Later text
Every seventh year, each of you must free his Hebrew brother who has sold himself to you. He may serve you six years, but then you must let him go free. But your fathers did not listen or incline their ear.
Intertextuality Pair
Jeremiah 34:14 → Leviticus 25:35-46
Allusion
Earlier text
Now if your countryman becomes destitute and cannot support himself among you, then you are to help him as you would a foreigner or stranger, so that he can continue to live among you. Do not take any interest or profit from him, but fear your God, that your countryman may live among you. You must not lend him your silver at interest or sell him your food for profit. I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt to give you the land of Canaan and to be your God. If a countryman among you becomes destitute and sells himself to you, then you must not force him into slave labor. Let him stay with you as a hired worker or temporary resident; he is to work for you until the Year of Jubilee. Then he and his children are to be released, and he may return to his clan and to the property of his fathers. Because the Israelites are My servants, whom I brought out of the land of Egypt, they are not to be sold as slaves. You are not to rule over them harshly, but you shall fear your God. Your menservants and maidservants shall come from the nations around you, from whom you may purchase them. You may also purchase them from the foreigners residing among you or their clans living among you who are born in your land. These may become your property. You may leave them to your sons after you to inherit as property; you can make them slaves for life. But as for your brothers, the Israelites, no man may rule harshly over his brother.
Significance
Jeremiah 34:14 condemns Judah's failure to release Hebrew slaves, citing the covenant obligation that each person must free a Hebrew brother after six years of service. This draws on Leviticus 25:35-46, which distinguishes between the treatment of Israelite and non-Israelite slaves — Israelites are not to be sold as slaves permanently "because the Israelites are My servants, whom I brought out of the land of Egypt" (עֲבָדַי הֵם, avadai hem, Lev 25:42). The theological basis in both texts is the same: because God redeemed Israel from Egyptian slavery, they must not permanently enslave one another. Judah's re-enslavement of freed Hebrews thus violates the exodus-based logic of Israelite social law, making their action a repudiation of the redemption that constituted Israel as a people.
- Found via
- Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
- Reference Type
- Allusion
- Connection Method(s)
- Longitudinal Theme — both texts rest on the same exodus-redemption ground for Hebrew release ("They are My servants, whom I brought out of the land of Egypt," Lev 25:55), one developing redemption-release theme; the conflict lies between Judah's conduct and the law, not between the two texts' messages, so Contrast is not the demonstrated method.
Linked Mentions 1