The Fallible · Synthetic · Study Bible
Hebrew Servants
Deuteronomy 15:12–18 — Hebrew Servants. Each verse below carries the full apparatus: the Berean Standard Bible, the vocalized original (tap any word), and a parsed breakdown of every term transcribed from the interlinear. Synthesized commentary, canonical threads, and the reading of Christ gather at the end, over the whole unit.
12If a fellow Hebrew, a man or a woman, is sold to you and serves you six years, then in the seventh year you must set him free.
Berean Standard Bible · CC0
Hebrew — tap a word ↓
kî- ’ā·ḥî·ḵā hā·‘iḇ·rî ’ōw hā·‘iḇ·rî·yāh yim·mā·ḵêr lə·ḵā wa·‘ă·ḇā·ḏə·ḵā šêš šā·nîm haš·šə·ḇî·‘iṯ ū·ḇaš·šā·nāh tə·šal·lə·ḥen·nū ḥā·p̄ə·šî mê·‘im·māḵ
Literal — word-for-word from the original
When your brother — a Hebrew man, or a Hebrew woman — is sold to you, and he serves you six years, then in the seventh year you shall send him away free from with you.
Where the English smooths the original
The seventh year, in which they were to be set free, is not the same as the sabbatical year, therefore, but the seventh year of bondage.
The last extremity of an insolvent debtor, when his house or land was not sufficient to cancel his debt, was to be sold as a slave with his family (Le 25:39; 2Ki 4:1; Ne 5:1-13; Job 24:9; Mt 18:25). The term of servitude could not last beyond six years.
This law is expressly referred to in Jeremiah 34:9 ; Jeremiah 34:13-14 , as given in the time of the Exodus, and as applicable both to men and women. It first appears in Exodus 21:2-11 , where it occupies the first section of the Sinaitic code.Ellicott names the two cross-references the Verifier independently surfaced as verbal links — Exodus 21 and Jeremiah 34.
If thy brother be sold — Either by himself or his parents, or as a criminal.Benson names the three legal channels behind the neutral Niphal yimmāḵêr — self-sale for debt, a father selling a child, or judicial sale for theft.
13And when you release him, do not send him away empty-handed.
Berean Standard Bible · CC0
Hebrew — tap a word ↓
wə·ḵî- ṯə·šal·lə·ḥen·nū ḥā·p̄ə·šî mê·‘im·māḵ lō ṯə·šal·lə·ḥen·nū rê·qām
Literal — word-for-word from the original
And when you send him away free from with you, you shall not send him away empty.
Where the English smooths the original
A seasonable and wise provision for enabling a poor unfortunate to regain his original status in society, and the motive urged for his kindness and humanity to the Hebrew slave was the remembrance that the whole nation was once a degraded and persecuted band of helots in Egypt.
empty ] In Pent. only in E ( Genesis 31:42 ; Exodus 3:21 ; Exodus 23:15 ), J ( Exodus 34:20 ) and D (here, and Deuteronomy 16:16 ).The lexical observation grounds the Exodus echo: the same word for not leaving 'empty.'
thou shall not let him go away empty; without anything to support himself, or to put himself in a way of business; he having in the time of his servitude worked entirely for his master, and so could not have got and saved anything for himself.
14You are to furnish him liberally from your flock, your threshing floor, and your winepress. You shall give to him as the LORD your God has blessed you.
Berean Standard Bible · CC0
Hebrew — tap a word ↓
ha·‘ă·nêq ta·‘ă·nîq lōw miṣ·ṣō·nə·ḵā ū·mig·gā·rə·nə·ḵā ū·mî·yiq·ḇe·ḵā tit·ten- lōw ’ă·šer Yah·weh ’ĕ·lō·he·ḵā bê·raḵ·ḵā
Literal — word-for-word from the original
Furnishing you shall furnish him from your flock, and from your threshing floor, and from your winepress; of that which the LORD your God has blessed you, you shall give to him.
Where the English smooths the original
Thou shalt furnish him liberally - The verb in the Hebrew is remarkable. It means "thou shalt lay on his neck," "adorn his neck with thy gifts."
Those who had fallen into poverty, when they had served their time, must be provided with means for a fresh start in life.
