Leviticus 25:48

Summary

The verse states that after a person has sold himself (into servitude), a right of redemption continues to belong to him. It specifies that one from among his brothers is the one who will redeem him.

Key words

• nimKar ("he has sold himself", H4376) — niphal perfect, a passive/reflexive form indicating the man is the one acted upon (sold) or acting on himself, not selling another.
• ge'ulLah ("a right of redemption", H1353) — feminine singular noun, the abstract legal concept that stands as the grammatical subject of the sentence.
• tihyeh ("it will belong", H1961) — qal imperfect, third person feminine, agreeing with ge'ulLah; imperfect aspect signals a continuing or future-oriented state rather than a single completed act.
• 'eChad ("one", H0259) — cardinal number functioning as the subject of the final clause, specifying a single individual from the group named afterward.
• yig'aLennu ("he will redeem him", H1350A) — qal imperfect with third-person object suffix nu ("him", H9033), the verb of the main action directed at the sold person.

What the text says

The Hebrew sentence divides into two parts. The first clause, 'acharei nimKar ge'ulLah tihyeh-lo ("after he has sold himself, a right of redemption will belong to him"), places ge'ulLah ("right of redemption", H1353) as the grammatical subject of the verb tihyeh ("it will belong", H1961). The construction lo (preposition + suffix, "to him", H9005+H9033) marks the beneficiary — the redemption right belongs to the sold person, not that he performs the redeeming himself. The niphal form of nimKar ("he has sold himself", H4376) marks the subject as undergoing the sale in a reflexive or passive sense, distinguishing this from an active transaction performed upon another party.

The second clause, 'eChad me'eChav yig'aLennu ("one of his brothers will redeem him"), supplies the agent who will exercise this right. 'eChad ("one", H0259) is grammatically indefinite — it does not name a specific brother but signals that any single member of the group denoted by 'eChav ("his brothers", H0251H, construct plural) may act. The verb yig'aLennu ("he will redeem him", H1350A) carries the object suffix directly, making explicit that the sold person is the one redeemed.

Differences between versions

The LXX renders the second clause with σου ("your"), producing "one of your brothers," introducing a second-person possessive not present in the Hebrew 'eChav ("his brothers", H0251H), which uses a third-person suffix. The Vulgate expands the sense of 'eChad ("one", H0259) with qui voluerit ("whoever is willing"), adding a note of volition not marked in the Hebrew's simple numeral.