560 TRANSLATION, NOTES, AND COMMENTSAmos knew people in Israel willing to "sell the righteous for silver, and the
needy for a pair of shoes" (Amos 2:6; cf. 8:6). Sarna ( 1973: 148) says that insol-
vency was the prime cause of Hebrew slavery.
But ANE laws also set limits on slavery. The Code of Hammurabi ( § 117)
states that when a seignior, because of debt, was forced to sell his wife, son, or
daughter into slavery, this slavery could only last for three years; in the fourth
year they must go free (ANET^3 170-71; CS II 343; Driver and Miles 1955: 46-
49). The Bible too put limits and safeguards on keeping Hebrews slaves. After
working six years, these slaves went free in the seventh, unless they desired to
remain with their master, in which case they became slaves for life (Exod 21 :2-
6; Deut 15:12-18). The law in Lev 25:39-46 states that Hebrews who bought
other debt-ridden Hebrews should not treat them as slaves but, rather, as hired
servants or sojourners, who received more-benevolent treatment. Then at the
Jubilee, they and their families went free, regardless of how long they had
served. According to the Targum, even slaves who elected to remain with their
masters for life went free in the year of Jubilee. On slavery in the ANE and the
OT, see I. Mendelsohn 1949; idem, "Slavery in the OT," IDB R-Z, 383-91;
R. de Vaux l 965b: 82-83; and M. Dandamayev, "Slavery (ANE and Old Testa-
ment)," ABD 4: 58-65.
cut a covenant. Hebrew kerot ... berft. A literal rendering of the Hebrew is
needed to appreciate the judgment in v 18. Compare Greek horkia temnein
and Latin foedus icere. In English we say "cut a deal." Albright ( 1951) noted in
fourteenth-century cuneiform texts from Qatna, which is southeast of Hamath
in SyriJ, the expression, TAR be ri ti, which he translated "to cut a covenant."
all the people who were in Jerusalem. The LXX omits "all," wl1icl1 is preseut
in T and Vg. It also omits "who were in Jerusalem;' which may have been due
to haplography (homoeoteleuton: m ... m). The phrase is victim to a larger
LXX haplography in 29:25, its only other occurrence in the book, making it un-
likely that the reference to Jerusalem is a tendentious MT addition (pace Stipp
1997: 195).
to proclaim liberty to them. Hebrew liqro> !ahem der6r. The LXX omits "to
them," which refers ahead to the male and female slaves. The expression "to
proclaim liberty" (liqrt/ der6r) occurs also in Isa 61: 1, but as a terminus techni-
cus it refers to the release of slaves in the Jubilee (Lev 25:10), which in Ezek
46: 17 is called the "year of liberty" (senat hadder6r). Akkadian synonyms du-
raru and anduraru ("freedom, release") are also used with reference to debt re-
mission and the manumission of slaves (CAD 1/2: 115; AHw 1: 50-51; Lewy
1958: 21-23). Since the term der6r does not occur in Deut 15:12-18, and the
present release is a general release as the release of Deut 15: 12-18 is not, ques-
tions have been raised about the appropriateness of linking the present manu-
mission to the Sabbatical release, which the oracle does explicitly in vv 13-14
and many scholars do as well in interpreting the passage. Some of the confu-
sion may result from the two Sabbatical releases being placed one after the
other in Deut 15:1-11and12-18. The release of debts (semitt(i) in Deut 15:1-
11 follows the regular calendar: it is a general release every seven years-i.e., it