Lit. make-him-a-necklace (with emphatic repetition of the vb.). In this metaphor is the idea of loading or that of ornamenting (embellishing, equipping) the governing one? Probably both are combined; the metaphor rising from the primitive custom of hoarding the family wealth in heavy necklaces or headdresses.
In token that you acknowledge the benefit which God has given you by his labours.Geneva's marginal gloss (e) on 'furnish him liberally.'
15Remember that you were slaves in the land of Egypt, and the LORD your God redeemed you; that is why I am giving you this command today.
Berean Standard Bible · CC0
Hebrew — tap a word ↓
wə·zā·ḵar·tā kî hā·yî·ṯā ‘e·ḇeḏ bə·’e·reṣ miṣ·ra·yim Yah·weh ’ĕ·lō·he·ḵā way·yip̄·də·ḵā ‘al- kên ’ā·nō·ḵî mə·ṣaw·wə·ḵā ’eṯ- haz·zeh had·dā·ḇār hay·yō·wm
Literal — word-for-word from the original
And you shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the LORD your God redeemed you; therefore I am commanding you this thing today.
Where the English smooths the original
And the Lord thy God redeemed thee, and brought thee out with triumph and with riches, which because they would not, God did, give to thee as a just recompence for thy service, and therefore thou shalt follow his example, and send out thy servant furnished with all convenient provisions.
In Leviticus 25:42 the reason is given thus: “They are my servants, which I brought forth out of the land of Egypt; they shall not be sold as bondmen” (i.e., not for ever).Ellicott cites the Leviticus 25 ground the Verifier flagged as a structural servant-of-YHWH link.
They were to be induced to do this by the recollection of their own redemption out of the bondage of Egypt, - the same motive that is urged for the laws and exhortations enjoining compassion towards foreigners, servants, maids, widows, orphans, and the poor
16But if your servant says to you, ‘I do not want to leave you,’ because he loves you and your household and is well off with you,
Berean Standard Bible · CC0
Hebrew — tap a word ↓
wə·hā·yāh kî- yō·mar ’ê·le·ḵā lō ’ê·ṣê mê·‘im·māḵ kî ’ă·hê·ḇə·ḵā wə·’eṯ- bê·ṯe·ḵā kî- ṭō·wḇ lōw ‘im·māḵ
Literal — word-for-word from the original
And it shall be, when he says to you, "I will not go out from with you" — because he loves you and your household, because it is good for him with you —
Where the English smooths the original
Because he is sensible that he fares well with thee. Or, because it is good , i.e. acceptable in his eyes, or pleasing to him, to be with thee.
Manumission was only an act of love, when the person to be set free had some hope of success and of getting a living for himself; and where there was no such prospect, compelling him to accept of freedom might be equivalent to thrusting him away.
This is an emblem of the cheerful and constant obedience of the people of Christ to him their master, flowing from love to him; whom they love above all persons and things, with all their heart and soul, and his house also, the place of his worship, his ordinances, truths, ministers and children; and therefore choose to be where they are
17then take an awl and pierce it through his ear into the door, and he will become your servant for life. And treat your maidservant the same way.
Berean Standard Bible · CC0
Hebrew — tap a word ↓
wə·lā·qaḥ·tā ’eṯ- ham·mar·ṣê·a‘ wə·nā·ṯat·tāh ḇə·’ā·zə·nōw ū·ḇad·de·leṯ wə·hā·yāh lə·ḵā ‘e·ḇeḏ ‘ō·w·lām wə·’ap̄ ta·‘ă·śeh- la·’ă·mā·ṯə·ḵā kên
Literal — word-for-word from the original
Then you shall take the awl and put it through his ear and into the door, and he shall be your servant forever; and also to your maidservant you shall do likewise.
Where the English smooths the original
and thrust it through his ear ] Lit. set , or give, it ; E, bore or pierce his ear. His ear because it is the organ of obedience. Cp. Psalm 40:6 , mine ears thou hast opened ; Isaiah 50:4 f., morning by morning he wakeneth mine ear to hear as the taught … The Lord Jehovah hath opened mine ear .Cambridge itself draws the ear-of-obedience link to Psalm 40:6 — the basis for the structural thread.
