If a man be found stealing any of his brethren of the children of Israel, and maketh merchandise of him, or selleth him; then that thief shall die; and thou shalt put evil away from among you.
If a man be found stealing any of his brethren - (see the note at Exodus 21:16.) A land so completely a thoroughfare for mercantile caravans as Canaan was must have presented special opportunities to kidnapping for a slave trade. The person who thus laid hold of a brother Israelite, and sold him into slavery among a foreign and pagan people-as was the case of Joseph into Egypt-was a criminal that merited both condemnation and death.