That which groweth of its own accord of thy harvest thou shalt not reap, neither gather the grapes of thy vine undressed: for it is a year of rest unto the land.
And the sabbath of the land shall be meat for you; for thee, and for thy servant, and for thy maid, and for thy hired servant, and for thy stranger that sojourneth with thee,
And thou shalt number seven sabbaths of years unto thee, seven times seven years; and the space of the seven sabbaths of years shall be unto thee forty and nine years.
Then shalt thou cause the trumpet of the jubile to sound on the tenth day of the seventh month, in the day of atonement shall ye make the trumpet sound throughout all your land.
And ye shall hallow the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof: it shall be a jubile unto you; and ye shall return every man unto his possession, and ye shall return every man unto his family.
A jubile shall that fiftieth year be unto you: ye shall not sow, neither reap that which groweth of itself in it, nor gather the grapes in it of thy vine undressed.
A jubilee Respecting the literal meaning of the word [], yobel, or yovel, critics are not agreed. The most natural derivation of the word seems to be from [], hovil, the Hiphil form of [], yaval, to recall, restore, or bring back, because this year restored all slaves to their liberty, and brought back all alienated estates to their primitive owners. Accordingly the LXX. render it here [], a remission; and Josephus says it signifies [], liberty.
According to the number of years after the jubile thou shalt buy of thy neighbour, and according unto the number of years of the fruits he shall sell unto thee:
According to the multitude of years thou shalt increase the price thereof, and according to the fewness of years thou shalt diminish the price of it: for according to the number of the years of the fruits doth he sell unto thee.
Then I will command my blessing upon you in the sixth year, and it shall bring forth fruit for three years.
I will As it is here graciously promised, that the sixth year was to bring forth fruits for three years, not merely for two, it is evident that both the sabbatical year and the year of Jubilee were distinctly provided for. They were not to sow from the sixth to the eighth year, omitting two seed times; nor reap from the sixth to the ninth, omitting two harvests. No legislator, unless conscious of being divinely commissioned, would have committed himself by enacting such a law as this; nor would any people have submitted to receive it, except in consequence of the fullest conviction that a divine authority had dictated it. It therefore stands as a proof that Moses acted by the express direction of the Almighty, and that the people were fully persuaded of the reality of his divine mission by the miracles he wrought.
If thy brother be waxen poor, and hath sold away some of his possession, and if any of his kin come to redeem it, then shall he redeem that which his brother sold.
But if he be not able to restore it to him, then that which is sold shall remain in the hand of him that hath bought it until the year of jubile: and in the jubile it shall go out, and he shall return unto his possession.
And if a man sell a dwelling house in a walled city, then he may redeem it within a whole year after it is sold; within a full year may he redeem it.
A very proper difference is here made between houses in a city and houses in the country. The former might be redeemed any time in the course of a year; but after that time could not be redeemed, or go out with the Jubilee: the latter might be redeemed at any time; and if not redeemed must go out at the jubilee. The reason in both cases is sufficiently evident; the house in the city might be built merely for the purposes of trade or traffic--the house in the country was builded on, or attached to, the inheritance which God had divided to the respective families. It was therefore necessary that the same law should apply to the house as to the inheritance; which necessity did not exist with regard to the house in the city. And, as the house in the city might be purchased for the purpose of trade, it would be very inconvenient for the purchaser, when his business was established, to be obliged to remove.
And if it be not redeemed within the space of a full year, then the house that is in the walled city shall be established for ever to him that bought it throughout his generations: it shall not go out in the jubile.
But the houses of the villages which have no wall round about them shall be counted as the fields of the country: they may be redeemed, and they shall go out in the jubile.
they may be redeemed [heb] redemption belongeth unto it
Notwithstanding the cities of the Levites, and the houses of the cities of their possession, may the Levites redeem at any time.
the cities As the Levites had no inheritance in Israel, but only cities to dwell in; and consequently the houses in these cities were all they could call their own, therefore they could not be ultimately alienated.
And if a man purchase of the Levites, then the house that was sold, and the city of his possession, shall go out in the year of jubile: for the houses of the cities of the Levites are their possession among the children of Israel.
a man purchase of the Levites. or, one of the Levites redeem them. shall go
And if thy brother be waxen poor, and fallen in decay with thee; then thou shalt relieve him: yea, though he be a stranger, or a sojourner; that he may live with thee.
