Leviticus 25:39

King James Version with Strong's Numbers

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:

📖 Grammatical Analysis

Original Text

וְכִֽי־יָמ֥וּךְ אָחִ֛יךָ עִמָּ֖ךְ וְנִמְכַּר־לָ֑ךְ לֹא־תַעֲבֹ֥ד בּ֖וֹ עֲבֹ֥דַת עָֽבֶד׃

Transliteration

And-if-yāmûk ʾāḥîkā with-you and-nimkar-to-you not-taʿăbōd in-him ʿăbōdat ʿābed.

Grammar Details

• *yāmûk*: 3rd person masculine singular qal imperfect - he becomes poor
• *ʾāḥîkā*: masculine singular noun with 2nd person masculine singular possessive suffix - your brother
• *nimkar*: 3rd person masculine singular niphal perfect - he is sold
• *taʿăbōd*: 2nd person masculine singular qal imperfect - you shall work
• *ʿăbōdat*: feminine singular construct - work of/service of
• *ʿābed*: masculine singular noun - slave/servant

Word Meanings

• *yāmûk*: becomes poor/grows poor/is impoverished
• *nimkar*: is sold/sells himself/is sold as property
• *ʿăbōdat* *ʿābed*: slave labor/servile work

Referenced Verses

• Exod 21:2 : 2 If thou buy an Hebrew servant, six years he shall serve: and in the seventh he shall go out free for nothing.
• 1 Kgs 9:22 : 22 But of the children of Israel did Solomon make no bondmen: but they were men of war, and his servants, and his princes, and his captains, and rulers of his chariots, and his horsemen.
• 2 Kgs 4:1 : 1 Now there cried a certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets unto Elisha, saying, Thy servant my husband is dead; and thou knowest that thy servant did fear the LORD: and the creditor is come to take unto him my two sons to be bondmen.
• Neh 5:5 : 5 Yet now our flesh is as the flesh of our brethren, our children as their children: and, lo, we bring into bondage our sons and our daughters to be servants, and some of our daughters are brought unto bondage already: neither is it in our power to redeem them; for other men have our lands and vineyards.
• Lev 25:46 : 46 And ye shall take them as an inheritance for your children after you, to inherit them for a possession; they shall be your bondmen for ever: but over your brethren the children of Israel, ye shall not rule one over another with rigour.
• Deut 15:12-14 : 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.
• Exod 22:3 : 3 If the sun be risen upon him, there shall be blood shed for him; for he should make full restitution; if he have nothing, then he shall be sold for his theft.
• Jer 25:14 : 14 For many nations and great kings shall serve themselves of them also: and I will recompense them according to their deeds, and according to the works of their own hands.
• Jer 27:7 : 7 And all nations shall serve him, and his son, and his son's son, until the very time of his land come: and then many nations and great kings shall serve themselves of him.
• Jer 30:8 : 8 For it shall come to pass in that day, saith the LORD of hosts, that I will break his yoke from off thy neck, and will burst thy bonds, and strangers shall no more serve themselves of him:
• Jer 34:14 : 14 At the end of seven years let ye go every man his brother an Hebrew, which hath been sold unto thee; and when he hath served thee six years, thou shalt let him go free from thee: but your fathers hearkened not unto me, neither inclined their ear.
• Exod 1:14 : 14 And they made their lives bitter with hard bondage, in morter, and in brick, and in all manner of service in the field: all their service, wherein they made them serve, was with rigour.