1. Leviticus 25:47 (ESV)
  2. Exposition

What is the context of verse 47?

Leviticus 25:47 (ESV)

47 “If a stranger or sojourner with you becomes rich, and your brother beside him becomes poor and sells himself to the stranger or sojourner with you or to a member of the stranger’s clan,

Leviticus 25:47 deals with the scenario where a Hebrew indentures himself to a non-Hebrew. A non-Hebrew has prospered in the land and has acquired great wealth. This man has bought a Hebrew slave for himself or a member of his clan. The Hebrew word member (‛ēqěr) occurs only here in the Old Testament. The term is derived from a verb that means to root up. It refers to the offshoot of the non-Hebrew.