What Does Leviticus 25:46 Mean in the King James?

And ye shall take them as an inheritance for your children after you, to inherit them for a possession; they shall be your bondmen for ever: but over your brethren the children of Israel, ye shall not rule one over another with rigour.

Leviticus 25:46 · KJV

The analysis reads the King James wording.

King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.

This verse in the Selah Decoded Version

THE KEY

The verse’s protection stops at kinship: it forbids harsh rule among Israelites while permitting outsiders to be held as perpetual inherited property.

THE MEANING

This verse draws a sharp boundary: one Israelite may not rule another with crushing severity, while outsiders may be inherited as property and kept in perpetual servitude. Its protection is tied to kinship; it does not extend to everyone the verse calls “them.”

WHAT THIS UNDOES

It dissolves the assumption that this verse’s ban on harsh rule rejects slavery itself: the same sentence allows outsiders to be inherited and held forever.

THE ROOT

לָרֶשֶׁת

lārešet

GROWS FROM

ירשׁ

To take possession, inherit, or dispossess.

“inherit” in this verse is lārešet. The root can name both receiving an inheritance and taking possession by displacing another. Here, the object inherited is people, so the word’s language of possession is starkly literal.

ALSO GROWS

hôrîš: To dispossess or drive out.

הוֹרִישׁ

This branch shows the root’s force can include removing someone from what they hold, not only receiving what is passed down.

môrāšāh: Inheritance or possession.

מוֹרָשָׁה

The noun makes the connection between inheritance and possession explicit; this verse applies that language to human beings.

תַּעַבְדוּ

taʿavdū

GROWS FROM

עבד

To work or serve.

The Hebrew form beneath “bondmen” is a verb from the root that also names work and service. The word family binds a person’s status to the labor demanded of them, and this verse makes that service perpetual.

ALSO GROWS

ʿeḇeḏ: Servant or slave.

עֶבֶד

This noun names the person held in the relation of service described by the verb.

ʿăḇōḏāh: Work, labor, or service.

עֲבוֹדָה

This branch names the labor itself, showing how the root joins the status of the bondman to the work extracted from him.

THE PATTERN

These texts constrain a master’s treatment of servants through kinship or accountability while leaving the master–servant relation intact.

And the Egyptians made the children of Israel to serve with rigour:

Exodus 1:13 · KJVThe same Hebrew term, ⁨בְּפָרֶךְ⁩ (bəfāreḵ, with crushing severity), names the coercive labor imposed on Israel.

And if thy brother, an Hebrew man, or an Hebrew woman, be sold unto thee, and serve thee six years; then in the seventh year thou shalt let him go free from thee.

Deuteronomy 15:12 · KJVHere, kinship limits bondage: service for a Hebrew brother or sister ends in the seventh year.

And, ye masters, do the same things unto them, forbearing threatening: knowing that your Master also is in heaven; neither is there respect of persons with him.

Ephesians 6:9 · KJVThe verse restrains masters from threatening servants and holds them accountable to a shared Master, while retaining the master–servant relation.

THE THREAD

And the Egyptians made the children of Israel to serve with rigour:

Exodus 1:13 · KJV

The Hebrew phrase ⁨בְּפָרֶךְ⁩ (bəfāreḵ, “with crushing severity”) appears in both verses. Its echo makes the boundary plain: harsh domination is forbidden among Israelite kin, while this verse permits outsiders to be held as permanent inherited property.

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