Master Frees His Hebrew Servantby emmanuel_higgins

Deuteronomy 15:14

Thou shalt furnish him liberally out of thy flock, and out of thy floor, and out of thy winepress: of that wherewith the LORD thy God hath blessed thee thou shalt give unto him.

The command requires that when a Hebrew servant is set free in the sabbatical year, the master is not to dismiss him empty-handed but to furnish him liberally for a new start. The supply is to come from three specified sources of increase, the flock, the threshing floor, and the winepress, so that livestock and harvested food and drink all share in the gift. The measure of the gift is the blessing the Lord has bestowed on the master himself, making divine generosity the standard for human generosity. In this way the freed person is provided with resources and is not left destitute upon release.

The same requirement establishes a broader duty to give freely out of the abundance God has provided whenever helping a person in need. That giving is to be marked by mercy and compassion and tenderness, expressing God's blessing received by blessing another. It forbids using a debt as occasion to wrong a fellow believer, requiring kind dealing instead of harsh exaction.