And unto thy maidservant thou shalt do likewise —i.e., “in furnishing her liberally” (Rashi), and “possibly also in retaining her if she will.”
For ever, i.e. all the time of his life, or, at least, till the year of jubilee.
This was not a painful operation, especially as the servant's ear was probably already pierced for a ring; nor does any infamy appear to have been attached to the bearing of this badge of perpetual servitude.The Pulpit Commentary reads the rite as honorable, not degrading — a badge worn without shame, weighing against any cruelty in the lifelong bond.
In the Code of Ḫammurabi (§ 282) the slave who denies his master has his ear cut off.Cambridge sets the Hebrew rite against its nearest ancient analogue: in Babylon the ear was severed in punishment; in Israel it is pierced in love — the same organ, the opposite spirit.
18Do not regard it as a hardship to set your servant free, because his six years of service were worth twice the wages of a hired hand. And the LORD your God will bless you in all you do.
Berean Standard Bible · CC0
Hebrew — tap a word ↓
lō- ḇə·‘ê·ne·ḵā yiq·šeh mê·‘im·māḵ bə·šal·lê·ḥă·ḵā ’ō·ṯōw ḥā·p̄ə·šî kî šêš šā·nîm ‘ă·ḇā·ḏə·ḵā miš·neh śə·ḵar śā·ḵîr Yah·weh ’ĕ·lō·he·ḵā ū·ḇê·raḵ·ḵā bə·ḵōl ’ă·šer ta·‘ă·śeh
Literal — word-for-word from the original
It shall not be hard in your eyes when you send him away free from with you, for double the wages of a hired hand he has served you six years; and the LORD your God will bless you in all that you do.
Where the English smooths the original
he has earned and produced so much, that if you had been obliged to keep a day-labourer in his place, it would have cost you twice as muchKeil weighs and rejects rival readings of 'double' before settling on cost-value.
He hath been worth a double hired servant to thee, in serving thee six years - "i. e." such a servant has earned twice as much as a common hired laborer would have done in the same time.
he is entitled to double wages because his service was more advantageous to you, being both without wages and for a length of time, whereas hired servants were engaged yearly (Le 25:53), or at most for three years (Isa 16:14).
The verse-by-verse work is done. What follows gathers the whole unit. All three layers below are machine-generated (⚙). Weigh them; they have no authority.
AI synthesis — woven from the public-domain voices above and the original text; generated and fallible.
The law opens not with the word slave but with ’āḥîḵā, "your brother" (v.12). Whatever the Hebrew bondservant is, he is first kin — sold, as Jamieson, Fausset & Brown catalogue, in "the last extremity of an insolvent debtor… to be sold as a slave with his family (Le 25:39; 2Ki 4:1; Ne 5:1-13)." Ellicott locates the statute in its canon: "This law is expressly referred to in Jeremiah 34:9; Jeremiah 34:13-14, as given in the time of the Exodus… It first appears in Exodus 21:2-11." The verb is yimmāḵêr (Niphal, "is sold" or "sells himself"), and the term is capped: six šānîm, then release. Keil & Delitzsch insist on the count — "the seventh year… is not the same as the sabbatical year, therefore, but the seventh year of bondage" — a reading the Pulpit Commentary and Poole share against the rival sabbatical-year view. The clause's goal-word is ḥāp̄əšî, "free."
Deuteronomy adds what Exodus 21 lacks: the freed man may not go rêqām, "empty" (v.13). Cambridge notes the word's Pentateuchal footprint is the Exodus-plunder texts (Genesis 31:42; Exodus 3:21; 23:15; 34:20) — Israel did not leave Egypt empty, and neither shall the bondman leave his master. The command is emphatic to the bone: ha‘ănêq ta‘ănîq, a doubled verb whose root means to load the neck. Barnes: "The verb in the Hebrew is remarkable. It means 'thou shalt lay on his neck,' 'adorn his neck with thy gifts.'" Cambridge hears in it "make-him-a-necklace… the metaphor rising from the primitive custom of hoarding the family wealth in heavy necklaces." The gift flows from flock, floor, and press — and, as the Geneva margin glosses, it is given "In token that you acknowledge the benefit which God has given you by his labours." The man is not tipped; he is adorned and re-launched into life.
