This verse teaches that financial hardship should never remove a person from God’s overarching plan of redemption.
When “the means of a stranger or of a sojourner with you become sufficient, and a countryman of yours becomes so poor with regard to him as to sell himself to a stranger who is sojourning with you, or to the descendants of a stranger’s family” (v.47), the LORD acknowledges a situation in which an Israelite sees no choice but to enter servitude under a foreigner. This directive is given to Moses, the great prophet and leader of Israel (1526 - 1406 BC), during the time the Israelites camped near Mount Sinai in the Sinai Peninsula, located between Egypt and the land of Canaan. The verse underscores the economic reality that sometimes members of the covenant community might find themselves in dire financial straits, even to the point of offering themselves in service to outsiders.
Moses, acting as the mediator of God’s covenant, includes this command in the broader guidelines for safeguarding the dignity and welfare of the people. “Now if the means of a stranger or of a sojourner with you become sufficient” (v.47) highlights how wealth can accumulate around non-Israelites living among them, and “a countryman of yours becomes so poor…as to sell himself” (v.47) reveals the fragile nature of human circumstances. Yet Scripture provides redemptive protections—later verses describe how the individual could be bought back or how their contractual service might end in the year of Jubilee. In a spiritual sense, this prefigures the way Jesus redeems us from spiritual bondage (John 8:36), ensuring that no believer remains indefinitely locked in an oppressive situation.
For the Israelites, this instruction reinforced community solidarity and mercy, even toward the most vulnerable who had no recourse but to become a servant. The presence of the stranger in their midst and the possibility that the stranger’s family might grow wealthy reminds the nation that God’s care extends to all who reside among His covenant people. By preparing for the possibility of an Israelite “selling himself” into service, God establishes both lawful guidelines and an early model of compassionate redemption that culminates in Christ’s sacrificial work (Titus 2:14).
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Leviticus 25:47 meaning
When “the means of a stranger or of a sojourner with you become sufficient, and a countryman of yours becomes so poor with regard to him as to sell himself to a stranger who is sojourning with you, or to the descendants of a stranger’s family” (v.47), the LORD acknowledges a situation in which an Israelite sees no choice but to enter servitude under a foreigner. This directive is given to Moses, the great prophet and leader of Israel (1526 - 1406 BC), during the time the Israelites camped near Mount Sinai in the Sinai Peninsula, located between Egypt and the land of Canaan. The verse underscores the economic reality that sometimes members of the covenant community might find themselves in dire financial straits, even to the point of offering themselves in service to outsiders.
Moses, acting as the mediator of God’s covenant, includes this command in the broader guidelines for safeguarding the dignity and welfare of the people. “Now if the means of a stranger or of a sojourner with you become sufficient” (v.47) highlights how wealth can accumulate around non-Israelites living among them, and “a countryman of yours becomes so poor…as to sell himself” (v.47) reveals the fragile nature of human circumstances. Yet Scripture provides redemptive protections—later verses describe how the individual could be bought back or how their contractual service might end in the year of Jubilee. In a spiritual sense, this prefigures the way Jesus redeems us from spiritual bondage (John 8:36), ensuring that no believer remains indefinitely locked in an oppressive situation.
For the Israelites, this instruction reinforced community solidarity and mercy, even toward the most vulnerable who had no recourse but to become a servant. The presence of the stranger in their midst and the possibility that the stranger’s family might grow wealthy reminds the nation that God’s care extends to all who reside among His covenant people. By preparing for the possibility of an Israelite “selling himself” into service, God establishes both lawful guidelines and an early model of compassionate redemption that culminates in Christ’s sacrificial work (Titus 2:14).