And then shall he depart from thee, both he and his children with him, and shall return unto his own family, and unto the possession of his fathers shall he return.
Both thy bondmen, and thy bondmaids, which thou shalt have, shall be of the heathen that are round about you; of them shall ye buy bondmen and bondmaids.
Moreover of the children of the strangers that do sojourn among you, of them shall ye buy, and of their families that are with you, which they begat in your land: and they shall be your possession.
And ye shall take them as an inheritance for your children after you, to inherit them for a possession; they shall be your bondmen for ever: but over your brethren the children of Israel, ye shall not rule one over another with rigour.
And if a sojourner or stranger wax rich by thee, and thy brother that dwelleth by him wax poor, and sell himself unto the stranger or sojourner by thee, or to the stock of the stranger's family:
sojourner or stranger wax rich [heb] the hand of a stranger, etc. obtain, etc.
Either his uncle, or his uncle's son, may redeem him, or any that is nigh of kin unto him of his family may redeem him; or if he be able, he may redeem himself.
And he shall reckon with him that bought him from the year that he was sold to him unto the year of jubile: and the price of his sale shall be according unto the number of years, according to the time of an hired servant shall it be with him.
price of his sale This was a very equitable law, both to the sojourner to whom the man was sold, and to the Israelite who had been sold. The Israelite might redeem himself, or one of his kindred might redeem him; but this must not be done to the prejudice of his master. They were therefore to reckon the years he must have served, from that time till the jubilee; and then taking the current wages of a servant, per year, at that time, multiply the remaining years by that sum, and the aggregate was to be given to his master for his redemption. The Jews hold that the kindred of such a person were bound, if in their power, to redeem him, lest he should be swallowed up among the heathen; and we find (ne
And if there remain but few years unto the year of jubile, then he shall count with him, and according unto his years shall he give him again the price of his redemption.
jubilee The jubilee was a wonderful institution, and of great service to the religion, freedom, and independence of the Hebrews. It was calculated to prevent the rich from oppressing the poor, and reducing them to perpetual slavery; and to hinder their obtaining possession of all the lands by purchase, mortgage, or usurpation. It was further intended, that debts should not be multiplied too much, lest the poor should be entirely ruined; that slaves should not always continue in servitude; that personal liberty, equality of property, and the regular order of families might, as much as possible, be preserved; and that the people might thus be strongly attached to their country, lands, and inheritances.
8. And thou shalt number seven. The third kind of Sabbath follows, which was composed of forty-nine, or seven times seven years. This was the most illustrious Sabbath, since the state of the people, both as to their persons and their houses and property, was renewed; and although in this way God had regard to the public good, gave relief to the poor, so that their liberty should not be destroyed, and preserved also the order laid down by Himself; still there is no question but that He thus added an additional stimulus to incite the Jews to honor the Sabbath. For it was a kind of imposing memorial of the sacred rest, to see slaves emancipated and become suddenly free; houses and lands returning to their former possessors who had sold them; and in fine all things assuming a new face. They called this year Jobel, from the sound of the ram’s horn, whereby liberty and the restitution of property were proclaimed; but as I have said, its main feature was the solemnity which shewed them to be separated from other nations to be a peculiar and holy nation to God; nay, the renewal of all things had reference to this, that being redeemed anew in the great Sabbath, they might entirely devote themselves to God their Deliverer.
20. And if ye shall say. Men will never be obedient to God’s precepts, unless their distrust of Him is corrected, and will be always ingenious in laying hold of pretexts for disobedience. The difficulty, however, in this matter was a specious excuse for the Jews; for famine might have destroyed them in these two years, since in the seventh year they neither sowed nor reaped; and for reaping they were obliged to wait till the end of the eighth year. Now, whence were they to get seed enough to sow after the land had rested for a whole year? It is not without reason, then, that God delivers them from this doubt, promising them that He will give such abundance in the sixth year as shall suffice for the two following ones. The phrase must be observed, that God would “command His blessing” in an especial manner, and beyond the usual course, so that the land should be twice or thrice more fertile. Hence is suggested to us no ordinary ground of confidence in asking for our daily bread. But this was a special promise, that food should not fail the Jews on account of the Sabbatical year; a manifestation of which God had already given in the desert, when supplied a double portion of manna to those who gathered it on the day before the Sabbath. Now-a-days this inconvenience is avoided by the industry of farmers, who so divide their acres that the land should never lie fallow altogether, but that one part should supply the deficiency of another. This distribution did not obtain with the Jews. Therefore God relieved them from the fear of famine down to the harvest of the eighth year; although He seems at the same time to accustom them to frugality, lest they should waste in intemperance and luxury what He afforded in sufficient abundance to last for two years. To this precept He alludes, when He declares by the Prophets that the land “enjoyed her Sabbaths,” when it had vomited forth its inhabitants, (2. h 36:21;) for since they had polluted it by violating the Sabbath, so that it groaned as if under a heavy burden, He says that it shall rest for a long continuous period, so as to compensate for the labor of many years.