The engine of the whole law is memory: wəzāḵartā, "and you shall remember that you were a ‘e·ḇeḏ in the land of Egypt, and the LORD your God redeemed you" (v.15). The redeeming verb is wayyip̄dəḵā (pâdâh, to ransom by price). Poole draws the line straight: God "brought thee out with triumph and with riches… and therefore thou shalt follow his example, and send out thy servant furnished." The freed man's full hands mirror Israel's full hands at the Red Sea. Ellicott reaches for the parallel charter in Leviticus 25:42 — "They are my servants, which I brought forth out of the land of Egypt; they shall not be sold as bondmen" — and Cambridge marks remembrance-of-bondage as "the motive characteristic of D" (5:15; 16:12; 24:18,22). Mercy here is not sentiment; it is memory enacted.
But a man may decline his freedom — "I will not go out from you" (v.16) — and the reason given is ’ăhêḇəḵā, "because he loves you and your household." Poole reads the closing clause finely: "because it is good, i.e. acceptable in his eyes… to be with thee." Then the rite: ham·mar·ṣê·a‘, "the awl" — a word found in all Scripture only here and Exodus 21:6 — driven through the ear into the door. Cambridge supplies the symbolism: "His ear because it is the organ of obedience. Cp. Psalm 40:6, mine ears thou hast opened." He becomes servant ‘ō·w·lām, "forever" — which Cambridge tempers as "a good example of the relative force of the Heb. phrase for ever," i.e. for life. Keil & Delitzsch guard the whole exception against cruelty: "Manumission was only an act of love, when the person to be set free had some hope of success… compelling him to accept of freedom might be equivalent to thrusting him away." And the maidservant, Ellicott notes with Rashi, is included — Deuteronomy's deliberate widening of Exodus 21.
The unit closes by anticipating the master's grudge: "It shall not be hard in your eyes" (v.18). The accounting is terse and contested — miš·neh, "double the hire of a hireling he has served you." Barnes reads it as labor value: "such a servant has earned twice as much as a common hired laborer." Jamieson, Fausset & Brown read it as cost and term: "both without wages and for a length of time, whereas hired servants were engaged yearly (Le 25:53), or at most for three years (Isa 16:14)." Keil & Delitzsch settle it on cost-value: keeping a day-labourer in his place "would have cost you twice as much." The master loses nothing; he gives back a man he has already profited by — and the unit's recurring promise lands: ū·ḇê·raḵḵā, "the LORD your God will bless you in all that you do."
Honesty requires naming where the human voices divide, lest the ⚙ synthesis paper over it. Two fractures run through this unit. First, the timing of release: is the "seventh year" the seventh of service (Keil & Delitzsch, Pulpit, Poole, against the sabbatical-year reading) — and how does that square with Leviticus 25's jubilee, which Cambridge treats as a later, harder-to-reconcile codification? Second, the meaning of "double" in v.18, where Barnes, JFB, Cambridge, and Keil offer four distinct calculations from one Hebrew word. The ⚙ layer does not resolve these; it records that the terse legal Hebrew genuinely underdetermines them, and that the BSB's smooth English ("worth twice the wages") quietly chooses one reading among several.
Read under Sola Scriptura and tested by the text itself: this law is the Exodus written small. Every clause re-enacts Israel's own deliverance — a brother in bondage (Israel in Egypt), a fixed term broken open (the seventh year), a master who must send him out not empty (Israel plundered Egypt), grounded explicitly in "you were a slave… and the LORD your God redeemed you" (v.15). The logic is not charity but mimicry: the redeemed redeem. And at the unit's strange center stands the man who will not go free — who loves his master's house and offers his ear to the awl, becoming a willing servant ‘ôlâm. The same Scripture that bounds bondage at six years also honors a love that chooses the door forever. The ⚙ reading I submit to be tested: Deuteronomy 15:12–18 holds in one frame both the gospel of release (no one God redeems stays a slave by debt) and the deeper bond of glad, chosen service (the freed one may love his way back into the house). One is law's mercy; the other is love's freedom — and Scripture refuses to collapse them.
