Exodus 21:2
If thou buy an Hebrew servant, six years he shall serve: and in the seventh he shall go out free for nothing.
Cross-references
Exodus 21:7 provides an exception: female slaves sold by their father do not go free in the seventh year like male slaves described here.
Exodus 21:11 adds another release condition for female slaves if the master fails to provide basics, expanding on the release principle here.
Exodus 12:44 permits a bought servant to eat the Passover, showing the legal status of such servants in other contexts.
Exodus 22:3 describes a thief being sold into servitude as restitution — a different path to servitude than voluntary sale.
In Leviticus 25:39-41, the same Hebrew servant is to be released at Jubilee, a different timeline but same principle of freedom.
Leviticus 25:40-43 expands this law: Hebrew servants serve until Jubilee and must not be ruled with rigor.
Leviticus 25:44 allows buying foreign slaves permanently — contrasting with the temporary service of Hebrew servants.
Leviticus 25:45 contrasts by allowing permanent purchase of foreign slaves, unlike the Hebrew servant released after six years.
Deuteronomy 15:12-15 repeats this law and adds the command to give the freed servant generous provisions.
Deuteronomy 15:18 urges not to view release as burdensome since the servant was worth double a hired hand.
2 Kings 4:1 depicts a widow's sons being taken for debt — a real-life application of the servitude laws.
Nehemiah 5:1-5 describes families selling children into slavery due to debt — a situation the law aimed to regulate.
Jeremiah 34:8-17 recounts Israel's failure to obey this release law and re-enslaving freed servants — a direct historical application.
Deuteronomy 15:13 expands on this law, instructing that the freed slave should be given provisions, not sent away empty-handed.
In Nehemiah 5:8, Nehemiah applies this law by rebuking nobles for selling fellow Jews into slavery, contrasting with the mandated release.
Leviticus 25:54 describes release in the Jubilee year, paralleling the seven-year release principle here but on a larger scale.