What Does Leviticus 25:55 Mean in the King James?
For unto me the children of Israel are servants; they are my servants whom I brought forth out of the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God.
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 exodus is not an escape into ownerlessness; it changes whose service defines the freed life.
THE MEANING
Your release from Mitzrayim (מִצְרַיִם, Mitzrayim, the two narrows) does not leave you ownerless; it changes whose claim holds you. The verse calls Israel the LORD’s servants because he is the one who brings them out, then names the relationship plainly: “I am the LORD your God.” Freedom here is movement out of constriction into service under the one who brings you out.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
Freedom means no one has any claim on me.
THE ROOT
עֲבָדִים
ʿavadim
GROWS FROM
עבד
to work, serve
The Hebrew word for servants comes from עבד, a root that also names the work or service itself. The verse joins identity and service, grounding Israel’s service in the act of being brought out by the one they serve.
ALSO GROWS
ʿeved: servant
עֶבֶד
This singular form shows the same root naming the person whose belonging the verse describes.
ʿavodah: work, service
עֲבֹדָה
This branch makes visible the root’s link between being a servant and the act of serving.
הוֹצֵאתִי
hotzeiti
GROWS FROM
יצא
to go out, come forth
“brought forth” in this verse is hotzeiti. The verb means “I brought out,” while its root carries the motion of going out. The verse places service after that movement: Israel is brought out of Mitzrayim before being named as the LORD’s servants.
ALSO GROWS
yatsa: to go out, come forth
יָצָא
This basic form makes the movement inside “brought forth” plain.
yetsi’ah: going out, departure
יְצִיאָה
This noun keeps the emphasis on exit, the movement by which the verse describes release from Egypt.
THE PATTERN
Being brought out of constriction ends one power’s claim and gives service a new source.
I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.And now, Israel, what doth the LORD thy God require of thee, but to fear the LORD thy God, to walk in all his ways, and to love him, and to serve the LORD thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul,But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life.THE THREAD
For they are my servants, which I brought forth out of the land of Egypt: they shall not be sold as bondmen.Both verses use עבד (ʿavad), meaning serve, for Israel’s belonging to the LORD. Verse 42 spells out a consequence: those brought out of Egypt are not to be sold as bondmen to another human owner.
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