What Does Leviticus 25:43 Mean?
You shall not tread on him with breaking, but you shall stand in awe of your God.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
Thou shalt not rule over him with rigour; but shalt fear thy God.THE KEY
Awe of God is the boundary that keeps your authority over another person from becoming a crushing grip.
THE MEANING
Your power over another person stands under God’s authority. The verse forbids turning that power into crushing treatment; awe of God sets its boundary. The person under your authority is not yours to treat without limit.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that authority over someone gives you the right to make their life harsh.
THE ROOT
וְיָרֵאתָ
ve-yareta
GROWS FROM
ירא
y-r-ʾ
to fear, stand in awe
“stand in awe of” in this verse is ve-yareta. The verse turns attention from how firmly you can rule to whom you answer. This root names both the one who fears and the posture of awe, showing how regard for God shapes the limits of human power.
ALSO GROWS
yare: one who fears; one who stands in awe
יָרֵא
This form names the person in that posture, making the verse’s boundary a matter of inward regard as well as outward conduct.
yir’ah: fear, awe
יִרְאָה
This noun names the posture itself: the authority exercised over another person is held beneath awe of God.
THE PATTERN
Awe of God places a limit on how the powerful treat those under their authority.
But the midwives stood in awe of God, and did not do as the king of Egypt had spoken to them, but kept the boys alive.It will not be so among you. But whoever wants to be great among you, let him be your servant.Nor as those pressing down upon the portions, but becoming imprints for the flock.THE THREAD
But the midwives stood in awe of God, and did not do as the king of Egypt had spoken to them, but kept the boys alive.Exodus 1:17 uses the same Hebrew root ירא (yare, fear/awe) for the midwives’ fear of God. Their awe limits the king’s claim on the vulnerable, revealing the same structure as this verse: human authority is bounded by answerability to God.
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