Deuteronomy 15:17
Ver. 17. Then thou shall take an awl, and thrust it through his ear unto the door,.... Not of his master's house, but of the sanhedrim, or court of judicature, according to the Targum of Jonathan, before whom he was to be brought, and declare his desire to continue with his master; See Gill on "Ex 21:6",and he shall be thy servant for ever; that is, unto the jubilee, as the same Targum; for then all servants were released, and so Jarchi calls it the ever of jubilee:and also unto thy maidservant thou shall do likewise; not bore her ear, for, as both Jarchi and Aben Ezra, and others say, she was not to be bored; though some are of opinion that a maidservant who was willing to continue with her master was to be bored as a manservant; but this respects the manner of dismissing her, or letting her go free, when she was not to go empty, but to be liberally furnished and supplied, as a manservant was. Deuteronomy 15:18Ver. 18. It shall not seem hard to thee when thou sendest him away free from thee,.... He should not grudge him his liberty, nor what he gives to him when he dismisses him:for he hath been worth a double hired servant to thee in serving thee six years; since a hired servant a man is obliged to pay him wages for his work, besides his food, whereas a bondservant received no wages. Aben Ezra remarks, that this proves that a man might not hire himself for more than three years; or however, whereas a hired servant was sometimes hired for so many years, and this is the longest time of any we read of, a servant serving his master six years, his service must be worth double the service of an hired servant, which at most was but three years:and the Lord thy God shall bless thee in all thou doest; thus well using thy servants, whether menservants or maidservants. Deuteronomy 15:19Ver. 19. All the firstling males that come of thy herd, or of thy flock, thou shalt sanctify unto the Lord thy God,.... According to the law in Ex 13:2.See Gill on "Ex 13:2";See Gill on "Ex 13:12";See Gill on "Ex 13:13";thou shalt do no work with the firstling of thy bullock: as to plough or tread out the corn with it, which were done with other heifers:nor shear the firstling of thy sheep; nor was the wool shorn of it to be made use of; one of the Jewish canons runs thus,"if any man weave an hand's breadth of the wool of a firstling into cloth, the cloth is to be burnt {l}.''{l} Misn. Orlah, c. 3. sect. 3. Deuteronomy 15:20Ver. 20. Thou shalt eat it before the Lord thy God, year by year,.... Which, if understood of male firstlings, as in connection with the preceding verse, only priests might eat of them, being devoted to the Lord; so Jarchi says, to the priest he speaks; but if this respects the Israelites in common, then they must be understood either of female firstlings or second firstlings, which the people voluntarily separated, and which they were not to eat in their own houses,but in the place which the Lord shall choose, which was the city of Jerusalem; see De 12:5,thou and thy household; the household of the priest, as Aben Ezra interprets it; but if it designs the same as in De 12:17, then the Israelites and their families are meant. Deuteronomy 15:21Ver. 21. And if there be any blemish therein,.... In the firstling, as if it be "lame or blind", or haveany ill blemish: thou shall not sacrifice it unto the Lord thy God; blemishes in any beast made it unfit for sacrifices which were required; and so all peace offerings, vows, and freewill offerings, were to be free from any, Le 22:19, such were not fit for an holy sacrifice or an holy feast. Deuteronomy 15:22Ver. 22. Thou shalt eat it within thy gates,.... Though it might not be sacrificed, nor eaten as an eucharistic feast at Jerusalem, it might be eaten as common food in their own houses:the unclean and the clean person shall eat it alike; such as were ceremonially unclean, by the touch of a dead body or the like, might partake of it with those that were clean, no difference was to be made:as the roebuck and as the hart; which were clean creatures, and used for food, though not for sacrifice; see De 12:15. Deuteronomy 15:23Ver. 23. Only thou shalt not eat the blood thereof,.... Of the firstling:thou shalt pour it upon the ground as water;See Gill on "De 12:16",See Gill on "De 12:23",See Gill on "De 12:24".
John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible.