Hebrew word · H4466
מִמְכֶּ֫רֶת
mikeret
sale
Mimkeret means 'a sale, a selling' and is found only here in the Hebrew Bible. Linked with ʿeved ('of a slave'), it means 'the sale of a slave', the way slaves were sold. Because the noun repeats the root of the verb ('sold with a sale'), it defines the manner or category of the sale.
Appears once in the Hebrew Old Testament. ·
What it means
sale
Abridged from Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).
In depth
From the study of Leviticus 25:42
- Range of meaning
Mimkeret means 'a sale, a selling' and is found only here in the Hebrew Bible. Linked with ʿeved ('of a slave'), it means 'the sale of a slave', the way slaves were sold. Because the noun repeats the root of the verb ('sold with a sale'), it defines the manner or category of the sale.
- Against the English
BSB/ESV/NIV/WEB 'sold as slaves' gives the sense well. KJV 'sold as bondmen' is similar. YLT 'sold [with] the sale of a servant' and NASB 'sold in a slave sale' keep the repeated root and the concrete idea of a slave market.
- Used elsewhere in the period
The early rabbinic commentary on Leviticus (Sifra, Behar), followed by Rashi, takes it concretely: the Israelite may not be put up on the 'sale stone' (the auction block) or sold with a public crier's announcement. Modern commentators such as Milgrom read it more broadly as a ban on sale into chattel status, meaning permanent, transferable, inheritable ownership. Verses 44–46 describe exactly that status for slaves bought from the surrounding nations.
Similar words
Where it appears
Leviticus · 1
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Leviticus 25:42 מִמְכֶּ֥רֶת a sale of
Because the Israelites are My servants, whom I brought out of the land of Egypt, they are not to be sold as slaves.
Here: 'A sale of.' A noun made from the same root as the verb ('sold with a selling'). The repetition pins down which *kind* of sale is meant. This word occurs only here in the Hebrew Bible.
Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.