What Does Leviticus 25:44 Mean in the King James?
Both thy bondmen, and thy bondmaids, which thou shalt have, shall be of the heathen that are round about you; of them shall ye buy bondmen and bondmaids.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
The verse calls these people servants, then names the household’s claim over them as a purchase: service and ownership meet in the same sentence.
THE MEANING
Here the household is authorized to buy men and women from the surrounding peoples and hold them as bondpeople. The verse presents their bondage as a transaction, while still naming the people being bought.
THE ROOT
עֶבֶד
ʿeved
GROWS FROM
עבד
Work, serve.
“bondmen” in this verse is ʿeved. The root joins the person’s status to the work imposed on them. Here, ʿeved does not mean voluntary service: the verse says these people are bought and held.
ALSO GROWS
ʿavad: To work or serve.
עָבַד
The verb shares the seed of ʿeved, linking the person’s designation with the labor or service demanded.
ʿavodah: Labor or service.
עֲבֹדָה
This related noun makes the work dimension of the root visible alongside the verse’s explicit purchase of people.
תִּקְנוּ
tiqnu
GROWS FROM
קנה
Acquire, obtain, possess.
“buy” in this verse is tiqnu. The verb names a transaction by which the household acquires these people. Its word-family includes terms for acquisition and property, bringing the claim of ownership into view.
ALSO GROWS
miqneh: Acquired property or livestock.
מִקְנֶה
This related word shows the root’s use for things acquired and held, sharpening the force of applying purchase language to people.
qinyan: Acquisition or possession.
קִנְיָן
The shared root links buying in this verse with the broader idea of something brought under a possessor’s claim.
THE PATTERN
Scripture makes the purchase and sale of people visible as a transfer of power over human lives.
Then there passed by Midianites merchantmen; and they drew and lifted up Joseph out of the pit, and sold Joseph to the Ishmeelites for twenty pieces of silver: and they brought Joseph into Egypt.And he that stealeth a man, and selleth him, or if he be found in his hand, he shall surely be put to death.Ye are bought with a price; be not ye the servants of men.THE THREAD
And he that stealeth a man, and selleth him, or if he be found in his hand, he shall surely be put to death.This verse in the Torah names stealing and selling a person as a capital offense, while Leviticus 25:44 authorizes buying people from surrounding nations. Read together, the verses expose a boundary in whose transfer is condemned and whose is permitted.
Read the SDV Bible.
Every verse has a Deep Dive in the app.
The iPhone Bible app with the Selah Decoded Version.
Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us