Deuteronomy 24:7
If a man be found stealing any of his brethren of the children of Israel, and maketh merchandise of him, or selleth him; then that thief shall die; and thou shalt put evil away from among you. If a man be found stealing any of his brethren of the children of Israel, and maketh merchandise of him, or selleth him; then that thief shall die; and thou shalt put evil away from among you.
The verse belongs to the repetition of various laws in Deuteronomy 23-25 concerning duties between people and between people and God. It stands within the continuing instruction of Deuteronomy that sets out the serious responsibilities of obedience and the fearful consequences of transgression. It is part of the law commanded and written by Moses, and the treatment of Deuteronomy 24 as the command and writing of Moses, including by Jesus, confirms Moses as the human author of the Pentateuch.
The wording about stealing a fellow Israelite literally speaks of stealing his soul, where soul means the whole person. Kidnapping a fellow Israelite and selling or trading him, making merchandise of him, is condemned as evil deserving death, with execution of the thief required to remove evil from the community. The death penalty for stealing and selling or otherwise trafficking in a fellow Israelite was a capital crime used to put this evil away from among the people.
The prohibition of trafficking in people is not limited to Israelites by birth but also forbids making merchandise of Christians. Guilt for the theft continues with those who knowingly possess and hold the stolen person even after later transfers, and keeping that person and his children in unwilling servitude perpetuates and increases the original wrong. Enslaving a brother is a national shame and evil that must be cleansed before freedom can be honored.