Leviticus 25:53

Lev 25:53. In thy sight — Thou shalt not suffer this to be done, but whether thou art a magistrate or a private person, thou shalt take care according to thy capacity to get it remedied.

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

Thou shalt not suffer him to entreat him rigorously, if thou know it.

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

(53) And as a yearly hired servant shall he be.—Better, As a yearly servant, &c, without the “and,” which is not in the original, and is not wanted. That is, as long as he is in service his master must not treat him like a slave, but is to behave to him as if he were simply one who hires out his services from year to year, and who, after a short time, will be his own master again.

And the other shall not rule with rigour over him.—Better, he shall not rule, &c, that is, the heathen master. The words “and the other” are not in the original, and the sense of the passage is quite plain without them.

In thy sight.—The Israelite is here admonished not to be a tacit spectator of the cruel treatment of his brother Israelite by a heathen master, and though he is not to resent in the same way in which the Lawgiver himself resented it (Exo_2:11-12), still he is to remonstrate with the cruel Gentile, and invoke the protection of the powers that be.

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

53. in thy sight] whenever thou art cognizant of it.

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.

And as a yearly hired servant shall he be with him,.... Being redeemable every year, and upon his redemption might quit his master's service, as an hireling may; and the price of his redemption to be valued according to the years he served, and as if he had been hired for so much a year; as well as he was to be treated in a kind and gentle manner, not as a bondman, but as if he was an hired servant, as follows:

and the other shall not rule with rigour over him in thy sight; the person he is sold unto, his master, a sojourner or stranger, he might not use an Hebrew he had bought with any severity; for if an Hebrew master might not use an Hebrew servant with rigour, it was not by any means to be admitted in the commonwealth of Israel for a proselyte to use one in such a manner, and that openly, in the sight of an Israelite his neighbour; he looking on and not remonstrating against it, or acquainting the civil magistrate with it, who had it in his power to redress such a grievance, and ought to do it.

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

Wages. Hebrew, "as a yearly hired servant shall he be with him." What was customarily given to a hired servant for a certain number of years, might be a rule to judge how much was to be paid for redemption. (Haydock) --- Thus if a man had engaged to serve 20 years for 100 sicles, and at the expiration of 10 years wished to redeem himself, he might do it for half that sum. Some think, that those Hebrews who had sold themselves to a Gentile, sojourning among them, could not take the benefit of the sabbatic year, (Exodus xxi. 6,) because Moses is silent on this head. But this argument is not satisfactory. (Calmet)

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).

Thou shalt not suffer this to be done, but whether thou art a magistrate, or a private person, thou shalt take care according to thy capacity to get it remedied.

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

53. As a yearly hired servant — He shall be treated mercifully, and all his rights shall be respected as if serving for wages. It was the duty of an Israelite when he saw his brother Hebrew abused by a Jew or by a stranger to give information to the magistrate, and it was incumbent on this officer to call the oppressor to account.

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

In thy sight - Thou shalt not suffer this to be done, but whethe thou art a magistrate, or a private person, thou shalt take care according to thy capacity to get it remedied.

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

He is to be treated

This can be stated in active form. AT: "The foreigner who bought him as a slave must treat him" (See: Active or Passive)

he is not treated with harshness

This can be stated in active form. AT: "no one treats him badly" (See: Active or Passive)

If he is not redeemed by these means

This can be stated in active form, and who he is to be redeemed from can be stated clearly. AT: "If no one redeems him by these means from the one who bought him as a slave" (See: Active or Passive and Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)

by these means

"in this way"

he must serve until the year of Jubilee, he and his children with him

The Israelite slave and his children would serve the foreigner until the year of Jubilee, and then the foreigner would have to set the Israelite and his children free.

To me the people of Israel are servants

"For it is to me that the people of Israel are servants." This is the reason that God wanted the Israelites to be set free in the year of jubilee. They were his servants. They were not permitted to be anyone else's permanent slave.

translationWords

redeem

servant

children

people group

Israel

Egypt

Yahweh

God

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

לא ירדנו בפרך לעיניך HE SHALL NOT RULE WITH RIGOUR OVER HIM IN THY EYES — that is to say, you looking on unconcernedly (Sifra, Behar, Chapter 8 9; cf. Targum Jonathan on).

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.