23. The land shall not be sold for ever. Since the reason for this law was peculiar to the children of Abraham, its provisions can hardly be applied to other nations; for so equal a partition of the land was made under Joshua, that the inheritance was distributed amongst the several tribes and families; nay, in order that each man’s possession should be more sacred, the land had been divided by lot, as if God by His own hand located them in their separate stations. In fact, that allotment was, as it were, an inviolable decree of God Himself, whereby the memory of the covenant should be maintained, by which the inheritance of the land had been promised to Abraham and his posterity; and thus the land of Canaan was an earnest, or symbol, or mirror, of the adoption on which their salvation was founded. Wherefore it is not to be wondered at that God was unwilling that this inestimable benefit should ever be lost; and, lest this should be the case, like a provident father of a family, He laid a restraint on His children, to prevent them from being too prodigal; for, when a man has any suspicions of his heir, he forbids him to alienate the patrimony he leaves him. Such, therefore, was the condition of the ancient people; yet it cannot be indiscriminately transferred to other nations who have had no common inheritance given them. Some vestige of it appears in the right of redemption; (156) but, because that depends on the consent of the parties, and is also a special mode of contract, it has nothing to do with the law of Moses, which entirely restored both men and lands, (in the year of jubilee, (157)) That God should call the land of Canaan His, is, as it were, to assert His direct Lordship (158) (dominium,) as they call it, over it; as He immediately afterwards more clearly expresses His meaning, where He says that the children of Israel sojourn in it as His guests. (159) For although their condition was the best in which just and perpetual owners can be placed, still, as respected God, they were but His tenants (coloni,) only living there at His will. In fine, God claims the freehold (fundum) for Himself, lest the recollection of tits having granted it to them should ever escape them.
(156) “Redemptio in Law, a faculty or right of re-entering upon lands, etc., that have been sold and assigned, upon reimbursing the purchase-money with legal costs. Bargains wherein the faculty, or, as some call it, the equity of redemption is reserved, are only a kind of pignorative contracts. A certain time is limited, within which the faculty, of redemption shall be exercised; and beyond which it shall not extend. — Chambers’s Encyclopaedia.
(157) Added from Fr.
(158) “La seigneurie directe (qu’on appelle,) ou fonsiere.” — Fr.
(159) Addition in Fr. , “Ou fermiers, ou grangiers.”
24. And in all the land of your possession. Before the jubilee came, He permits not only the relations to redeem land sold by a poor man, but the seller also, if no other redeemer interposed. The same power was also given to relations amongst other nations, though with a different object, viz., the preservation of the family name; still, the seller was never allowed to redeem, unless a special clause to that effect was contained in the contract. But God desired that the lands should be retained by their legal possessor, in order that the people might deviate as little as possible from the division made by Joshua. Meanwhile, He had in view the private advantage of individuals; but in the perpetual succession to the land He considered Himself rather than men, in order that the recollection of His kindness should never be lost. Finally, He orders all lands to return in the year of jubilee to their original owners; and all sales to be cancelled, as if, in the fiftieth year, he renewed the lot for the division of the land.
29. And if a man sell a dwelling-house. He here distinguishes houses from lands, providing that the power of redemption should not extend beyond a year; and also, that the purchase should hold good even in the jubilee. A second distinction, however, is also added between different kinds of houses, viz., that houses in towns might be altogether alienated, whilst the condition of those in the country should be the same as that of the lands themselves, as being annexed so as to form part of them. As regarded houses fix towns, because they were sometimes burdensome to their owners, it was an advantage that they might pass into the hands of the rich who were competent to bear the expenses of building. Besides, a house does not supply daily food like a field, and it is more tolerable to be without a house than a field, in which you may work, and from the cultivation of which you may support yourself and family. But it was necessary to except houses in the country, because they were appendages to the land; for what use would there be in harvesting the fruits, if you had no place to store them in? Nay, what would it profit to possess a farm which you could not cultivate? for how could oxen plough without any stalls in its vicinity? Since, then, lands without farm-buildings or cottages are almost useless, and they cannot be conveniently separated, justly did God appoint that, in the year of Jubilee, every rural possession should revert to its former owner.
