been freed by the Lord God from slavery in Egypt and thereafter must not be enslaved by anyone, because they have become God’s own slaves (Lev. 25:39, 42, 55). Leviticus 25 stipulates that if an Israelite is impoverished to the extent of becoming a bonded labourer to another Israelite (vv. 39–40), then in the jubilee year he must be freed from that bond and return to his family and property (v. 41). And if he should sell himself to a foreigner or temporary resident (v. 47), that could only be permitted