Leviticus 25:35-38
God’s redeemed people must sustain the vulnerable without profiting from their need.
35 “ ‘If your brother has become poor, and his hand can’t support himself among you, then you shall uphold him. He shall live with you like an alien and a temporary resident.
36 Take no interest from him or profit; but fear your God, that your brother may live among you.
37 You shall not lend him your money at interest, nor give him your food for profit.
38 I am Yahweh your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, to give you the land of Canaan, and to be your God.
God’s redeemed people must sustain the vulnerable without profiting from their need.
This passage commands Israel to sustain a poor brother without exploitation, forbidding interest and grounding economic compassion in the LORD’s redeeming act.
Leviticus 25:35-38 follows the land-redemption and property laws of 25:23-34. The chapter now moves from land and houses to the person who is collapsing economically. Before servitude is discussed in 25:39-55, the text commands covenant mercy that seeks to sustain the impoverished neighbor before he falls further.
Israel is receiving Sinai covenant legislation for life in the land, especially economic practices shaped by Jubilee, redemption, and covenant kinship. Israelite households who may encounter a fellow Israelite becoming poor and unable to sustain himself.
Sabbath for the Land, Jubilee Release, and the LORD's Ownership of Israel
Because the land and the Israelites belong to the LORD, Israel must structure land, labor, debt, poverty, redemption, and release around Sabbath trust, Jubilee restoration, and exodus-shaped mercy.