32. Notwithstanding the cities of the Levites. Another exception, that the Levites should recover the houses they had sold, either by the right of redemption, or gratuitously in the year of jubilee. And this is not only appointed out of favor to them, but because it concerned the whole people, that they should be posted like sentries in the place which God had assigned to them. As to the suburbs, or the lands destined for the support of their cattle, God forbids their alienation, because thus they would have forsaken their proper station and removed elsewhere; whereas it was of importance to the whole people that such a dispersion should not occur.
39. And if thy brother. He now proceeds further, i e. , that one who has bought his brother should treat him with humanity, and not otherwise than a hired servant. We have seen, indeed, just above, that the labor of a slave is estimated at twice as much, because the humanity of his master will never go so far as to indulge or spare his slave as if he were a hireling. It is not, therefore, without reason that God puts a restraint upon that rule, which experience shows to have been often tyrannical. Still He prescribes no more than heathen philosophers did, (150) viz., that masters should treat their slaves like hired servants. And this principle of justice ought to prevail towards all without exception; but since it was difficult to prescribe the same rule respecting strangers as respecting their brethren, a special law is enacted, that at least they should observe moderation towards their brethren, with whom they had a common inheritance and condition. First:. therefore, it is provided as to Hebrew slaves that they should not be treated harshly and contemptuously like captives ( mancipia;) and then that their slavery should come to an end in the year of jubilee. But here the question arises, since their liberty was before accorded to them in the, seventh year, why it is now postponed to the fiftieth? Some get over the difficulty by supposing that (151) if the jubilee occurred during the six years, they must then be set free, although they had not completed the whole term; but this is too forced a conjecture. The view that most approves itself to me is, that the word יבל, yobel, is extended to mean every seventh year, or, at any rate, that moderation towards those slaves is specially prescribed who were most exposed to violence and other injurious treatment. For they would not have dared to oppress at pleasure their slaves, who were soon afterwards to be free; but those who, by having their ears bored, had subjected themselves to the longer period of slavery, would have been more outrageously harassed, unless God had interposed. And this opinion I freely adopt, that although their slavery lasted to the jubilee, yet flint their masters were to treat them with moderation and humanity. This too is confirmed by what immediately follows, where it is enjoined that the children should be set free with their fathers, which did not take place in the seventh year.
(150) Seneca de Benef. 3:22. “Servus (ut placet Chrysippo) perpetuus mercenarius est.” See also Sen. Epp. 6:47, in which the following beautiful sentiment occurs: “Haec tamen mei praecepti summa est, Sic cum inferiore vivas, quemadmodum tecum superiorem velis vivere.”
(151) So the Hebrew doctors, and Ainsworth, Caietan, and Willet. Michaelis supposes that servants were regularly restored to freedom after six years’ service, (not on the Sabbatical year, but on the seventh from the sale;) but supposing them bought less than six years before the jubilee, they received their freedom on that year. Laws of Moses, vol. 2. p. 176. — Brightwell.
42. For they are my servants. God here declares that His own right is invaded when those, whom He claims as His property, are taken into subjection by another; for He says that He acquired the people as His own when He redeemed them from Egypt. Whence He infers that His right is violated if any should usurp perpetual dominion over a Hebrew. If any object that this is of equal force, when they only serve for a time, I reply, that though God might have justly asserted His sole ownership, yet He was satisfied with this symbol of it; and therefore that He suffered by indulgence that they should be enslaved for a fixed period, provided some trace of His deliverance of them should remain. In a word, He simply chose to apply this preventative lest slavery should altogether extinguish the recollection of His grace, although He allowed it to be thus smothered as it were. Lest, therefore, cruel masters should trust that their tyranny would be exercised with impunity, Moses reminds them that they had to do with God, who will at length appear as its avenger. Although the political laws of Moses are not now in operation, still the analogy is to be preserved, lest the condition of those who have been redeemed by Christ’s blood should be worse amongst us, than that of old of tits ancient people. To whom Paul’s exhortation refers:
“Ye masters, forbear threatening your slaves, knowing that both your and their Master is in heaven.” (152) (Eph 6:9.)