The redeemed redeem; and the freed, if they love, may give the ear back to the door. — a fallible reading, not Scripture
AI-generated connections. Each carries a verification badge with a recorded basis; contested links are flagged.
The release-of-Hebrew-slaves law first stands in Exodus 21:2: "if thou buy an Hebrew servant, six years he shall serve; and in the seventh he shall go out free." Deuteronomy 15 repeats and expands it (adding the maidservant and the liberal furnishing). The two share more than the common six-year vocabulary (shᵉbîyʻîy 94 vv, shêsh 202 vv, ʻâbad 262 vv): they also share the relatively rare emancipation-word chophshîy ("free," 17 vv) and the national term ʻIbrî ("Hebrew," 32 vv). Barnes, Keil & Delitzsch, and the Pulpit Commentary all treat the two passages as one law in two codifications — Deuteronomy re-stating Exodus 21 "as a law which already existed as a right" (K&D). Because Deuteronomy does not cite Exodus but re-codifies the same statute in its own phrasing, the link is tiered structural rather than quotation, though the shared rare words make it the strongest of the OT-internal legal ties.
Exodus 21:2 · Deuteronomy 15:12
basis: Shared lexemes (Verifier, direct pair): rare H2670 chophshîy (17 vv) + H5680 ʻIbrî (32 vv), plus the six-year formula H7637 shᵉbîyʻîy (94 vv), H8337 shêsh (202 vv), H5647 ʻâbad (262 vv). The rare shared words confirm a tight verbal kinship, but since Deuteronomy re-codifies rather than quotes Exodus 21, it is tiered structural (one law in two codifications), not quotation.
The piercing rite of v.17 is bound to Exodus 21:6 by the rarest word in the unit: martsêaʻ, "awl," which occurs in the whole Hebrew Bible only at these two verses. Both passages share the awl, the ʼôzen (ear), the deleth (door), and the bondman ʻôwlâm (forever). This is the single strongest verbal tie in the unit — a near-identical ceremonial formula. Cambridge notes D writes "set/give it" where Exodus 21 writes "bore/pierce."
Exodus 21:6 · Deuteronomy 15:17
basis: Shared rare lexeme H4836 martsêaʻ ("awl") — occurs in only 2 verses in all of Scripture, both being this pair; plus H1817 deleth, H241 ʼôzen, H5769 ʻôwlâm. A rare shared lexeme + identical rite = confirmed verbal/quotation link.
Jeremiah 34:8-16 records Judah covenanting to free Hebrew slaves "that none should serve himself of them" — and then breaking faith and re-enslaving them, drawing God's judgment. Jeremiah 34:13-14 quotes this Deuteronomic statute by name: "At the end of seven years let ye go every man his brother an Hebrew, which hath been sold unto thee." Ellicott points to exactly this: "This law is expressly referred to in Jeremiah 34:9; Jeremiah 34:13-14." The verbal link is strong, sharing the emancipation word chophshîy (only 17 vv) and the national term ʻIbrîy ("Hebrew," 32 vv) — both relatively rare — plus mâkar ("sold") and shêsh ("six").
Jeremiah 34:14 · Jeremiah 34:9 · Deuteronomy 15:12
basis: Shared rare lexemes H2670 chophshîy (17 vv) + H5680 ʻIbrîy (32 vv) + H4376 mâkar (74 vv) + H8337 shêsh (202 vv); Jeremiah 34:13-14 explicitly cites this Mosaic statute, making it an in-Testament quotation of the law.
Isaiah 58:6 defines the fast God chooses as "to let the oppressed go free (chophshîy), and that ye break every yoke." The prophet takes the Deuteronomic emancipation-word and turns it into the measure of true worship. The tie is thematic, not a quotation of this law: it shares the release-word chophshîy (17 vv) and the sending-verb shâlach (790 vv), recasting the slave-release statute as the heart of acceptable fasting.
Isaiah 58:6 · Deuteronomy 15:13
basis: Shared lexeme H2670 chophshîy (17 vv) — the emancipation term — and H7971 shâlach (790 vv, common). Isaiah does not quote the law but redeploys its release-motif; tiered thematic, since shâlach is common and chophshîy is shared as a theme-word, not a citation.
