Deuteronomy 15
BSASBMoses tells Israel how to treat the poor and the indebted. Every seventh year debts are cancelled and Hebrew servants go free, and God’s people are to give with open hands and glad hearts. The chapter ends with the rules for firstborn animals, which belong to the LORD.
Deuteronomy 15:1
Every seventh year Israel was to let go of what neighbors owed. It was a regular reset built into the nation’s life, so that debt could never crush a family forever. Mercy was written into the calendar.
BSA: debts (“a forgiveness of financial obligations, letting go of what is owed”): The year is about forgiveness, not just bookkeeping: the lender actually lets go of what is owed.
Hebrew: שְׁמִטָּה (shemittah, H8059) — “release, a letting drop.” The word comes from a verb meaning to let something fall or loosen one’s grip. The lender opens his hand and lets the debt drop.
See also: Exodus 23:10-11.
Deuteronomy 15:2
No lender could press a fellow Israelite for repayment once the release was proclaimed. The release belonged to the LORD, not to the lender’s good mood. Forgiving the debt was obedience, and it honored God as the true owner of everything.
BSA: release (“remission, a break from work”): The year was a rest from the strain of debt, as the land itself rested in the seventh year.
Deuteronomy 15:3
Foreigners, who were often traders passing through, could still be asked to repay. The family bond within God’s people called for a different kind of mercy. A brother’s need was not to be treated as a business matter.
BSA: forgive (“release, let go of”): The lender is told to release the debt entirely, not just to wait for payment.
Deuteronomy 15:4-5
God’s goal was a land with no poverty. His blessing would make that possible, if the people obeyed. The promise was real, and it was tied to listening to the LORD and keeping his commands from the heart, not just in part.
BSA: obey (“diligently hearken, carefully listen to”): Obedience begins with attentive listening to God, not with grudging rule-keeping.
Deuteronomy 15:6
Faithfulness would bring prosperity so great that Israel would be the lender among the nations, not the borrower. God promised them honor and security. Their wealth was meant to be a witness to his goodness.
See also: Deuteronomy 28:12-13.
Deuteronomy 15:7
Moses now speaks to the heart. If a poor brother lives in any town, the real danger is a hardened heart and a closed fist. Need is met first by a softened heart, and only then by an open hand.
BSA: harden (“strengthen, make unfeeling”): Hardness of heart is something we can build up in ourselves, bit by bit, by refusing to feel.
Hebrew: תְאַמֵּץ (te’ammetz, H553) — “make firm, stiffen.” The same verb is used for being strong and courageous. Here it describes strength turned the wrong way: a heart made stiff against a brother’s need.
Deuteronomy 15:8
The cure for a closed hand is an open one. God asks for generous lending that meets the real need, enough for what the man lacks. It is a command to be generous, not merely to avoid being stingy.
BSA: freely (“without hesitation”): The help is to be given promptly and gladly, not after long reluctance.
Hebrew: פָּתֹחַ תִּפְתַּח (patoach tiftach, H6605) — “you shall surely open.” Hebrew doubles the verb for emphasis, so the sense is open, truly open. God wants the hand held wide, not cracked a little.
See also: Matthew 5:42.
Deuteronomy 15:9
Moses names a particular temptation: refusing help because the seventh year is near and the loan would never be repaid. He calls it a wicked thought. The poor man’s cry reaches God, and the stingy lender becomes guilty of sin.
BSA: begrudgingly (“with an evil eye, coldly”): The look in the eye shows the heart: a cold, calculating glance at a brother in need.
Hebrew: וְרָעָה עֵינְךָ (ve-ra’ah enekha, H7489) — “and your eye is evil.” Hebrew speaks of an evil eye for a grudging, selfish outlook. Stinginess is seen first in how we look at a needy person.
See also: Deuteronomy 24:15.
Deuteronomy 15:10
Give freely, and give without inward grumbling. God cares about the heart as well as the gift. He promises to bless the giver’s work, so generosity is never a loss in his sight.
