not make his brother’s necessity his opportunity to drive a sharp bargain and buy his field “for a song,” but he shall observe the following sliding scale in reference to the approach of the next jubilee.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

By deceit, or otherwise.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

Verse 14. Ye shall not oppress one another] Ye shall take no advantage of each other's ignorance either in buying or selling; for he that buys an article at less than it is worth, or sells one for more than it is worth, taking advantage in both cases of the ignorance of the vender or buyer, is no better than a thief, as he actually robs his neighbour of as much property as he has bought the article at below or sold it above its current value.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(14) Ye shall not oppress one another.—Better, ye shall not overreach any man his brother. Not only does the Law provide against the poor man losing his land for ever, but enjoins that in the temporary sales the buyer and seller are not to take undue advantage of each other’s circumstances. Hence it was enacted that if any one bought or sold anything for a sixth part more than its value the aggrieved party was entitled to have the excess returned to him, and if it amounted to more than a sixth part, the contract could be rescinded altogether. The fact that the phrase which is here translated “one another” in the Authorised Version is varied in the Hebrew in Lev_25:17, where it is likewise rendered “one another,” shows that it is not used in this idiomatic sense, but is designed to denote fellow-brethren, members of the same community, those who are related to each other by race and creed, as in Exo_32:27, Jer_31:34

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And if thou sell ought unto thy neighbour,.... Any estate or possession, house or land, at any time before the year of jubilee:

or buyest ought of thy neighbour's hand; of movable goods, as the Targum of Jonathan interprets it; and so other Jewish writers (z) restrain this to goods which are bought by hand, and delivered from hand to hand; and so they think that fields, and servants, which they say are like to fields, are excluded hereby; but it seems to refer to anything saleable, and chiefly to fields and vineyards, as the following verses show; wherefore Diodorus Siculus, as quoted by Grotius, must be mistaken, when he says, it was not counted lawful by the Jews to sell their inheritance, unless he means for ever, so indeed they could not:

ye shall not oppress one another; the buyer giving too little, or the seller requiring too much; no advantage was to be taken, either of the necessity of the one, or the ignorance of the other, but a fair bargain was to be made, and the full value given, neither too much nor too little. The Jews by "neighbour" understand an Israelite, and not a Gentile (a); not that there might be no buying and selling at all between Jews and Gentiles, or that the former might oppress and defraud the latter, though not an Israelite; but lands and inheritances might not be sold at all to Gentiles, only to Israelites.

(z) Maimon. & Bartenora in Misn. Bava Metziah, c. 4. sect. 9. (a) Jarchi in loc.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Sell ought - i. e., any piece of ground.

Oppress one another - Rather, overreach one another. (Compare 1Sa 12:3-4).

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Grieve. Hebrew, "deceive not." St. Chrysostom observes, that to engage another to sell us any thing for what we know is beneath its value, is theft. (Grotius, Jur. ii. 12.) The Rabbins also decide that, if an Israelite be defrauded a sixth part, restitution must be made, ver. 17. (Selden, Jur. vi. 6.)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

Neither the seller by requiring more, nor the buyer by taking the advantage from his brother’s necessities to give him less than the worth of it.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Ye shall not oppress - Neither the seller by requiring more, nor the buyer by taking the advantage from his brother's necessities to give him less than the worth of it.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

‎'וכי תמכרו וגו‎‎‎‎ AND IF THOU SELL [OUGHT TO THY FELLOW… YE SHALL NOT OVERREACH ONE ANOTHER] — According to its plain sense the verse intimates what it literally means: (i. e. as translated above). But there is also a Midrashic interpretation: Whence can it be derived that if you sell anything you should sell it to your Israelite fellowman? From what Scripture states: “And if you sell —,לעמיתך sell it to one associated with you by nationality”. And whence can it be derived that if you intend to buy anything that you should buy it of your Israelite fellow? From what Scripture states “or if thou buy ought — מיד עמיתך, at the hand of one associated with thee, buy it” (Sifra, Behar, Section 3 1).

אל תונו YE SHALL NOT WRONG [ONE ANOTHER] — This refers to wronging in money matters (Sifra, Behar, Section 3 4).

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.

