If you buy a Hebrew servant, he is to serve you for six years. But in the seventh year, he shall go free, without paying anything. The first law is the law of the Hebrew servant — and its opening provision is liberation after six years. The same six-and-one pattern as the Sabbath is built into the servitude law: six years of work, the seventh year of freedom. The law does not abolish slavery in a world where it was economically universal, but it places a limit on its duration and grounds that limit in the covenant rhythm. Deuteronomy 15:12–15 grounds the release in the memory of Egypt: remember that you were slaves in Egypt and the Lord your God redeemed you. The people who were freed from slavery are commanded to extend freedom to those who serve within their community.

COMMUNITY REFLECTIONS

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