Rule … with harshness: these words are very strong and may be translated “treat with brutality” or “deal violently with.”

Him: the pronoun here is singular, since it refers to any such person, that is, any Israelite that had sold himself into slavery (see verse 39). The singular, however, may be more naturally translated as a plural in some languages.

Fear your God: see 19.3, 14, 32; 25.17, 36.

Quoted with permission from Péter-Contesse, René and Ellington, John. A Handbook on Leviticus. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1990. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .