Charles Ellicott Commentary Leviticus 25:46

"And ye shall make them an inheritance for your children after you, to hold for a possession; of them shall ye take your bondmen for ever: but over your brethren the children of Israel ye shall not rule, one over another, with rigor." — Leviticus 25:46 (ASV)

And you shall take them as an inheritance for your children. —That is, they may appropriate them to themselves, as their personal property, which is transmissible as inheritance to posterity with the family land.

They shall be your bondmen for ever. —These are not subject to the laws of Jubilee. They remain in perpetual serfdom unless they or their friends redeem them, or their master has maimed any one of them. In case of injury, the master is obliged to manumit him (Exodus 21:26–27). The authorities during the Second Temple enacted that the master’s right, even with regard to this kind of slaves, is restricted to their labour, but that he has no right to barter with them, to misuse them, or to put them to shame.

Over your brethren ... you shall not rule ... with rigour. —In contrast to these non-Jewish slaves, the Jewish slaves are here designated “brethren.” They are co-religionists, who have been reduced to temporary servitude, but who are, nevertheless, fellow-heirs with them in the land of their possession. Therefore, the greatest consideration was to be shown to them in these adverse circumstances. The authorities during the Second Temple have therefore enacted that there must be no difference between the daily food, clothing, and dwelling of the master and his Hebrew slave, and that the master and the servant are alike in these respects.