Leviticus 25:47-55·~1 min

Redemption of Servants

If an Israelite sells himself to a prosperous foreigner or to that foreigner’s clan, he still keeps the right of redemption. A brother or another near relative may redeem him, and if he prospers he may redeem himself.

I⁴⁷f a foreigner residing among you prospers, but your countryman dwelling near him becomes destitute and sells himself to the foreigner or to a member of his clan, ⁴⁸he retains the right of redemption after he has sold himself. One of his brothers may redeem him: ⁴⁹either his uncle or cousin or any close relative from his clan may redeem him. Or if he prospers, he may redeem himself.

The redemption price is to be calculated from the year of sale to the Jubilee, according to the value of a hired worker’s wages. The foreign owner must treat him as such and not rule over him harshly.

⁵⁰He and his purchaser will then count the time from the year he sold himself up to the Year of Jubilee. The price of his sale will be determined by the number of years, based on the daily wages of a hired hand. ⁵¹If many years remain, he must pay for his redemption in proportion to his purchase price. ⁵²If only a few years remain until the Year of Jubilee, he is to calculate and pay his redemption according to his remaining years. ⁵³He shall be treated like a man hired from year to year, but a foreign owner must not rule over him harshly in your sight.

If no redemption happens sooner, the man and his children are released in the Jubilee. The reason is repeated at the end: the Israelites are the LORD’s servants, brought out of Egypt by him.

⁵⁴Even if he is not redeemed in any of these ways, he and his children shall be released in the Year of Jubilee. ⁵⁵For the Israelites are My servants. They are My servants, whom I brought out of the land of Egypt. I am the LORD your God.[’’]

Section summaryAn Israelite who sells himself to a prosperous foreigner still retains a right of redemption, whether by relatives, by his own means, or finally through Jubilee. His price is to be calculated by the years remaining, and he is to be treated as a hired worker rather than ruled harshly.

Role in the chapterThis closing section completes the chapter’s logic of release by covering the most vulnerable case. It shows that even when an Israelite passes under foreign ownership, the covenant claim of the LORD still governs his status and his eventual return.