The sabbatical year and the year of Jubilee belong to that great sabbatical system which runs through the religious observances of the Law, but rest upon moral rather than upon formally religious ground. It is not, therefore, without reason that they are here set apart from the set times which fell... [ Continue Reading ]
VINEYARD - Rather, fruit-garden. The Hebrew word is a general one for a plantation of fruit-trees.... [ Continue Reading ]
A SABBATH OF REST - See Leviticus 23:3 note. The express prohibition of sowing and reaping, and of pruning and gathering, affords a presumption in favor of the sabbatical year beginning, like the year of Jubilee Leviticus 25:9, in the first month of the civil year Leviticus 23:24, the seventh of the... [ Continue Reading ]
VINE UNDRESSED - That is, “unpruned”; literally “Nazarite vine”, the figure being taken from the unshorn locks of the Nazarite. Numbers 6:5.... [ Continue Reading ]
THE SABBATH OF THE LAND SHALL BE MEAT FOR YOU - That is, the produce of the untilled land (its “increase,” Leviticus 25:7) shall be food for the whole of you in common, rich and poor without distinction Exodus 23:11.... [ Continue Reading ]
The land was to be divided by lot among the families of the Israelites when the possession of it was obtained. Numbers 26:52; Numbers 33:54, etc. At the end of every seventh sabbatical cycle of years, in the year of Jubilee, each field or estate that might have been alienated was to be restored to t... [ Continue Reading ]
SELL OUGHT - i. e., any piece of ground. OPPRESS ONE ANOTHER - Rather, overreach one another. (Compare 1 Samuel 12:3).... [ Continue Reading ]
THE NUMBER OF YEARS OF THE FRUITS - i. e. according to the number of harvests. The average value of a yearly crop might of course be estimated, and the sabbatical years were to be deducted from the series.... [ Continue Reading ]
IN SAFETY - i. e., secure from famine, Leviticus 26:5; Deuteronomy 12:10.... [ Continue Reading ]
These verses express the principle on which the law of Jubilee, as it regards the land, was based. The land belonged to Yahweh, and it was He who allotted it among the families of Israel for their use. No estate could therefore be alienated in perpetuity, by any human authority, from the family to w... [ Continue Reading ]
IF THY BROTHER BE WAXEN POOR - The Israelites never parted with their land except under the pressure of poverty. Compare the answer of Naboth, 1 Kings 21:3.... [ Continue Reading ]
IT SHALL GO OUT - i. e. it shall be set free.... [ Continue Reading ]
NOT GO OUT - Because most of the houses in cities were occupied by artificers and traders whose wealth did not consist in lands.... [ Continue Reading ]
Rather, And concerning the cities of the Levites, the houses in the cities of their possession, etc. If one of the Levites redeems a house in the city, etc. The meaning appears to be, if a Levite redeemed a house which had been sold to a person of a different tribe by another Levite, it was to rever... [ Continue Reading ]
Rather, And if thy brother (an Israelite) becomes poor and falls into decay with thee, thou shalt assist him and let him live with thee like a resident foreigner. He was not to be regarded as an outcast, but was to be treated with the same respect and consideration as a resident foreigner who, like... [ Continue Reading ]
LEND HIM THY VICTUALS FOR INCREASE - i. e. supply him with food for thy own profit.... [ Continue Reading ]
Here, and in Leviticus 25:42, Leviticus 25:55, is expressed the principle which was to limit and modify the servitude of Hebrew servants.... [ Continue Reading ]
The law here appears harmoniously to supplement the earlier one in Exodus 21:1. It was another check applied periodically to the tyranny of the rich. Compare Jeremiah 34:8.... [ Continue Reading ]
FEAR THY GOD - Yahweh was the Lord and Master of His people. To treat a Hebrew as a slave was therefore to interfere with the rights of Yahweh. Compare Romans 14:4.... [ Continue Reading ]
Property in foreign slaves is here distinctly permitted. It was a patriarchal custom Genesis 17:12. Such slaves might be captives taken in war (Numbers 31:6 following; Deuteronomy 20:14), or those consigned to slavery for their crimes, or those purchased of foreign slave-dealers. The price of a slav... [ Continue Reading ]
A SOJOURNER OR STRANGER - Rather, a foreigner who has settled among you. See Leviticus 16:29, note; Exodus 20:10, note. Leviticus 25:54 IN THESE YEARS - More properly, by one of these means. The extreme period of servitude in this case was six years, as when the master was a Hebrew Exodus 21:2. Lo... [ Continue Reading ]