3:18 At that time I instructed you as follows: “The Lord your God has given you this land for your possession. You warriors are to cross over before your fellow Israelites 6 equipped for battle.
15:7 If a fellow Israelite 7 from one of your villages 8 in the land that the Lord your God is giving you should be poor, you must not harden your heart or be insensitive 9 to his impoverished condition. 10
15:12 If your fellow Hebrew 13 – whether male or female 14 – is sold to you and serves you for six years, then in the seventh year you must let that servant 15 go free. 16
24:7 If a man is found kidnapping a person from among his fellow Israelites, 20 and regards him as mere property 21 and sells him, that kidnapper 22 must die. In this way you will purge 23 evil from among you.
24:14 You must not oppress a lowly and poor servant, whether one from among your fellow Israelites 24 or from the resident foreigners who are living in your land and villages. 25
1 tn Or “you.” A number of English versions treat the remainder of this verse and v. 17 as direct discourse rather than indirect discourse (cf. KJV, NAB, NIV, NRSV, NLT).
2 tn Heb “brothers.” The term “brothers” could, in English, be understood to refer to siblings, so “fellow citizens” has been used in the translation.
3 tn The Hebrew word צֶדֶק (tsedeq, “fairly”) carries the basic idea of conformity to a norm of expected behavior or character, one established by God himself. Fair judgment adheres strictly to that norm or standard (see D. Reimer, NIDOTTE 3:750).
4 tn Heb “between a man and his brother.”
5 tn Heb “his stranger” or “his sojourner”; NAB, NIV “an alien”; NRSV “resident alien.” The Hebrew word גֵּר (ger) commonly means “foreigner.”
6 tn Heb “your brothers, the sons of Israel.”
7 tn Heb “one of your brothers” (so NASB); NAB “one of your kinsmen”; NRSV “a member of your community.” See the note at v. 2.
8 tn Heb “gates.”
9 tn Heb “withdraw your hand.” Cf. NIV “hardhearted or tightfisted” (NRSV and NLT similar).
10 tn Heb “from your needy brother.”
11 tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis, which the translation indicates with “make sure.”
12 tn Heb “your brother.”
13 sn Elsewhere in the OT, the Israelites are called “Hebrews” (עִבְרִי, ’ivriy) by outsiders, rarely by themselves (cf. Gen 14:13; 39:14, 17; 41:12; Exod 1:15, 16, 19; 2:6, 7, 11, 13; 1 Sam 4:6; Jonah 1:9). Thus, here and in the parallel passage in Exod 21:2-6 the term עִבְרִי may designate non-Israelites, specifically a people well-known throughout the ancient Near East as ’apiru or habiru. They lived a rather vagabond lifestyle, frequently hiring themselves out as laborers or mercenary soldiers. While accounting nicely for the surprising use of the term here in an Israelite law code, the suggestion has against it the unlikelihood that a set of laws would address such a marginal people so specifically (as opposed to simply calling them aliens or the like). More likely עִבְרִי is chosen as a term to remind Israel that when they were “Hebrews,” that is, when they were in Egypt, they were slaves. Now that they are free they must not keep their fellow Israelites in economic bondage. See v. 15.
14 tn Heb “your brother, a Hebrew (male) or Hebrew (female).”
15 tn Heb “him.” The singular pronoun occurs throughout the passage.
16 tn The Hebrew text includes “from you.”
17 tc Heb “upon his kingship.” Smr supplies כִּסֵא (kise’, “throne”) so as to read “upon the throne of his kingship.” This overliteralizes what is a clearly understood figure of speech.
18 tn Heb “his brother’s.”
19 tn Heb “melted.”
20 tn Heb “from his brothers, from the sons of Israel.” The terms “brothers” and “sons of Israel” are in apposition; the second defines the first more specifically.
21 tn Or “and enslaves him.”
22 tn Heb “that thief.”
23 tn Heb “burn.” See note on the word “purge” in Deut 19:19.
24 tn Heb “your brothers,” but not limited only to actual siblings; cf. NASB “your (+ own NAB) countrymen.”
25 tn Heb “who are in your land in your gates.” The word “living” is supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.