Deuteronomy's distinctive command that the freed slave not go rêqām, "empty" (v.13), is bound by its very word to the Exodus deliverance. Exodus 3:21 promises that when Israel goes out it will not go empty (rêyqâm) — the same adverb, fulfilled when Israel plundered Egypt (Exodus 12:35-36). Cambridge marks the word's narrow Pentateuchal footprint (E, J, and D only). The basis is the relatively rare shared lexeme rêyqâm (16 vv): the master is to re-enact God's own generosity, sending his bondman out full-handed exactly as God sent Israel out full-handed. This is the lexical anchor under the unit's whole "the redeemed redeem" logic.
Exodus 3:21 · Deuteronomy 15:13
basis: Shared lexeme H7387 rêyqâm ("empty," 16 vv) — relatively rare; the same word for Israel not leaving Egypt empty (Exodus 3:21; cp. 23:15; 34:20). Not a citation but a deliberate verbal echo binding the slave-release to the Exodus pattern; tiered structural.
The emphatic doubled verb of v.14, ha‘ănêq ta‘ănîq ("thou shalt make-him-a-necklace"), turns on the root ʻânaq — a word so rare it occurs in only two verses of the whole Hebrew Bible. The other is Psalm 73:6, where pride encircles the wicked about the neck like a chain (ʻânaq). The same rare verb hangs a load about the neck in both — but in opposite moral registers: in Deuteronomy the freedman is adorned with his master's substance in love; in the Psalm the wicked are adorned with their own arrogance. The verbal tie is genuine (a rare shared lexeme), but it is a shared idiom, not a quotation of this law — the necklace-of-generosity and the necklace-of-pride simply draw on the one Hebrew picture of decking the neck.
Psalm 73:6 · Deuteronomy 15:14
basis: Shared rare lexeme H6059 ʻânaq ("to put on the neck / encircle as a necklace") — occurs in only 2 verses in all of Scripture, this pair. A rare shared lexeme meets the verbal threshold; but the connection is a shared idiom (decking the neck) used to opposite ends, not Psalm 73 citing the law — noted so the badge is not mistaken for a quotation-dependence.
Cambridge itself draws this link: the bondman's pierced ear ("the organ of obedience") echoes Psalm 40:6, "mine ears hast thou opened" — a verse the NT (Hebrews 10:5) applies to the Messiah's glad self-offering. The connection is structural/typological, resting on the shared image of the ʼôzen (ear, 179 vv) as the seat of obedience, not on a verbal citation of this law. The servant who gives his ear to the door foreshadows the Servant who says "Lo, I come… to do thy will."
Psalm 40:6 · Deuteronomy 15:17
basis: Shared lexeme H241 ʼôzen ("ear," 179 vv) — a common word, so the link is the shared motif of the ear as organ of obedience (named by Cambridge), not a quotation. Tiered thematic; the typological reach to the Servant is noted under christ.
Verse 18's "let it not be hard in your eyes" reaches back to v.9 of this same chapter — "Beware that there be not a wicked thought in thine heart… and thine eye be evil against thy poor brother." The unit's release-law is bracketed by warnings against the grudging eye. Cambridge cross-refers v.18 to v.9. This is an in-chapter structural inclusio, sharing the ʻayin (eye) motif and the verb of begrudging, binding generosity-to-the-poor (vv.1-11) to generosity-to-the-freed-slave (vv.12-18).
Deuteronomy 15:9 · Deuteronomy 15:18
basis: Shared motif within Deuteronomy 15 of the begrudging 'eye' (H5869 ʻayin) against the brother; Cambridge ties v.18 to v.9. An intra-unit structural inclusio, not a verbal quotation.
AI-generated reading; weigh it against the text.
