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2 ‎[1] ‎[2] If the court has sold him, he serves six years from the day he was sold. At the beginning of his seventh year he goes free. If the sabbatical year intervenes during the six years, he continues to serve in it. If, however, the jubilee year intervenes, even though he was sold only one year before jubilee, he goes free, as it is written : "He shall serve with you only until the jubilee year" (Leviticus 25:40). "In this year of jubilee, each of you shall return to his possession" (13). ‎[3] If one sells himself into servitude, he may sell himself for more than six years. If, for example, he sold himself for ten or twenty years, and the jubilee year intervened, even after one year, he goes free during the jubilee, as it is written: "He shall serve with you only until the jubilee year." ‎[4] ‎[5] ‎[6] ‎[7] ‎[8] It is immaterial whether one sold himself or was sold by the court, to an Israelite or to a heathen, he can deduct the time he has already served from the amount of his redemption and go free. If, for example, he was sold for sixty denars, and he has served four years and found means to liberate himself, he pays twenty denars and goes free. So too, if he sold himself to serve for ten years, he deducts four denars for each year that he has served and pays for the rest with money or its equivalent and goes free.— — ‎[9] 9. Whenever a Hebrew servant or maid-servant is redeemed by deducting from the price of the sale, the calculation is always made in his or her favor - whether his health improves and his value increases, or his health deteriorates and his value decreases. What is implied? A servant was sold for 100 dinarim, but now he is worth 200. We calculate the value of the remaining years on the basis of 100. If he was sold for 200 and is now worth 100, we calculate the value of the remaining years on the basis of 100. ‎[10] 10. When a person is sold to a gentile, he can redeem himself partially, as stated above. Sometimes this will work to his advantage, and sometimes it will work to his disadvantage. How can it work to his advantage? His master purchased him for 200 zuz. His value decreased and he is now worth 100. The servant gives his master 50, half of his present worth. He then regains his health and is again worth 200. All he is required to pay is 100, the remaining half of his value. He is then released. How can it work to his disadvantage? His master purchased him for 200 zuz. The servant gave his master half of his worth, 100 zuz. His value then decreased and he is now worth 100. To redeem himself, he must pay his master 50 zuz, half the remaining amount. Thus, he paid 150 zuz to redeem himself even though he is now worth only 100. ‎[11] 11. Although a master forgoes the remaining amount of money for which a servant is obligated to work, this obligation is not considered to be waived until the master writes a bill of release for the servant. What is implied? His master purchased him for 60 zuz. The servant worked for a year or two and then his master told him: "I am willing to waive the work due for the remainder of the money. Go on your way." The servant is not released from his servitude until his master has a legal document composed. ‎[12] 12. The following rules apply when a servant's master dies. If the master is survived by a son, the servant must serve the son until the conclusion of the six years, until the conclusion of the years for which he sold himself, until the Jubilee year, or until he deducts the money for the years he worked and pays the remainder. If, however, the master is not survived by a son, the servant is granted his freedom. He need not serve a surviving daughter or the deceased's brother. Needless to say, he need not serve other heirs. When a servant is sold to a convert or a gentile, he is not required to serve even his master's son. Instead, when his master dies, he attains his freedom. Thus, a Hebrew servant can be acquired through the transfer of money or a bill of sale, and can acquire his freedom through one of five means: a) the conclusion of his years of servitude, b) the advent of the Jubilee year, c) by paying money, an amount reduced in consideration of the years he worked, d) through being given a bill of release, and e) through the death of the master without a son, or if the master is a gentile or a convert, even if he is survived by a son. It is a mitzvah to tell a servant: "Go out," at the time of his release. Nevertheless, even if his master does not tell him this, the servant attains his freedom without any cost. Nor is a bill of release required. Even if he had been sick and his master spent much on his medical expenses, the servant has no obligations to the master, as implied by Exodus 21:2: "He shall go free at no charge."
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