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Deuteronômio 15

BLIVRE · Chapter 15/34

1Ao fim de sete anos farás remissão.

2E esta é a maneira da remissão: perdoará a seu devedor todo aquele que fez empréstimo de sua mão, com que obrigou a seu próximo: não o exigirá mais a seu próximo, ou a seu irmão; porque a remissão do SENHOR é proclamada.

3Do estrangeiro exigirás o pagamento: mas o que teu irmão tiver teu, o perdoará tua mão;

4Para que assim não haja em ti pobre; porque o SENHOR te abençoará com abundância na terra que o SENHOR teu Deus te dá por herança para que a possuas,

5Se porém escutares fielmente a voz do SENHOR teu Deus, para guardar e cumprir todos estes mandamentos que eu te intimo hoje.

6Já que o SENHOR teu Deus te haverá abençoado, como te disse, emprestarás então a muitas nações, mas tu não tomarás emprestado; e te ensenhorearás de muitas nações, mas de ti não se ensenhorearão.

7Quando houver em ti necessitado de algum de teus irmãos em alguma de tuas cidades, em tua terra que o SENHOR teu Deus te dá, não endurecerás teu coração, nem fecharás tua mão a teu irmão pobre:

8Mas abrirás a ele tua mão generosamente, e com efeito lhe emprestarás o que basta, o que houver necessidade.

9Guarda-te que não haja em teu coração perverso pensamento, dizendo: Próximo está o ano sétimo, o da remissão; e tua olho seja maligno sobre teu irmão necessitado para não dar-lhe: que ele poderá clamar contra ti ao SENHOR, e se te imputará a pecado.

10Sem falta lhe darás, e não seja teu coração maligno quando lhe deres: que por ele te abençoará o SENHOR teu Deus em todos os teus feitos, e em tudo o que puseres mão.

11Porque não faltarão necessitados do meio da terra; por isso eu te mando, dizendo: Abrirás tua mão a teu irmão, a teu pobre, e a teu necessitado em tua terra.

12Quando se vender a ti teu irmão hebreu ou hebreia, e te houver servido seis anos, ao sétimo ano lhe despedirás livre de ti.

13E quando o despedires livre de ti, não o enviarás vazio:

14Tu lhe abastecerás generosamente de tuas ovelhas, de tua eira, e de tua prensa de uvas; tu lhe darás daquilo em que o SENHOR te houver abençoado.

15E te lembrarás que foste servo na terra do Egito, e que o SENHOR teu Deus te resgatou: portanto eu te mando isto hoje.

16E será que, se ele te disser: Não sairei de tua presença; porque ama a ti e à tua casa, que lhe vai bem contigo;

17Então tomarás uma ferramenta pontiaguda, e furarás sua orelha junto à porta, e será teu servo para sempre: assim também farás à tua criada.

18Não te pareça duro quando lhe enviares livre de ti; que dobrado do salário de jovem assalariado te serviu seis anos: e o SENHOR teu Deus te abençoará em tudo quanto fizeres.

19Santificarás ao SENHOR teu Deus todo primeiro macho que nascer de tuas vacas e de tuas ovelhas: não te sirvas do primeiro de tuas vacas, nem tosquies o primeiro de tuas ovelhas.

20Diante do SENHOR teu Deus os comerás cada ano, tu e tua família, no lugar que o SENHOR escolher.

21E se houver nele mácula, cego ou coxo, ou qualquer má falta, não o sacrificarás ao SENHOR teu Deus.

22Em tuas povoações o comerás: o impuro o mesmo que o limpo comerão dele, como de um corço ou de um cervo.

23Somente que não comas seu sangue: sobre a terra a derramarás como água.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

God institutes the year of release every seven years, when debts between Israelites were to be forgiven and Hebrew slaves set free with generosity, along with instructions to lend open-heartedly to the poor without resentment over the approaching year of forgiveness.

