Bible Strands
Leviticus 25:43
You are not to rule over them harshly, but you shall fear your God.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — God addresses Israel through Moses, establishing boundaries for the treatment of Hebrew bondservants within the Jubilee framework.
The words — תִרְדֶּ֥ה (tir.Deh) = you will rule, and פָ֑רֶךְ (Fa.rekh) = harshness. The text explicitly forbids exercising oppressive authority over fellow Israelites.
The thread — The prohibition contrasts with the ruthless labor in Exodus 1:13, repeats the fear-of-God mandate in Leviticus 25:17, and extends the principle to Christian masters in Colossians 4:1.
Why it lands — The text commands the cessation of harsh domination and requires reverence for God as the final judge. Readers must exercise restrained, accountable authority rather than exploitative control.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
Thou shalt not rule over him with rigour; but shalt fear thy God.
Cross-references
- Colossians 4:1 Masters, supply your slaves with what is right and fair, since you know that you also have a Master in heaven.
- Exodus 1:13 They worked the Israelites ruthlessly
- Leviticus 25:17 Do not take advantage of each other, but fear your God; for I am the LORD your God.
- Leviticus 25:46 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.
- Leviticus 25:53 He shall be treated like a man hired from year to year, but a foreign owner must not rule over him harshly in your sight.
- Ezekiel 34:4 You have not strengthened the weak, healed the sick, bound up the injured, brought back the strays, or searched for the lost. Instead, you have ruled them with violence and cruelty.
- Exodus 1:17 The midwives, however, feared God and did not do as the king of Egypt had instructed; they let the boys live.
- Exodus 1:21 And because the midwives feared God, He gave them families of their own.
- Exodus 2:23 After a long time, the king of Egypt died. The Israelites groaned and cried out under their burden of slavery, and their cry for deliverance from bondage ascended to God.
- Exodus 3:7 The LORD said, “I have indeed seen the affliction of My people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their oppressors, and I am aware of their sufferings.