And if thy brother that dwelleth by thee be waxen poor, and be sold unto thee; thou shalt not compel him to serve as a bondservant:
If thy brother ... be waxen poor, and be sold unto thee, х 'aachiykaa (H251) `imaak (H5973), thy neighbour]. An Israelite might be compelled, through misfortune, not only to mortgage his inheritance, but himself х wªnimkar (H4376)] - not, be sold but sell himself (cf. 2 Kings 4:1; Nehemiah 5:6; Isaiah 50:1; Isaiah 58:6; Jeremiah 34:8-11; Amos 2:6; Amos 8:6). The law did not empower a creditor to sell an insolvent debtor; the practice crept in through the lapse of years; and the wife and children (Matthew 18:25), nay, even the family of a deceased debtor, were liable to be sold, as those mentioned in 2 Kings 4:1. This practice was severely condemned by Nehemiah (Nehemiah 5:5). Michaelis affirms that the Jewish Rabbis declared against the legality of such sales, except in the case of a thief; and he is of opinion that they were unknown in our Lord's day, the allusion in the parable of the unforgiving servant being borrowed from the usage of neighbouring nations.
In the event of his being reduced to this distress; he was to be treated, not as a slave, but a hired servant and a citizen, whose engagement was temporary, and who might, through the friendly aid of a relative, be redeemed at any time before the Jubilee (Leviticus 25:47-52). 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 labour 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 until 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. (See on the Jubilee; Godwyn's 'Moses and Aaron,' lib. 3:, ch. 10:; Jahn's 'Bib. Archaeol.,' sec. 351; Graves' 'Lectures on the Pent.,' vol 2:, p. 10; 'Jew. Repos.,' vol 3:, p. 143; Michaelis, vol. 3:, pp. 58-60; Saalschutz, 'Das Mos. Recht,' pp. 702-708.)