Verse-by-Verse Commentary
The Book of Deuteronomy
Chapter 15: The Year of Release
Every seventh year in Israel was to look different from the other six. Debts were cancelled, the poor were to be helped without a grudging heart, and Hebrew servants who had sold themselves to pay their debts were to be set free, and not empty-handed, but furnished liberally out of their master's flock and floor. Woven through it all is a picture of the gospel: a debt wiped clean, a hand opened wide, and a freed servant who so loves his master that he chooses to stay for ever. It is a chapter about forgiveness, open-handed generosity, and the glad service that flows from love.
About This Commentary
This is a verse-by-verse study of Deuteronomy chapter 15. For each section you will find the KJV text, the Hebrew words that sharpen the meaning, plain explanation, and a Gospel Focus. The chapter gives the law of the seventh-year release of debts, the command to give freely to the poor, and the release of the Hebrew servant, who, if he loved his master, might choose to serve for ever. Every Scripture quotation is from the King James Version.
Setting the Stage
Debts Cancelled
Every seventh year, creditors were to release what their neighbours owed them.
Give to the Poor
Israel was to open the hand wide to the needy, not shut it or give with a grudging heart.
Set the Servant Free
A Hebrew servant went free in the seventh year, furnished liberally, not sent away empty.
I Will Not Go Away
A servant who loved his master could choose to stay and serve him for ever.
The Year of Release (Deuteronomy 15:1-6)
Every seventh year, debts among the people of Israel were to be released, so that poverty would not harden into a permanent, hopeless burden.
The LORD's Release
"At the end of every seven years thou shalt make a release. And this is the manner of the release: Every creditor that lendeth ought unto his neighbour shall release it; he shall not exact it of his neighbour, or of his brother; because it is called the LORD'S release. Of a foreigner thou mayest exact it again: but that which is thine with thy brother thine hand shall release; Save when there shall be no poor among you; for the LORD shall greatly bless thee in the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee for an inheritance to possess it: Only if thou carefully hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe to do all these commandments which I command thee this day. For the LORD thy God blesseth thee, as he promised thee: and thou shalt lend unto many nations, but thou shalt not borrow; and thou shalt reign over many nations, but they shall not reign over thee. If there be among you a poor man of one of thy brethren within any of thy gates in thy land which the LORD thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not harden thine heart, nor shut thine hand from thy poor brother: But thou shalt open thine hand wide unto him, and shalt surely lend him sufficient for his need, in that which he wanteth. Beware that there be not a thought in thy wicked heart, saying, The seventh year, the year of release, is at hand; and thine eye be evil against thy poor brother, and thou givest him nought; and he cry unto the LORD against thee, and it be sin unto thee. Thou shalt surely give him, and thine heart shall not be grieved when thou givest unto him: because that for this thing the LORD thy God shall bless thee in all thy works, and in all that thou puttest thine hand unto."
Hebrew Study
"release," shemittah (שְׁמִטָּה). A letting drop, a releasing. The word pictures a hand simply letting go of what it held. Every seventh year the creditor was to let his claim fall, releasing his grip on the debt his neighbour owed. It is the same idea behind letting the land rest in the seventh year: a loosening of the grip, a year of release.
Explanation
Every seventh year in Israel was to be a "year of release." A creditor was to let go of what his fellow Israelite owed him: "he shall not exact it of his neighbour." This kept debt from crushing a family generation after generation and gave the poor a fresh start. It was not charity toward foreigners in business but mercy within the covenant family, "because it is called the LORD'S release," His idea, bearing His name. God promised that if they obeyed Him, He would so bless them that they would lend to many nations and borrow from none. Far from making them poor, open-handed obedience would make them a blessing to others.