Explanation

The year of debt release created an economic system that prevented perpetual indebtedness and permanent structural poverty, recognizing that adverse circumstances can bring anyone into temporary need, but that this condition should not become hereditary and hopeless. The specific warning against the selfish calculation of refusing loans near the seventh year ('and thine eye be evil against thy poor brother') shows that God cared not only about the legal structure of generosity but also about the inner attitude behind it. The promise that 'the poor shall never cease out of the land' honestly acknowledges that poverty would continue to exist even with these laws — the biblical solution was not to eliminate poverty structurally once and for all, but to establish continual, recurring generosity as a practical and permanent response.

Fun facts

  • The phrase 'the poor shall never cease out of the land' (v. 11) is echoed by Jesus in Matthew 26:11 ('for ye have the poor always with you') during the anointing at Bethany, showing how deeply He knew and naturally quoted the texts of Deuteronomy.
  • The practice of piercing the ear of a servant who chose to remain voluntarily with his master beyond the required six years (v. 17) symbolized a perpetual and visible commitment, and curiously contrasts with Esau's selling of his birthright, showing different symbolic ways of formalizing agreements in ancient Hebrew culture.

Verse-by-verse explanation

  1. Deuteronômio 15:1Every seven years there was a release: whoever had lent to a fellow Israelite had to forgive the debt. The idea was to keep poverty from becoming permanent, giving a periodic fresh start to anyone who had fallen into debt.
  2. Deuteronômio 15:2It explains the mechanism of the release: every debt between Israelites was to be forgiven, with no forced collection.
  3. Deuteronômio 15:3It draws a distinction: debts owed by foreigners could still be collected normally, but not those owed by fellow Israelites.
  4. Deuteronômio 15:4The promise behind the law is that, if followed closely, there would be no structural poverty among the people, because of God’s blessing on the land.
  5. Deuteronômio 15:5This absence of poverty is conditioned on carefully obeying all the commandments.
  6. Deuteronômio 15:6The promised blessing would even include economic prosperity over other nations: lending without needing to borrow.
  7. Deuteronômio 15:7If there was still a poor person among the people, the instruction was not to harden the heart or shut the hand against him.
  8. Deuteronômio 15:8It calls for active generosity: opening the hand and lending enough to meet the real need of the poor person.
  9. Deuteronômio 15:9It warns against a mean-spirited calculation: refusing help close to the year of release, out of fear of not getting the money back, would be counted as sin.
  10. Deuteronômio 15:10It asks that generosity come without resentment, because that generous attitude would also bring a blessing on one’s own work.
  11. Deuteronômio 15:11It realistically acknowledges that poverty would never disappear entirely, which is why the command to keep being generous always remains in force.
  12. Deuteronômio 15:12A Hebrew servant was freed after six years of service, and the owner still had to send him away with provisions, not empty-handed. If he preferred to stay because he loved the household, his ear was pierced at the door as a sign that he chose to stay forever, a custom common in the ancient world for marking that kind of commitment.
  13. Deuteronômio 15:13When freeing a Hebrew servant after six years, the law forbids sending him away empty-handed.
  14. Deuteronômio 15:14It requires the owner to furnish him generously from his own flock, threshing floor, and winepress — a share of the prosperity received from God.
  15. Deuteronômio 15:15The reason given once again is the memory of slavery in Egypt: whoever was freed by God must also free others generously.
  16. Deuteronômio 15:16It provides for the case of the servant who prefers to stay, because he loves the household and the owner’s family.
  17. Deuteronômio 15:17In that case, a simple ritual — piercing the ear at the door — marked the commitment to serve forever, a common practice at the time.
  18. Deuteronômio 15:18It asks that the owner not see the release as a loss, since six years of work were already worth double the normal wage of a hired hand.
  19. Deuteronômio 15:19Every firstborn male of the flock and herd was born already set apart for the LORD and could not be used for work or shorn: it was as if, from birth, part of the livestock already belonged to God before the owner made any decision.
  20. Deuteronômio 15:20It requires that the firstborn of the flock be eaten yearly before God, at the place He chose, by the whole family.
  21. Deuteronômio 15:21Important exception: an animal with a defect — lame, blind, or with any flaw — could not be offered as a sacrifice.
  22. Deuteronômio 15:22In that case of a defect, the animal could be eaten normally at home, by anyone, as ordinary meat.
  23. Deuteronômio 15:23Even in this exception, the rule about blood still applies: never eat it, always pour it out on the ground.

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