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Commentaries and Other Bible Study Helps - Prayer Tents - Prayer Tents
25:23-55 Laws of Redemption. This section deals with the concept of redemption. If a person gets into difficulty or danger, then a relative (his "nearest redeemer," v. 25) is to redeem him from his dire straits (see note on Ruth 3:12-13). The various methods of redemption are explained.
25:23-24 The land is the Lord's, so one cannot sell his inherited land as though it were his permanent possession. The status of the Israelites is that of strangers and sojourners with the Lord. Thus they are tenants, so to speak, in the Promised Land. This principle is later applied to the believer's existence in this world (cf. Ps. 39:12; 1 Pet. 2:11).
25:25-28 If an Israelite is forced to sell his land temporarily, he and his family retain the right of redemption. The land may be redeemed in one of three ways:
25:29-34 Houses in walled cities are not regulated by rights of redemption as are houses in unwalled villages. The former are not released at the jubilee, and their redemption is for only (not in perpetuity). Why this distinction is made is uncertain, although it may be that houses in walled settlements are considered privately owned, rather than part of a tribal inheritance. One exception to the rule is that houses belonging to Levites in their cities carry full rights of redemption.
25:35-38 Israelites are to show mercy to one another because they are recipients of God's mercy.
25:39-46 A further predicament is envisaged, namely, that an Israelite, becoming impoverished, had to sell himself to a fellow Israelite. In this case the poor man must not be treated like an ordinary slave (v. 39) but as a hired servant and a sojourner (v. 40). His right to return to his house at the jubilee means that he has sold just his labor, and not his status as a free Israelite, to his fellow Israelite. ruthlessly (vv. 43, 46). Treating a fellow Israelite like a slave is prohibited by language echoing the Israelites' hard labor in Egypt (cf. Ex. 1:13).
25:47-55 A Hebrew in dire financial straits may indenture himself to a stranger or sojourner in the land. Yet the Israelite retains his right of redemption. He may be redeemed by a kinsman or he may redeem himself if he gains sufficient means (vv. 48-49). In addition, his indenture ceases at the jubilee (v. 54). These verses demonstrate that the sojourner is required to keep the laws of Israel while residing in the land.
