If there remain but a few years until the year of jubilee, he shall calculate and pay for his redemption in proportion to his years of service.
We have here the laws concerning servitude, designed to preserve the honour of the Jewish nation as a free people, and rescued by a divine power out of the house of bondage, into the glorious liberty of God's sons, his first-born. Now the law is, I. That a native Israelite should never be made a bondman for perpetuity.
Commenting on Leviticus 25:39-55
And if there remain but few years unto the year of jubilee,.... Fewer than what he has served, then the less is given for his redemption: thus, for instance, in the above supposed case, if he has served fifteen years, and there remain but five to the year of jubilee: then he shall count with him, and according unto his years shall he give him...
Leviticus 25:35-55 The second effect of the jubilee year, viz., the return of an Israelite, who had become a slave, to liberty and to his family, is also introduced with an exhortation to support an impoverished brother (Lev 25:35-38), and preserve to him his personal freedom.
Commenting on Leviticus 25:35-55