(152) See Margin of A. V.
44. Both thy bond-men, and thy bond-maids. What God here permits as regards strangers was everywhere customary among the Gentiles, viz., that their power over their slaves should exist not only until their death, but should continue in perpetual succession to their children; for this is the force of the expression, “ye shall possess them for your children,” that the right of ownership should pass to their heir’s also; nor is there a distinction made only as to perpetuity, (153) but also as to the mode of their treatment. For we must observe the antithesis, “ye shall make use of their service, but over his brother no man shall rule with rigor;” (154) whence it appears that a restraint was imposed upon them lest they should imperiously rule the children of Abraham, and not leave them half their liberty in comparison with the Gentiles. Not that a tyrannical or cruel exercise of power oyer strangers was allowed, but that God would have the race of Abraham, whose liberator lie was, exempted by certain privileges from the common lot.
(153) “Or la diversite d’entre les estrangers, et les enfans d’Israel n’est pas seulement mis, etc.;” now the diversity between strangers and the children of Israel is not only placed, etc. — Fr.
(154) See Margin of A.V. on Lev 25:46. “His in perpetuum tanquam servis utamini, popularibus vero vestris Israelitis ne severius imperetis.” — Dathe.
47. And if a sojourner or a stranger. A caution is here introduced as to the Israelites who had enslaved themselves to strangers. But by strangers understand only those who inhabited the land of Canaan; for, if any one ]lad been carried away into other countries, God would have enacted this law as to their redemption in vain. A power, therefore, of redeeming the slave is granted to his relatives, or, if he had himself obtained sufficient to pay his price, the same permission is accorded to himself. The mode and the form of this are then expressed: that a calculation of the time which remained before the jubilee should be made, and the period which had already elapsed should be subtracted from the sum, viz., if he had been sold for fifty shekels he should only pay ten shekels in the fortieth year, because only a fifth part of the time remained. But if none of his family aided him, and the unhappy man’s hope of redemption was frustrated, He commands that he should be set free in the jubilee year, in which a general enfranchisement took place as regarded the children of Abraham. The object of the law was, that none of those whom God had adopted, should be alienated from their race, and thus should depart from the true worship of God Himself. The whole of this is comprehended in the last verse, where God declares that the children of Abraham were His property, inasmuch as He had led them forth from the land of Egypt, and, on the other hand, that He is their peculiar God. For, whilst it was just that they should enjoy His blessing, so also it behooved that they should be kept sound in His pure and undivided worship; whereas, if they had been the slaves of Gentiles, not only would the elect people have been diminished in numbers, but circumcision would have been corrupted and a door opened to impious perversions. Yet God so mitigates His law as to lay no unjust burden upon sojourners, since He concedes more to them, with respect to Hebrew slaves, than to the natives of the land; for if they had sold themselves to their brethren, they went forth free in the seventh year, whilst their slavery under sojourners was extended to the fiftieth year. This exception only was introduced that the stranger who had bought slaves should enfranchise them on the payment of their value. Since God had previously promised to His people a large and manifold abundance of all good things, the poverty here adverted to could only occur from the curse of God; (155) we see, therefore, that of His incomparable loving-kindness He stretches forth His hand to the transgressors of His law; and, whilst He chastises them with poverty, still looks upon them, unworthy as they are, and provides a remedy for the ills which their own guilt had brought upon them.
(155) Addition in Fr. , “Et d’un juste chastiment de leurs pechez;” and as a just chastisement of their sins.
Lev 25:1. The Lord spake-in mount Sinai- The particle rendered in, might, with as much propriety, be rendered at, or near. The word sabbath, Lev 25:2. &c. would have been better translated throughout this chapter by the word rest, as in the margin of our English Bibles. The first mention of this extraordinary institution is made, Exo 23:11 where the reason of it is, in part, assigned. It was to take place every seventh year, after their settlement in Canaan. The first sabbatical year was celebrated by the children of Israel, as it is thought, on the seventh year after their coming into the land of Canaan: this year was reckoned not from Abib, or March, but from Tisri, or September; but of this see more on Lev 25:8.
