LEV1085 Assisting the poor in biblical times took the form not only of direct aid but also relief from servitude, and that too was rooted in respect for God's ownership of the world. While an Israelite could be sold into slavery to pay a debt, the master was required to set the slave free within six years, even if the debt was not totally redeemed by that time. If the slave chose to remain in servitude, he could do so, but only until the Jubilee year, when even the reluctant had to go free. Moreover, the master could not abuse the slave. The Bible specifies clearly that the rationale behind these commandments is that all Jews “are My servants, whom I freed from the land of Egypt; they may not give themselves over into [perpetual] servitude.” (Leviticus 25:42. Compare Leviticus 25:55, Exodus 22:2-11, Deuteronomy 15:12-18, and B. Kiddushin 22b) Thus care for the poor, in this case the poor enslaved to pay off their debts, is required because ultimately God owns us all, together with the world in which we live.
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