YE SHALL NOT WRONG ONE ANOTHER. “This refers to overcharging in money matters.” 15. ACCORDING TO THE NUMBER OF YEARS AFTER THE JUBILEE THOU SHALT BUY OF THY NEIGHBOR. “The plain meaning of the verse as indicated by its context is that Scripture is admonishing here against overcharging [as mentioned in the preceding verse, and explains here in detail]: When you sell or buy land, ascertain how many years there are left till the Jubilee, and according to these years the vendor is to sell and the purchaser to buy, for in the end the purchaser must return him [the land] in the year of the Jubilee. Thus if there are but a few years [till the Jubilee] and he sells it at a high price, the purchaser has been wronged, and if there are many years so that the purchaser can eat many crops from it, he must buy it according to the [greater] time [remaining till the Jubilee]. It is referring to this that it is said, according to the number of years of the crops he shall sell unto thee, [meaning]: according to the number of years of crops which the land will remain in the hand of the purchaser, you shall sell it to him. Now our Rabbis have derived from here [the law] that one who sells his field has no right to redeem it before two years [after the date of the sale, for the verse states, according to the number of ‘years’ of the crops he shall sell, and the minimum number of the term ‘years’ is two], even if there were three crops in those two years. [However, although this interpretation of the Rabbis indicates that the verse in speaking of shnei means ‘two years’], it does not lose its literal meaning [i.e., ‘years of’], that is to say, he is to sell by the number of ‘years of’ crops, and not by years when the produce is smitten by blast, and the minimum number implied in ‘years’ is two.” Thus far is Rashi’s language.Now this is indeed the correct interpretation of the verse; however, our Rabbis have said that overcharge does not apply in [the sale of] land, for it is said: “Or buy of thy neighbor’s ‘hand’, and this refers to something which is transferred from ‘hand’ to ‘hand’” [i.e., movable goods or chattels]. But this verse according to the Rabbi [Rashi], both in its plain meaning and in its [Rabbinical] interpretation, speaks of [overcharging in the sale of] land! We must then perforce turn the verses away from their simple meaning, and say that each one stands independently [of the others]. Thus Scripture is stating: And if thou sell aught unto thy neighbor, or buy of thy neighbor’s hand, that is, something which is transferred from hand to hand, ye shall not wrong one another. Then He states further: “According to the number of years after the Jubilee thou shalt buy of him the crops, and according unto the number of years of the crops he shall sell them unto thee. According to the years you shall increase and reduce the price, for you will have to return it [i.e., the land] to him in the Jubilee.” All this is an admonition regarding the Jubilee, that they should keep it forever [but it is not intended as a law against overcharging in the sale of land, for in such a transaction the law of overcharge does not apply]. Then He said further, And ye shall not wrong one another, [referring to wronging] by words [i.e., offending].And it further seems to me logical that one who intentionally overcharges his fellowman, definitely transgresses a negative commandment, whether it be [in a sale of] chattels or land, for it is with reference to them that Scripture is saying, Ye shall not wrong one another. According to the number of years after the Jubilee, admonishing that one must buy and sell according to the years [after the Jubilee], and that no man shall wrong another. But our Rabbis laid down a new law regarding overcharge, namely, that [if the amount overcharged was] one-sixth of the total purchase price, [the sale is valid and that extra amount] must be paid back, but the sale is totally invalidated if the amount overcharged was more than one-sixth of the purchase-price. It is only from this law that land has been excluded, since [a person] foregoes an overcharge of even more than a sixth [of the purchase price] in the case of [the sale of land], just as one [is prepared to] forego in the case of chattels an overcharge of less than a sixth [of the purchase-price], although it is forbidden to overcharge intentionally by such [amounts], but people do not usually go back on their purchase on account of such a small overcharging. The Sages interpreted [Scripture to give a basis for this law] because the verse states, And if thou sell aught unto thy neighbor, or buy something which is transferred from hand to hand, ye shall not wrong one another. From this we learn that in the matter of overcharging there is a special law for chattels which does not apply to land, namely, the return of the money, [i.e., the cancellation of the entire sale if the amount overcharged was more than a sixth of the purchase price], but the negative commandment [forbidding overcharging] applies to all transactions. That is why He said, ‘v’chi thim’kru mimkar’ [“if ‘ye’ sell aught”], which is a plural expression, referring to one who sells land and to one who sells chattels; ‘o kanoh’ (or buys) of thy neighbor’s hand, referring to an individual, who sells chattels from hand to hand, and with reference to all of them He said ye shall not wrong. But since He singled out and specified chattels, [it indicates that] He gave concerning them an additional law regarding overcharging, namely the [right to] return the money [of the purchase-price and thereby cancel the sale]. This is a correct interpretation according to the expositions which our Rabbis have received on the allusions of the Torah.Perhaps all this is only a Scriptural support [for a Rabbinical enactment], for the negative commandment [ye shall not wrong one another] constitutes an admonition applying to both land and chattels [but does not refer at all to cancellation of the entire purchase], and [the right to return] the money the Rabbis received by tradition as applying to chattels and not to [transactions of] land, just as they have said that [land] is a possession that is worth any price. For all these [differing] standards of one-sixth [of the purchase-price, in which case the sale is valid and the amount overcharged must be returned], and more than one-sixth [in which case the entire sale may be cancelled] are based on people’s opinions [and since “land is worth any price” to most people, the Rabbis did not institute these laws of overcharging with respect to land]. And why should the Rabbis not exclude [transactions of] land from this law [of overcharging] just as they excluded from it wares bought from a householder? Thus they said: “[The law of overcharging] is taught only if one buys from a merchant, but if one buys from a private householder, the law of overcharging does not apply,” because private people are not in the habit of selling the possessions that they use [and hence if they do sell them, it is considered as if they had made a specific condition that the buyer cannot complain about the price]., in the name of the She’iltoth of Rav Achai Gaon.It is also possible to say that Scripture is warning that they [sellers and purchasers] should take cognizance of the number of years till the Jubilee, and according to them they should sell and buy, and no one should wrong another because of them by misleading him about the number [of years], or by deceiving him about the sale, so that he thinks that it is in perpetuity, and thus he leads him astray thereby. Instead, they must both know and inform one another of this number, since the sale is according to the number of years [remaining] until the Jubilee, for even in [transactions of] land the law of overcharging applies as regards size and number, even if the misleading referred to was less than one-sixth [of the size or the number], and all the more so in the case of chattels [one must be careful not to overcharge].

Ramban (Nachmanides) on the Tanakh — English translation: “Commentary on the Torah by Ramban (Nachmanides). Translated and annotated by Charles B. Chavel. New York, Shilo Pub. House, 1971-1976” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.