Lev 25:4. A sabbath for the Lord- As the weekly sabbath was a testimony of their belief in and homage to God the Creator, so the yearly sabbath was a public testimony that their land was consecrated to the same God; that he had settled them in it as his true worshippers, and that they held it as tenants under him, their great lord and proprietor. We do not mention the wise and merciful ends of this institution, as they come with more propriety under what we have to say concerning the jubilee.
Lev 25:5. It is a year of rest unto the land- It is a known rule in husbandry, that land requires rest; and therefore it is generally laid fallow, in order to recruit its strength: this, doubtless, among others, was a reason for the present institution. The sabbath of the land, in the next verse, signifies the accidental crop which grew in the sabbatical year; sabbath, by a metonymy, being put for the crop of the sabbath, or sabbatical year. Houbigant renders it, erunt terrae quiescentis fructus, the fruit of the earth at rest shall be. The grapes of thy vine undressed, should rather be rendered, as in the margin of our English Bibles, the grapes of the separation; i.e. the grapes which are separated, alienated, or set apart from private property to public utility. See Lev 25:11.
Note; (1.) The salvation of the Gospel is a common salvation; and all the great and precious promises of pardon and adoption, strength, consolation, &c. which grow in the field of grace, are to be gathered freely: whosoever will, let him come. (2.) When we have for the few years of life toiled to subdue the stubborn soil of our hearts, we shall at last sit down, and rest from our labours, in the enjoyment of an eternal sabbath in glory.
Lev 25:8. &c. And thou shalt number seven sabbaths of years unto thee- Or, Seven weeks of years unto thee. As the sabbatical year was to be every seventh year, so the year of jubilee was to be every seventh sabbatical year; and though of greater dignity, and honoured with some higher privileges, was, in other respects, the same with the sabbatical year mentioned in the foregoing verses. This is the rather to be noted, as some have conceived that the sabbatical year differed from that of the jubilee. It was proclaimed by sound of trumpet through the whole country upon the great day of atonement, i.e. on the tenth of our September; from whence it is most reasonably concluded, that the sabbatical year also had its commencement at the same time. It is called the year of jubilee, as that word is formed from a Hebrew noun, signifying the sound of a trumpet, which was used to proclaim it. See Exo 19:13. Gen 4:21. On this year, not only the usual rest of the sabbatical year was given to the land, Lev 25:11-12 but liberty was proclaimed to all the inhabitants of the land, Lev 25:10. Every ancient owner of lands and estates, which had been alienated by sale, was to be restored to his possession: every Israelitish slave, set free, was to return to the family he belonged to; so that, how often so ever a man's estate had been sold or alienated, from one jubilee to another, or how many hands soever it had passed through, yet, in fifty years, the estate must revert to the heirs of the persons who were first possessed of it. Many and great were the advantages arising to the public from these excellent laws respecting the sabbatical year, and the year of jubilee.* 1. The people were thus put in mind that the earth brought not forth of itself, but by the fructifying influences of the divine power, which consequently served to beget in them a trust in God and his providence: therefore God promised to command his blessing upon them in the sixth year, and to make the earth bring forth a triple increase; see 20th and 21st verses. It was a curb to avarice; habituating them to the exercises of humanity towards their slaves and beasts, of mercy and liberality to the poor: and Philo observes, as we have before remarked, that it was also a wise, political contrivance, to let the earth rest in order to recruit its strength. 2. It provided against all ambitious designs of private persons, or persons in authority, against the public liberty; for no person, in any of the tribes, was allowed by this constitution to procure such estates as could give them hopes of success in oppressing their brethren and fellow-subjects. They had no riches to bribe indigent persons to assist them; nor could there, at any time, be any considerable number of indigent persons to be corrupted: the power in the hands of so many freeholders of each tribe was so unspeakably superior to any power in the hands of one, or of a few men, that it is impossible to conceive how any such ambitious designs should succeed, if any persons had been found weak enough to attempt them. 3. This equal and moderate provision for every person wisely cut off the means of luxury, with the temptations to it from example: it almost necessarily put the Hebrew nation upon industry and frugality; and yet gave to every one such a property, with such an easy state of liberty, that they had sufficient reason to esteem and value them, and endeavour to preserve and maintain them. 4. A provision was thus made for settling and maintaining a numerous and brave militia of 600,000 men; which, if their force was rightly directed and used, would not only be a sufficient defence against any attempts of their less powerful neighbours, but, considering the natural security of their country, into which no inroads could be made but through very difficult passes, would be a force sufficient to defend them against the more powerful empires. 