Deuteronomy 15:1-23
1 At the end of every seven years thou shalt make a release.
2 And this is the manner of the release: Every creditora that lendeth ought unto his neighbour shall release it; he shall not exact it of his neighbour, or of his brother; because it is called the LORD'S release.
3 Of a foreigner thou mayest exact it again: but that which is thine with thy brother thine hand shall release;
4 Saveb when there shall be no poor among you; for the LORD shall greatly bless thee in the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee for an inheritance to possess it:
5 Only if thou carefully hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe to do all these commandments which I command thee this day.
6 For the LORD thy God blesseth thee, as he promised thee: and thou shalt lend unto many nations, but thou shalt not borrow; and thou shalt reign over many nations, but they shall not reign over thee.
7 If there be among you a poor man of one of thy brethren within any of thy gates in thy land which the LORD thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not harden thine heart, nor shut thine hand from thy poor brother:
8 But thou shalt open thine hand wide unto him, and shalt surely lend him sufficient for his need, in that which he wanteth.
9 Beware that there be not a thoughtc in thy wicked heart, saying, The seventh year, the year of release, is at hand; and thine eye be evil against thy poor brother, and thou givest him nought; and he cry unto the LORD against thee, and it be sin unto thee.
10 Thou shalt surely give him, and thine heart shall not be grieved when thou givest unto him: because that for this thing the LORD thy God shall bless thee in all thy works, and in all that thou puttest thine hand unto.
11 For the poor shall never cease out of the land: therefore I command thee, saying, Thou shalt open thine hand wide unto thy brother, to thy poor, and to thy needy, in thy land.
12 And if thy brother, an Hebrew man, or an Hebrew woman, be sold unto thee, and serve thee six years; then in the seventh year thou shalt let him go free from thee.
13 And when thou sendest him out free from thee, thou shalt not let him go away empty:
14 Thou shalt furnish him liberally out of thy flock, and out of thy floor, and out of thy winepress: of that wherewith the LORD thy God hath blessed thee thou shalt give unto him.
15 And thou shalt remember that thou wast a bondman in the land of Egypt, and the LORD thy God redeemed thee: therefore I command thee this thing to day.
16 And it shall be, if he say unto thee, I will not go away from thee; because he loveth thee and thine house, because he is well with thee;
17 Then thou shalt take an aul, and thrust it through his ear unto the door, and he shall be thy servant for ever. And also unto thy maidservant thou shalt do likewise.
18 It shall not seem hard unto thee, when thou sendest him away free from thee; for he hath been worth a double hired servant to thee, in serving thee six years: and the LORD thy God shall bless thee in all that thou doest.
19 All the firstling males that come of thy herd and of thy flock thou shalt sanctify unto the LORD thy God: thou shalt do no work with the firstling of thy bullock, nor shear the firstling of thy sheep.
20 Thou shalt eat it before the LORD thy God year by year in the place which the LORD shall choose, thou and thy household.
21 And if there be any blemish therein, as if it be lame, or blind, or have any ill blemish, thou shalt not sacrifice it unto the LORD thy God.
22 Thou shalt eat it within thy gates: the unclean and the clean person shall eat it alike, as the roebuck, and as the hart.
23 Only thou shalt not eat the blood thereof; thou shalt pour it upon the ground as water.
Deuteronomy 15:1. A release of all debts, as well as of servitude, at the end of the sixth year, to the poor who cannot pay. This is much the same as the English law of cancelling bookdebts at the end of six years. The insolvent poor ought not to be kept forever in despair. The creditor knows the law.
Deuteronomy 15:4. Save when there shall be no poor among you. This reading seems to contradict the eleventh verse: for the poor shall never cease. The margin must therefore be the true reading; “to the end that there be no poor among you.” The Septuagint reads, “For none shall be poor among you.” If the Israelites had continued in covenant with God, he would have superseded poverty by the abundance of his blessings. Le Clerc's conjectures, that the debt was only forborne to be asked during the sabbatical year, and that the manumission of servants was but for that year, appear to be rash and unfounded. They contradict many other texts, which are extremely clear on this subject. See Deuteronomy 15:3. By the jubilee, the Lord graciously guarded the Hebrews against pauperism.
Deuteronomy 15:12. If thy brother be sold, be put apprentice for a trade, or sold for a debt by sanction of the judges.
REFLECTIONS.
The character of the Hebrew law is all humanity, dignified with equity. It was most assuredly calculated to make the nation holy, happy, and independent. It uniformly discovers a compassion worthy of God, and inspires a humanity worthy of his people. To remit the claim of small debts at the entrance of the seventh or sabbatical year, was a gracious and an encouraging regulation for the poor: for if the poor man had any property, or means of refunding his debt, the creditor had full liberty to enforce the payment. But when the seventh year commenced, there being little labour in the fields, it became impossible for the poor to pay, and divine in the creditor to forgive. In this view the legislative wisdom and humanity of our own country are highly commendable, in making book debts, under certain restrictions, unclaimable after six years. Let us learn also from these divine precepts to forgive injuries, and to love one another; for this is the spirit of the whole law. God accounts what is given to the poor as given to himself; and he here pledges his promise to repay in personal wealth and national prosperity. “Thou shalt lend unto many nations, but thou shalt not borrow; thou shalt reign over many nations, but they shall not reign over thee:” Deuteronomy 15:6. Whatever is given to the poor is so much treasure stored in heaven; yet the reward is not reckoned of debt, but of grace.
When a Hebrew was waxen poor, his land being already sold till the jubilee, and when he would ask a little aid of his rich neighbour that he might eat bread, that neighbour is forbidden to harden his heart; and on the contrary, he is enjoined to open his hand liberally towards him. The poor of the land have therefore a divine claim to ask bread of the rich: they are the Lord's creatures, and afflicted with infirmities, burdened with families, or weakened with age. They have for the most part served in the families of the rich; they have cultivated their lands, or wrought in their factories. The earnings of youth, if not dissipated by folly, have been expended in raising up a family; and consequently their feeble age, as well as their orphan children, have claims on the public. To suffer them to languish and die of hunger, is to bring innocent blood on the land; and God will avenge their cause when they cry to him. Pure and undefiled religion before God the Father, is to visit the widow and fatherless in their affliction: and again, it is more blessed to give than to receive.
Of the manumission of servants, reference is made to Leviticus 25.; and the Lord who commanded the Israelites to borrow, or ask of the Egyptians gold and other valuables, still preserved the law: he would not allow the Hebrew servant to go out empty, and destitute of means to procure his bread. So when Jesus makes a soul free from the fetters of sin, he adorns and enriches it with his grace: and the more a man's heart is filled with the love of God, the more it is expanded in compassion to all mankind.