12 'When thy brother is sold to thee, a Hebrew or a Hebrewess, and he hath served thee six years—then in the seventh year thou dost send him away free from thee. 13 And when thou dost send him away free from thee, thou dost not send him away empty; 14 thou dost certainly encircle him out of thy flock, and out of thy threshing-floor, and out of thy wine-vat; 'of' that which Jehovah thy God hath blessed thee thou dost give to him, 15 and thou hast remembered that a servant thou hast been in the land of Egypt, and Jehovah thy God doth ransom thee; therefore I am commanding thee this thing to-day. 16 'And it hath been, when he saith unto thee, I go not out from thee—because he hath loved thee, and thy house, because 'it is' good for him with thee— 17 then thou hast taken the awl, and hast put 'it' through his ear, and through the door, and he hath been to thee a servant age-during; and also to thy handmaid thou dost do so. 18 'It is not hard in thine eyes, in thy sending him away free from thee; for the double of the hire of an hireling he hath served thee six years, and Jehovah thy God hath blessed thee in all that thou dost.
19 'Every firstling that is born in thy herd and in thy flock—the male thou dost sanctify to Jehovah thy God; thou dost not work with the firstling of thine ox, nor shear the firstling of thy flock;
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Deuteronomy 15:12-19
Commentary on Deuteronomy 15:12-18
(Read Deuteronomy 15:12-18)
Here the law concerning Hebrew servants is repeated. There is an addition, requiring the masters to put some small stock into their servants' hands to set up with for themselves, when sent out of their servitude, wherein they had received no wages. We may expect family blessings, the springs of family prosperity, when we make conscience of our duty to our family relations. We are to remember that we are debtors to Divine justice, and have nothing to pay with. That we are slaves, poor, and perishing. But the Lord Jesus Christ, by becoming poor, and by shedding his blood, has made a full and free provision for the payment of our debts, the ransom of our souls, and the supply of all our wants. When the gospel is clearly preached, the acceptable year of the Lord is proclaimed; the year of release of our debts, of the deliverance of our souls, and of obtaining rest in him. And as faith in Christ and love to him prevail, they will triumph over the selfishness of the heart, and over the unkindness of the world, doing away the excuses that rise from unbelief, distrust, and covetousness.
Commentary on Deuteronomy 15:19-23
(Read Deuteronomy 15:19-23)
Here is a direction what to do with the firstlings. We are not now limited as the Israelites were; we make no difference between a first calf, or lamb, and the rest. Let us then look to the gospel meaning of this law, devoting ourselves and the first of our time and strength to God; and using all our comforts and enjoyments to his praise, and under the direction of his law, as we have them all by his gift.