5. Thus, too, the Almighty excellently provided for fixing the Jews to the land of Canaan, and keeping them united; since all their possessions were so entailed, that the right heir could never be wholly excluded from his estate. 6. Thus a perfect distinction of tribes and families was preserved; for which end their genealogies were of necessity to be carefully kept, that they might be able to prove their right to the inheritance of their ancestors. By this means the tribe and family of the MESSIAH were fully ascertained when he was born, in order that it might be clearly proved that he was of the tribe of Judah, and of the lineage of David, as was foretold of him by the prophets. 7. Further, this institution was made subservient to religion; for the people were then peculiarly to be instructed in the law of God, which was appointed to be read this year in the audience of all Israel, men, women, and children, when they assembled before God at the feast of tabernacles. See Deu 31:10-11; Deu 12:8. This excellent institution not only served to these civil and religious uses, but also was typical of the great year of gospel-salvation, which, in allusion to it, is styled by the prophet the year of God's redeemed, and the acceptable year of the Lord, upon which the gospel trumpet proclaimed liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound. Read Isa 61:1, &c. and Lev 27:13. Let it just be observed, that the time when the glad signal of jubilee was given was the 10th day of the seventh month; a day whereon the future expiation of the Messiah was clearly exhibited; see ch. Lev 23:27 and ch. Lev 16:29 and what I have there remarked on the goat that was slain, and on that which was sent away; whereby is signified that our jubilee begins in the atonement of Jesus Christ, as theirs began on the day on which it was prefigured. The intermission of labour, the cancelling of debts, the delivery from bondage, the reversion of all inheritances, bear an evident reference to the great spiritual blessings of the Gospel; which gives rest to our souls, remission of our sins, release from their bondage, and restoration to our glorious and never-failing inheritance in heaven.
* See Cunaeus de Repub. Heb. lib. 1: cap. 3. Lowman's Dissert. on the Civil Government of the Hebrews, p. 47, &c. and L'Enfant and Beausobre's Introduction to the New Testament, p. 165.
Lev 25:9. On the tenth day of the seventh month- Calmet observes from Maimonides, that "though the jubilee year began on the first day of the month Tizri, or September, yet neither were the slaves restored to liberty, nor the lands returned to their first owners, till the tenth day of that month. The nine first days were spent in pleasure and festivity, [which, it is to be feared, became too soon,] almost like that of the Romans in their saturnalia, [instead of the exercises of true devotion.] During these nine days the slaves did not work for their masters, but ate and drank, &c. and every one put a crown upon his head. No sooner was the day of solemn expiation come, which is the tenth of Tizri, but the counsellors of the Sanhedrim ordered the trumpets to sound; and at that instant the slaves were declared free, and the lands returned to their old owners." Note; Though civil liberty is precious, how much more to be prized is the liberty of the Gospel-a liberty which leads to no excess, which gives us the victory over ourselves, and ends in the eternal enjoyment of the Sovereign Good!
Lev 25:10. Ye shall hallow the fiftieth year- i.e. Ye shall distinguish it from all other years in the manner here appointed. The Hebrew is, the year of the fiftieth year, which may either signify the year preceding the fiftieth year, or the fiftieth year; a round number for 49. Calculators also should remember the great difference between the commencement of the Jewish ecclesiastical and civil year. This and the 11th verse plainly prove what we have observed in a former note, that the year of jubilee was only a more solemn sabbatical year. There is no mention of the jubilees, but while the twelve tribes were in possession of the land of Canaan: the Talmudists pretend that they ceased when the tribes of Gad, Reuben, and the half tribe of Manasseh were carried into captivity; and they are not at all mentioned under the second temple, though the sabbatical years continued still to be observed. Some learned men have attempted to prove, by a calculation which appears pretty exact, that if the Jews had still observed their jubilees, the fifteenth year of Tiberius, when John the Baptist first began to preach, would have been a jubilee, and consequently the last; since fifty years after that the Jewish commonwealth was no longer in being. This particular is of some consequence in our disputes with the Jews, who pretend that the Son of David will come during the last jubilee: and this also exactly agrees with the design of the Gospel, and the end of John the Baptist's coming; which was to proclaim the grand jubilee, the spiritual freedom of the children of God, foretold by Zec 9:14 and prefigured by the jubilees of the Jews. See Lamy Appar. chron. p. 142 and L'Enfant, &c. With respect to the chronological disputes concerning the aera of the first jubilee, we take not upon us to determine any thing: following Bishop Usher, we refer to his annals, and to the other writers who have treated on the subject.
