Leviticus 25

Le 25:1-7.

SABBATH OF THE

SEVENTH

YEAR.

2-4. When ye come into the land which I give you--It has been

questioned on what year, after the occupation of Canaan, the sabbatic

year began to be observed. Some think it was the seventh year after

their entrance. But others, considering that as the first six years

were spent in the conquest and division of the land

(Jos 5:12),

and that the sabbatical year was to be observed after six years of

agriculture, maintain that the observance did not commence till the

fourteenth year.

the land keep a sabbath unto the Lord--This was a very peculiar

arrangement. Not only all agricultural processes were to be intermitted

every seventh year, but the cultivators had no right to the soil. It

lay entirely fallow, and its spontaneous produce was the common

property of the poor and the stranger, the cattle and game. This year

of rest was to invigorate the productive powers of the land, as the

weekly Sabbath was a refreshment to men and cattle. It commenced

immediately after the feast of ingathering, and it was calculated to

teach the people, in a remarkable manner, the reality of the presence

and providential power of God.

Le 25:8-23.

THE

JUBILEE.

8-11. thou shalt number seven sabbaths of years--This most

extraordinary of all civil institutions, which received the name of

"Jubilee" from a Hebrew word signifying a musical instrument, a

horn or trumpet, began on the tenth day of the seventh month, or the

great day of atonement, when, by order of the public authorities, the

sound of trumpets proclaimed the beginning of the universal redemption.

All prisoners and captives obtained their liberties, slaves were

declared free, and debtors were absolved. The land, as on the sabbatic

year, was neither sowed nor reaped, but allowed to enjoy with its

inhabitants a sabbath of repose; and its natural produce was the common

property of all. Moreover, every inheritance throughout the land of

Judea was restored to its original owner.

10. ye shall hallow the fiftieth year--Much difference of

opinion exists as to whether the jubilee was observed on the

forty-ninth, or, in round numbers, it is called the fiftieth. The

prevailing opinion, both in ancient and modern times, has been in favor

of the latter.

12. ye shall eat the increase thereof out of the field, &c.--All

that the ground yielded spontaneously during that period might be eaten

for their necessary subsistence, but no persons were at liberty to

hoard or form a private stock in reserve.

13. ye shall return every man unto his possession,

&c.--Inheritances, from whatever cause, and how frequently soever they

had been alienated, came back into the hands of the original

proprietors. This law of entail, by which the right heir could never be

excluded, was a provision of great wisdom for preserving families and

tribes perfectly distinct, and their genealogies faithfully recorded,

in order that all might have evidence to establish their right to the

ancestral property. Hence the tribe and family of Christ were readily

discovered at his birth.

17. Ye shall not oppress one another, but thou shalt fear thy

God--This, which is the same as

Le 25:14,

related to the sale or purchase of possessions and the duty of paying

an honest and equitable regard, on both sides, to the limited period

during which the bargain could stand. The object of the legislator was,

as far as possible, to maintain the original order of families, and an

equality of condition among the people.

21, 22. I will command my blessing upon you in the sixth year, and

it shall bring forth fruit for three years, &c.--A provision was

made, by the special interposition of God, to supply the deficiency of

food which would otherwise have resulted from the suspension of all

labor during the sabbatic year. The sixth year was to yield a

miraculous supply for three continuous years. And the remark is

applicable to the year of Jubilee as well as the sabbatic year. (See

allusions to this extraordinary provision in

2Ki 19:29;

Isa 37:30).

None but a legislator who was conscious of acting under divine

authority would have staked his character on so singular an enactment

as that of the sabbatic year; and none but a people who had witnessed

the fulfilment of the divine promise would have been induced to suspend

their agricultural preparations on a recurrence of a periodical

Jubilee.

23-28. The land shall not be sold for ever--or, "be quite cut

off," as the Margin better renders it. The land was God's, and,

in prosecution of an important design, He gave it to the people of His

choice, dividing it among their tribes and families--who, however, held

it of Him merely as tenants-at-will and had no right or power of

disposing of it to strangers. In necessitous circumstances, individuals

might effect a temporary sale. But they possessed the right of

redeeming it, at any time, on payment of an adequate

compensation to the present holder; and by the enactments of the

Jubilee they recovered it free--so that the land was rendered

inalienable. (See an exception to this law,

Le 27:20).

29-31. if a man sell a dwelling house in a walled city, then he may

redeem it within a whole year after it is sold--All sales of houses

were subject to the same condition. But there was a difference between

the houses of villages (which, being connected with agriculture, were

treated as parts of the land) and houses possessed by trading people or

foreigners in walled towns, which could only be redeemed within the

year after the sale; if not then redeemed, these did not revert to the

former owner at the Jubilee.

32-34. Notwithstanding the cities of the Levites, &c.--The

Levites, having no possessions but their towns and their houses, the

law conferred on them the same privileges that were granted to the

lands of the other Israelites. A certain portion of the lands

surrounding the Levitical cities was appropriated to them for the

pasturage of their cattle and flocks

(Nu 35:4, 5).

This was a permanent endowment for the support of the ministry and

could not be alienated for any time. The Levites, however, were at

liberty to make exchanges among themselves; and a priest might sell his

house, garden, and right of pasture to another priest, but not to an

Israelite of another tribe

(Jer 41:7-9).

35-38. if thy brother be waxen poor, . . . relieve

him--This was a most benevolent provision for the poor and

unfortunate, designed to aid them or alleviate the evils of their

condition. Whether a native Israelite or a mere sojourner, his richer

neighbor was required to give him food, lodging, and a supply of money

without usury. Usury was severely condemned

(Ps 15:5;

Eze 18:8, 17),

but the prohibition cannot be considered as applicable to the modern

practice of men in business, borrowing and lending at legal rates of

interest.

39-46. if thy brother . . . be waxen poor, and be sold

unto thee, thou shalt not compel him to serve as a bond-servant--An

Israelite might be compelled, through misfortune, not only to mortgage

his inheritance, but himself. In the event of his being reduced to this

distress, he was to be treated not as a slave, but a hired servant

whose engagement was temporary, and who might, through the friendly aid

of a relative, be redeemed at any time before the Jubilee. The ransom

money was determined on a most equitable principle. Taking account of

the number of years from the proposal to redeem and the Jubilee, of the

current wages of labor for that time, and multiplying the remaining

years by that sum, the amount was to be paid to the master for his

redemption. But if no such friendly interposition was made for a

Hebrew slave, he continued in servitude till the year of Jubilee, when,

as a matter of course, he regained his liberty, as well as his

inheritance. Viewed in the various aspects in which it is presented in

this chapter, the Jubilee was an admirable institution, and subservient

in an eminent degree to uphold the interests of religion, social order,

and freedom among the Israelites.