Leviticus 25:48

25:39-55 A native Israelite, if sold for debt, or for a crime, was to serve but six years, and to go out the seventh. If he sold himself, through poverty, both his work and his usage must be such as were fitting for a son of Abraham. Masters are required to give to their servants that which is just and equal, Col 4:1. At the year of jubilee the servant should go out free, he and his children, and should return to his own family. This typified redemption from the service of sin and Satan, by the grace of God in Christ, whose truth makes us free, Joh 8:32. We cannot ransom our fellow-sinners, but we may point out Christ to them; while by his grace our lives may adorn his gospel, express our love, show our gratitude, and glorify his holy name.

After that he is sold he may be redeemed again,.... Though an Heathen, sold to an Israelite, was to be a bondman for ever, and could not be released by the year of jubilee, yet an Israelite sold to an Heathen might be redeemed before, and if not, he was freed then. The Jewish writers understand this of an obligation upon the man, or his friends, or the congregation, to redeem him, and that immediately, as the Targum of Jonathan, and Jarchi, because of the danger he was in by being in the family of an idolater, lest he be polluted (c), that is, with idolatry; or be swallowed up among the Heathens, as Maimonides (d); but it is plain from Leviticus 25:54 , that there was no obligation for an immediate redemption; nor was the person sold in such danger as suggested, since the sojourner, to whom he is supposed to be sold, was no idolater, whether a proselyte either of righteousness, or of the gate one of his brethren may redeem him; which may be taken in a strict and proper sense, for any of his brethren who were in circumstances sufficient to redeem him, or for any near akin to him, as the following words seem to explain it. No mention is made of his father: the reason of which Abarbinel (e) says, because it cannot be thought that a father would suffer his son to be sold, if it was in his power to redeem him, since a father is pitiful to his son. (c) Pesikta apud Drusium in loc. (d) Hilchot Abadim, c. 2. sect. 7. (e) Apud Muis. Varia Sacra, p. 373.

Leviticus THE KINSMAN REDEEMERLeviticus 25:48 . There are several of the institutions and precepts of the Mosaic legislation which, though not prophetic, nor typical, have yet remarkable correspondences with lofty Christian truth. They may be used as symbols, if only we remember that we are diverting them from their original purpose. How singularly these words lend themselves to the statement of the very central truths of Christianity-a slavery which is not necessarily perpetual and a redemption effected by a kinsman! That institution of the ‘Goel’ is of a very remarkable kind, and throws great light on Christian verities. I wish, in dealing with it, to guard against any idea that it was meant to be prophetic or typical. I. The kinsman redeemer under the old law. The strength of the family tie in the Israelitish polity was great. The family was the unit-hence there were certain duties devolving on the nearest male relative. These, so far as we are at present concerned, were three. { a } The redemption of a slave. The Mosaic legislation about slavery was very remarkable. It did not nominally prohibit it, but it fenced it round and modified it, so as to make it another thing. Israelites were allowed to hold Gentile slaves, but under careful restrictions. Israelites were allowed to sell themselves as slaves.

If the sale was to Israelites, the slavery was ended in six years or at the jubilee, whichever period came first-unless the slave had his ear bored to the doorpost to intimate his contentment in service { Exodus 21:5 - - Exodus 21:6 }. This is not slavery in our sense of the word, but only a six years’ engagement. If sold to a heathen in Israel, then the Goel had to redeem him; and the reason for this was that all Israelites belonged to God. { b } The redemption of an inheritance. This was the task of the kinsman-goel. The land belonged to the tribe. Pauperism was thus kept off. There could be no ‘submerged tenth.’ The theocratic reason was, ‘the land shall not be sold at all for ever for it is Mine!’ { c } The avenging of murder. Blood feuds were thus checked, though not abolished. The remarkable institution of ‘cities of refuge’ gave opportunity for deliberate investigation into each case. If wilful murder was proved, the murderer was given up to the Goel for retribution; if death had been by misadventure, the slayer was kept in the city of refuge till the high-priest’s decease. This is the germ of the figure of the Redeemer-Kinsman in later Scripture. Notice how higher ideas began to gather round the office. The prophets felt that in some way God was their ‘Goel.’ In Isaiah the application of the name to Him is frequent and, we might almost say, habitual.

39-46. if thy brother … be waxen poor, and be sold unto thee, thou shalt not compel him to serve as a bond-servant—An Israelite might be compelled, through misfortune, not only to mortgage his inheritance, but himself. In the event of his being reduced to this distress, he was to be treated not as a slave, but a hired servant whose engagement was temporary, and who might, through the friendly aid of a relative, be redeemed at any time before the Jubilee. The ransom money was determined on a most equitable principle. Taking account of the number of years from the proposal to redeem and the Jubilee, of the current wages of labor for that time, and multiplying the remaining years by that sum, the amount was to be paid to the master for his redemption. But if no such friendly interposition was made for a Hebrew slave, he continued in servitude till the year of Jubilee, when, as a matter of course, he regained his liberty, as well as his inheritance. Viewed in the various aspects in which it is presented in this chapter, the Jubilee was an admirable institution, and subservient in an eminent degree to uphold the interests of religion, social order, and freedom among the Israelites.

(48) He may be redeemed again. —The law which applies to a heathen who sold himself to a Hebrew is reversed in this case. Whilst the heathen cannot be redeemed, and is to remain a bondman for ever, the Israelite who sells himself to a heathen may be redeemed. Indeed, according to the interpretation which obtained during the second Temple, this passage enjoins it upon his relations and the congregation to redeem him as soon as possible. Hence the ancient Chaldee Version translates it, “his redemption must be effected forthwith.”