Leviticus 25:51

Study note

Setting — God speaks through Moses to the Israelites during the establishment of Jubilee and servant-redemption laws. The instruction addresses a purchaser and a Hebrew servant who must calculate the cost of freedom based on the time remaining until the Jubilee year.

The words — The phrase אִם־ ע֥וֹד רַבּ֖וֹת (im od rabbot) literally means "if still many" or "if many years remain." The verb יָשִׁ֣יב (ya’siv) means "he will repay," specifying the proportional return of silver for redemption.

The thread — This scaling mechanism runs directly through Leviticus 25:50 and 25:52, which frame the verse by mandating that sale and redemption prices adjust according to the years left until the Jubilee. The same proportional principle governs land transactions in Leviticus 25:15.

Why it lands — The text requires the purchaser to calculate and remit a precise amount that decreases as the Jubilee approaches. It demands practical fairness by aligning the redemption cost with the actual years of labor remaining.

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.