This verse shows that the institution of slavery itself is not questioned. The practice could continue so long as the slaves were not taken from among the people of Israel.

As for …: literally “And….” It may be better to restructure the beginning of this verse to say something like “Since you have (male and female) slaves, you should buy them from….” Good News Translation attempts to accomplish the same thing by beginning “If you need slaves….”

Male and female slaves: in most languages it will be assumed that both males and females are concerned, if no mention is made of sex (see Good News Translation). And the inclusion of these details may be considered stylistically unacceptable. The second occurrence in the Revised Standard Version text is especially heavy.

Nations: see 18.24.

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 .