The law grounds slave-release in "the LORD your God redeemed you" (v.15, pâdâh, ransom by price). Matthew Henry reads the whole unit Christologically: "the Lord Jesus Christ, by becoming poor, and by shedding his blood, has made a full and free provision for the payment of our debts, the ransom of our souls." The figure is ancient and widely held: as Israel could not free a slave except out of its own redemption, so the gospel frees debtors who "have nothing to pay with" only by a Redeemer's costly purchase (cf. 1 Peter 1:18-19). The not-empty release (v.13) and the liberal furnishing (v.14) prefigure the believer launched into life "having… all things richly to enjoy" (Gill).
Deuteronomy 15:15 · Deuteronomy 15:13
The man who loves his master and will not go free, whose ear is opened at the door to bind him ‘ôlâm (v.16-17), is read — by way of Cambridge's own cross-reference to Psalm 40:6, "mine ears hast thou opened" — as a figure of Messiah's glad, chosen servitude. Hebrews 10:5-7 applies Psalm 40 to Christ: "Lo, I come… to do thy will, O God." The Servant of the Lord chooses bondage out of love, not compulsion, and is bound to the Father's house forever. This typology is novel in its precision here (the Hebrew slave-rite is not cited in the NT), and is offered as a fallible reading: the warrant is the shared image of the opened ear, marked by Cambridge, not an apostolic citation of Deuteronomy 15.
Deuteronomy 15:16 · Deuteronomy 15:17 · Psalm 40:6
The biblical text is the Berean Standard Bible (BSB), public domain (CC0). Hebrew/Greek text, transliteration, morphology and Strong’s are transcribed from the Berean interlinear (CC0) + Strong’s lexicons (PD); the literal renderings, divergence notes, word notes and all synthesis are this tool’s own work (⚙) — fallible; verify them.
Named voices, quoted verbatim from public-domain works:
This unit is Hebrew throughout; all parses, roots, and Strong's numbers come from the sourced Berean/Strong's data and are not contradicted here. Honesty notes specific to Deuteronomy 15:12-18: (1) The thread to Exodus 21:6 rests on martsêaʻ ("awl"), a word occurring in only two verses of the entire Bible — an unusually clean verbal anchor, tiered verbal/quotation (Verifier-confirmed alongside deleth, ʼôzen, ʻôwlâm). (2) The Jeremiah 34 thread is verbal because Jeremiah 34:13-14 explicitly cites this Mosaic law; the shared rare lexemes (chophshîy 17 vv, ʻIbrîy 32 vv) confirm it. (3) The Exodus 21:2 "same statute" thread is deliberately kept structural even though the Verifier surfaces rare shared words (chophshîy, ʻIbrîy): Deuteronomy re-codifies, it does not quote, so the honest tier is one-law-in-two-codifications, not quotation — the basis line names the rare words so the badge is not under-claiming. (4) Two new threads carry their own verified bases: Exodus 3:21 shares the rare adverb rêyqâm ("empty," 16 vv) under the not-empty echo, and Psalm 73:6 shares the hapax-rare verb ʻânaq (necklace, 2 vv) — a true rare-lexeme tie, but a shared idiom used to opposite moral ends, not a citation, so it is flagged as such inside its badge. (5) The Psalm 40:6 and Isaiah 58:6 links are deliberately tiered structural/thematic, not verbal: they share only the common words ʼôzen (ear, Verifier-confirmed as the single shared lexeme with Psalm 40:6) and chophshîy/shâlach, and represent motif-redeployment, not citation of this statute. (6) Two genuine interpretive cruxes are left open rather than resolved: the identity of the "seventh year" (seventh-of-service vs. sabbatical year, and its relation to Leviticus 25's jubilee) and the meaning of "double" in v.18 (value vs. time vs. cost), where four PD commentators disagree. The ⚙ synthesis records the disagreement and flags that the BSB's smooth English quietly selects one reading in each case. (7) The second Christ-typology (the opened ear) is marked novel and fallible: its warrant is Cambridge's cross-reference and the Hebrews 10 use of Psalm 40, not any NT citation of Deuteronomy 15 itself. Every voice quoted is a verbatim contiguous excerpt of the sourced PD commentary in voices_raw.
✦ = human, public-domain source, quoted and named. ⚙ = machine synthesis, to be verified. Flagged cross-references are left visible on purpose — the verifier working in the open. “Search the Scriptures daily, whether those things were so.” (Acts 17:11)