Leviticus 25:50

Lev 25:50. According to the time of a hired servant — Allowance shall be made for the time wherein he hath served, proportionable to that which was given to a hired servant for so long service, because his condition is in this like theirs; it is not properly his person, but his work and labour that were sold.

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

Which remain yet to the Jubilee.

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

Verse 50. The price of his sale shall be, c.] This was a very equitable law, both for the sojourner to whom the man was sold, and to the Israelite who had been thus sold. The Israelite might redeem himself, or one of his kindred might redeem him but this must not be done to the prejudice of his master, the sojourner. They were therefore to reckon the years he must have served from that time till the jubilee; and then, taking the current wages of a servant per year at that time, multiply the remaining years by that sum, and the aggregate was the sum to be given to his master for his redemption. The Jews hold that the kindred of such a person were bound, if in their power, to redeem him, lest he should be swallowed up among the heathen; and we find, from Ne 5:8, that this was done by the Jews on their return from the Babylonish captivity: We, after our ability, have redeemed our brethren the Jews, who were sold unto the heathen.

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

(50-52) And he shall reckon with him.—That is, either the man himself when he is able to redeem himself, or his kindred. The authorities during the second Temple rightly point out that this passage enjoins the Hebrew to treat the heathen master fairly by duly compensating and compounding for the number of years he has still to serve till jubile, and to take no advantage of the idolater.

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

And he shall reckon with him that bought him,.... That is, either the man himself should reckon with him, or whoever undertook to redeem him:

from the year that he was sold to him unto the year of jubilee; and so count how many years he had served, and how many were yet to come; and by this it appears, that one thus sold was not released at the end of six years, or the sabbatical year did not free him:

and the price of his sale shall be according to the number of years; whether more or fewer, as after explained:

according to the time of an hired servant shall it be with him; the time of service he had served his master shall be reckoned, as if he had been hired for so much a year; and according to the number of years he had been with him, so much per annum was to be deducted from the original purchase, and the rest to be made for his redemption to him that bought him.

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

Allowance shall be made for the time wherein he hath served, proportionable to that which is given to a hired servant for so long service, because his condition is in this like theirs; that it is not properly his person, but his work and labour that was sold.

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

50. Unto the year of jubilee — We apply the same principles of interpretation here as in the note to Lev_25:36; Lev_25:40. It is unreasonable to suppose that the Hebrew master was required to lift the yoke from his brother at the end of six years or of the jubilee period, whichever was nearest, and that the heathen master, under Hebrew jurisdiction, could hold the poor Israelite in servitude forty-nine years.

The price of his sale — Lest the master might exact an exorbitant ransom the price was fixed by an equitable law. The yearly current wages of a hired servant were to be multiplied by the number of years of service due.

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

According to the time of an hired servant - Allowance shall be made for the time wherein he hath served, proportionable to that which is given to an hired servant for so long service, because his condition is in this like theirs; it is not properly his person, but his work and labour that was sold.

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

עד שנת היובל [AND HE SHALL RECKON WITH HIM…] UNTO THE YEAR OF THE JUBILEE — for after all, essentially he has bought him only to work for him till the Jubilee, for surely you must admit in the Jubilee he is to go free, as Scripture states later,on (v. 54) “[and if he be not redeemed in these ways], then he shall go out in the year of the Jubilee”. And, of course, Scripture is speaking here of a heathen who is under your control (i. e. who has to submit to your jurisdiction, for otherwise Scripture could not dictate to him) (Sifra, Behar, Chapter 9 3; Kiddushin 16a). But nevertheless you must not practise crooked ways against him because this would result in a desecration of the Name of the Lord (Bava Kamma 113a), but when he wishes to be redeemed he must be exact in his calculation — only just as much as is due each year shall the heathen allow him as a deduction from the purchase-money: (i. e. the Jew cannot demand a larger deduction); if e. g., there were twenty years from the date when he was sold till the Jubilee and he has bought him for twenty manehs — and consequently the heathen has purchased the labour of each year for one maneh — if he (the Jewish servant) stayed with him five years and then wishes to be redeemed, he (the master) has to allow him only a deduction of five manehs from the purchase-money, so that the servant must repay him fifteen manehs. This is the meaning of: והיה כסף ממכרו במספר שנים; AND THE PRICE OF HIS SALE SHALL BE CALCULATED AS HAVING BEEN ACCORDING TO THE NUMBER OF YEARS;

כימי שכיר יהיה עמו AS AT THE RATE OF THE DAYS OF AN HIRED SERVANT SHALL HE HAVE BEEN WITH HIM — i. e. he shall calculate the amount due for each year as though he had hired himself out with him e. g., at one maneh per year and that amount only he (the master) has to allow him.

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.