Gospel Focus
A debt simply let go, released because God said so, is a picture the gospel later fills with its fullest meaning. We were debtors who could never pay, and God in Christ did not merely reduce the debt but cancelled it outright, "blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us... nailing it to his cross" (Colossians 2:14). The year of release whispered what the cross would shout: our account is wiped clean by mercy, not by our ability to pay. And having been forgiven so great a debt, we are taught to forgive others theirs. Jesus told of a servant forgiven an impossible sum who then seized a fellow servant for a trifle, and the Lord's verdict was plain: forgiven people forgive. Let the wonder of your own released debt make you quick to release what others owe you.
Open Thine Hand Wide (Deuteronomy 15:7-11)
Israel was not to let the coming year of release make them tight-fisted toward the poor, but to give freely and generously, without a grudging heart.
Thou Shalt Open Thine Hand Wide
"For the poor shall never cease out of the land: therefore I command thee, saying, Thou shalt open thine hand wide unto thy brother, to thy poor, and to thy needy, in thy land. And if thy brother, an Hebrew man, or an Hebrew woman, be sold unto thee, and serve thee six years; then in the seventh year thou shalt let him go free from thee. And when thou sendest him out free from thee, thou shalt not let him go away empty: 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. And thou shalt remember that thou wast a bondman in the land of Egypt, and the LORD thy God redeemed thee: therefore I command thee this thing to day."
Hebrew Study
Because "the poor shall never cease out of the land," God commands not resignation but open-handedness: "thou shalt open thine hand wide unto thy brother, to thy poor." The heart is guarded too — no "thought in thy wicked heart" that begrudges giving as the year of release nears. The Lord Jesus echoed the first phrase — "ye have the poor always with you" (Matthew 26:11) — never as an excuse for neglect, but, as here, a standing call to generosity.
Explanation
God saw a temptation coming. As the seventh year drew near, a lender might reason that any loan would soon have to be released, and so refuse to help a poor brother at all. Moses forbids this cold arithmetic: "thou shalt not harden thine heart, nor shut thine hand from thy poor brother." Instead, "thou shalt open thine hand wide unto him," and lend what he needs. And they were to give without resentment, "thine heart shall not be grieved when thou givest unto him," for God would bless them for it. "The poor shall never cease out of the land," so there would always be someone to help and never an excuse to stop.
Gospel Focus
God cares not only that we give but how we give, "thine heart shall not be grieved when thou givest." A gift flung down grudgingly is not the giving He asks for. Paul says the same in the plainest terms: "God loveth a cheerful giver." True generosity opens the hand wide and does it gladly, because it has felt God's own open-handedness first. Jesus quoted this very verse, "the poor always ye have with you" (John 12:8), not to excuse neglect but to remind us that the opportunity to show mercy never runs out. There will always be someone within reach who needs help, and God means for His people to be the ones who open the hand. Do not let calculation shut your heart; give freely, give cheerfully, and give to the one God has placed in front of you.
The Servant Who Loved His Master (Deuteronomy 15:12-18)
A Hebrew servant went free in the seventh year, richly provided for; but if he loved his master, he could choose to bind himself to that house for ever.
I Will Not Go Away from Thee
"And it shall be, if he say unto thee, I will not go away from thee; because he loveth thee and thine house, because he is well with thee; Then thou shalt take an aul, and thrust it through his ear unto the door, and he shall be thy servant for ever. And also unto thy maidservant thou shalt do likewise. It shall not seem hard unto thee, when thou sendest him away free from thee; for he hath been worth a double hired servant to thee, in serving thee six years: and the LORD thy God shall bless thee in all that thou doest. All the firstling males that come of thy herd and of thy flock thou shalt sanctify unto the LORD thy God: thou shalt do no work with the firstling of thy bullock, nor shear the firstling of thy sheep. Thou shalt eat it before the LORD thy God year by year in the place which the LORD shall choose, thou and thy household. And if there be any blemish therein, as if it be lame, or blind, or have any ill blemish, thou shalt not sacrifice it unto the LORD thy God. Thou shalt eat it within thy gates: the unclean and the clean person shall eat it alike, as the roebuck, and as the hart. Only thou shalt not eat the blood thereof; thou shalt pour it upon the ground as water."
