Exodus 21:2

If thou buy an Hebrew servant; of which practice see Jeremiah 34:14. This was allowed in two cases:

1. When a man for his crimes was condemned by the judges to be sold; of which see Exodus 22:3 2 Kings 4:1 Matthew 8:25.

2. When a man pressed by great poverty sold himself or his children; of which see Leviticus 25:39,40. The seventh year is to be numbered, either,

1. From the last sabbatical year, or year of release, which came every seventh year; and the sense of the place is, not that he shall always serve six full years, but that he shall never serve longer, and that his service shall last only till that year comes. Or rather,

2. From the beginning of his service; for,

1. It were a very improper speech to say, he shall serve six years, of one who possibly entered into his service but a month before the year of release.

2. In the law of the sabbatical year there is no mention of the release of servants, as there is of other things, Le 25 Deu 15; and in the year of jubilee, when servants are to be released, it is expressed so, as Leviticus 25:54,55.