BSA: grieved (“saddened, afflicted”): The gift is not to leave the giver sorrowful or resentful, but glad.
See also: 2 Corinthians 9:7.
Deuteronomy 15:11
Poverty would not disappear completely, because people would not fully obey. So God’s command stays in force. Wherever there is need, there is a call to open the hand wide to brother, poor, and needy.
BSA: open wide (“to open generously, to give freely”): The hand is to be opened as far as it will go, without holding back.
See also: Matthew 26:11.
Deuteronomy 15:12
A fellow Hebrew who had been sold into service, perhaps because of debt, was to serve six years at most. In the seventh he went free. This applied to women as well as men. No Israelite was to be a slave forever.
See also: Exodus 21:2.
Deuteronomy 15:13-14
The freed servant must not leave with nothing. The master gives generously from flock, grain, and wine, in proportion to what God has given him. The man starts his new life with something to build on.
BSA: liberally (“with generosity and abundance”): The parting gift is to be lavish, not a token handout.
Deuteronomy 15:15
The reason for such kindness is Israel’s own history. They were slaves in Egypt and the LORD bought them out. Having been rescued, they should treat the powerless the way God treated them.
BSA: redeemed (“ransomed, set free”): God paid the price to free them, and he asks them to free others in the same spirit.
Hebrew: וַיִּפְדְּךָ (vayifdekha, H6299) — “and he redeemed you, ransomed you.” The verb means to pay a price to set someone free. It makes Israel’s freedom a gift received, which they must pass on.
See also: Deuteronomy 5:15.
Deuteronomy 15:16-17
Some servants would prefer to stay, out of love for the household and because life was good there. Then a public act marked the choice: the ear was pierced against the doorpost. It was a lasting sign of willing, loving service, not forced service.
BSA: awl (“a sharp tool, like a piercer”): A small tool made a permanent mark, showing how seriously a lifelong choice was taken. for life (“forever, always, perpetually”): The servant’s decision was meant to last as long as he lived.
See also: Exodus 21:5-6.
Deuteronomy 15:18
A master might feel he was losing a worker. Moses says otherwise: six years of service had given real value, and God promised further blessing. Obeying God’s mercy would never leave the master poorer in the end.
BSA: twice (“double, a full compensation”): The servant had given the master full, even more than full, value for what he received.
Deuteronomy 15:19
Every firstborn male animal belonged to the LORD. It was set apart and could not be used for work or shorn for wool. It was a way of saying that the first and best of everything comes from God and goes back to him.
BSA: set apart (“dedicate, consecrate”): The animal was made holy, reserved for God alone and not for ordinary use.
Hebrew: תַּקְדִּישׁ (taqdish, H6942) — “you shall make holy, set apart.” The root means to be holy, set aside for God. The firstborn animal was not just given up but made holy, set apart for him.
See also: Exodus 13:2.
Deuteronomy 15:20
Each year the family was to eat the firstborn animal in the LORD’s presence at the place he would choose. Giving to God turned into a shared meal of thanks, a worship celebration enjoyed together in his presence.
See also: Deuteronomy 12:5-7.
Deuteronomy 15:21
An animal that was lame, blind, or seriously flawed could not be offered to the LORD. He deserves the best, not leftovers. The rule teaches reverence: we offer him what is whole, not what we no longer want.
Hebrew: מוּם (mum, H3971) — “blemish, defect.” This word is used for any physical flaw that disqualified an animal from sacrifice. It teaches that what is brought to God must be the best we have.
See also: Malachi 1:8.
Deuteronomy 15:22-23
A flawed firstborn could be eaten at home as ordinary meat, like a gazelle or deer, by clean and unclean alike. The one rule remained: the blood was not to be eaten. It was poured out on the ground, because life belongs to God.
BSA: unclean (“spiritually impure, unacceptable to God”): Even a person under ritual uncleanness could share this ordinary meal, since it was not a sacred offering.
See also: Deuteronomy 12:15-16; Leviticus 17:11.