Hebrew Study
When a Hebrew servant, freed in the seventh year, chooses to stay "because he loveth thee," his ear is pierced to the door and he serves "for ever." Here is bondage transformed by love — not forced labor but willing, lifelong devotion. It became a portrait of the servant who says, "Lo, I come... I delight to do thy will" (Psalm 40:7-8), fulfilled in Christ, and a picture of every believer who, set free, chooses to be forever the willing bondservant of the Lord he loves.
Explanation
An Israelite who had sold himself into service to pay a debt was to be set free in the seventh year. And he was not to leave empty-handed: "thou shalt furnish him liberally out of thy flock, and out of thy floor, and out of thy winepress," so that he could begin again with something in hand. The reason was memory, "thou shalt remember that thou wast a bondman in the land of Egypt, and the LORD thy God redeemed thee." But there was another possibility. If a servant had come to love his master and was happy in that house, he could refuse his freedom: "I will not go away from thee." Then his ear was pierced against the door with an aul, and he became a servant for ever, bound now not by debt but by love.
Gospel Focus
Here is one of the most beautiful pictures in the law. The servant is free to go, his debt is paid, nothing holds him, and yet he chooses to stay, "because he loveth thee and thine house." His service is no longer forced; it is the glad choice of a heart that would rather belong than be free. This is exactly the service Christ calls us to. We have been set free from the debt of sin, free to go, and yet, having tasted His goodness, we say, "I will not go away." Paul, though no man's slave, loved to call himself "a servant of Jesus Christ," and told the freed believer, "being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness" (Romans 6:18). The pierced ear against the door marked a servant who served out of love, and it points us toward the One whose body was pierced for us. The highest freedom is not to serve no one, but to bind ourselves gladly to the Master who loved us. Set free, we choose to stay; forgiven, we long to serve.
Chapter 15 in Review
Deuteronomy 15 shaped Israel's common life around mercy. Every seventh year debts were released, so that poverty would not become a permanent chain. The poor were to be helped with an open hand and a glad heart, never turned away by cold calculation as the year of release drew near. And a servant who had sold himself to pay a debt was to be set free, furnished liberally for a fresh start, unless he so loved his master that he chose to stay and serve for ever.
For the Apostolic reader, the whole chapter foreshadows the gospel. The released debt points to the cross, where our unpayable account was cancelled by mercy. The open hand shows the generous, cheerful giving that flows from having received such mercy ourselves. And the freed servant who would not go away is a picture of every believer: set free from sin, owing nothing, yet binding ourselves gladly to the Master we love. Forgive as you were forgiven, give freely as you received freely, and serve the Lord not from fear but from love.
- Every seventh year debts were released, giving the poor a fresh start (15:1-2).
- The cancelled debt points to the cross, where our account was blotted out (Colossians 2:14).
- Open the hand wide to the poor, and give without a grudging heart (15:11; John 12:8).
- The freed servant was furnished liberally, remembering God's own redemption (15:13-15).
- A servant who loved his master stayed for ever, a picture of glad service to Christ (15:16-17; Romans 6:18).
Questions for Reflection
- Having been forgiven an unpayable debt, are you quick to release what others owe you?
- Do you give to the needy with an open hand and a cheerful heart, or grudgingly?
- Do you serve the Lord out of duty and fear, or from love, saying, "I will not go away"?
References & Sources
Scripture is quoted from the King James Version (KJV). The Hebrew terms are standard and can be checked in any Hebrew lexicon. Supporting passages are listed so every claim can be verified in its own setting. If anything here does not look right, a verse, a reference, or a wording, please tell us at info@FruitBearers.net. Thank you for helping us keep Bible Learning error free.
- The year of release, foreshadowing the cancelled debt: Deuteronomy 15:1-6; Colossians 2:14.
- The open hand and the cheerful giver: Deuteronomy 15:7-11; John 12:8.
- The freed servant who chose to stay: Deuteronomy 15:12-18; Romans 6:18.