Ye shall return every man unto his possession, and-unto his family- This law, which may be called the Agrarian law of the Jews, was so famous, that the heathens themselves took notice of it; insomuch, that Diodorus Siculus says, lib. 11: that it was not lawful for the Jews to sell their own inheritances, i.e. to alienate them for ever from their families. Jameson well observes, that as Moses revived several of the ancient and primitive institutions of the patriarchs, so this appointment of restoring all slaves to their liberty, after a certain term of years, seems to have been one. Considering that all mankind are free by nature, it is highly probable that it was an original institution in the first laws of nations, that no person should absolutely lose his freedom. Many of the ancient heathen writers intimate, that there was such an appointment in the days of Saturn; and in commemoration of this original state of freedom, the Babylonians, Persians, Greeks, Romans, and others, celebrated annually a sort of saturnalia, wherein all slaves for a time enjoyed their freedom.
Lev 25:14. Ye shall not oppress one another- This would be rendered more properly, shall not deceive one another; for the context evidently proves that deceit, not oppression, was here the evil guarded against. The Chaldee, Syriac, Arabic, &c. render it deceive.
Lev 25:17. But thou shalt fear thy God- See Pro 16:6.
Lev 25:18. Ye shall dwell in the land in safety- Hebrew, boldly, without fear. For the original word בטח betach, says Dr. Beaumont, signifies both the confidence or boldness which men, who trust in God, and walk in his ways, have within themselves; and that safety and secure estate wherein God settleth them from danger of evil.
Lev 25:20, &c. And if ye shall say, &c.- This increase which the Lord promises to give in the sixth year, was a continual proof to the Jews of his regard to them, of his immediate government, and consequently of his particular providence over them; another striking advantage of the present institution! The supply of this sixth year was to be sufficient for three years, i.e. for the whole seventh, the eighth when they sowed afresh, and for part of the ninth till they reaped the fruits of the eighth year. This wise law respecting the sabbatical year, and the year of jubilee, affords us a full proof of the divinity of the Mosaic institution; for, had not the Jews been immediately under the divine protection and providence, it would have been impossible for them to have observed this law.
Note; 1. They who follow God's will may safely trust him for a provision. 2. It would be a shame to a Christian if he had less faith than a Jew, and if we should be more afraid of wanting bread than they were. 3. With the blessing of God a little will go far; so that, like the widow's cruse, we shall still have enough and to spare.
Lev 25:23. The land shall not be sold for ever- That is, absolutely and irredeemably: the reason of which is subjoined, because God considered himself as the peculiar lord and proprietor of this land, and the people as his immediate tenants and usufructuaries: which points out to us the striking peculiarity of the Jewish state and polity; a theocracy, under which they lived not only as subjects, but as tenants to God, their king and their lord.
Lev 25:24. And in all the land-ye shall grant a redemption- See chap. Lev 27:20. Provision is made in this and the following verses for the redemption of such land as a man had been obliged to sell through poverty. If any of his relations would redeem it, or if himself should become able afterwards to redeem it, he was to be allowed to do so before the year of jubilee; due consideration being had to the circumstances of the case.
Lev 25:25. If any of his kin come to redeem it- The word גאל goel, a redeemer, signifies also a near kinsman; to whom the right of redeeming lands, houses, or persons, and also the avenging of blood, belongs: which kinsman, in this work of redeeming, was often a figure of Christ, who being near to us, and allied in the flesh, in that he took part of the same flesh and blood with us, (Heb 2:14.) is called our גאל goel; our Redeemer, or Deliverer; (Isa 59:20. Rom 11:26.) who hath redeemed us, and our heavenly inheritance to us, in our low, distressed, and poor estate. Hos 13:14. 1Th 1:10. 2Co 8:9. Rom 8:10. Dr. Beaumont.
Lev 25:29-31. If a man sell a dwelling-house, &c.- Great difference is here made between houses in walled cities, and in the country: the former, if sold, were either to be redeemed within the compass of a year, or else to return no more to the first owner, not even at the jubilee; whereas houses in the country, which had lands of inheritance annexed to them, or were themselves estates of inheritance from the first division of the country, were to be counted as the fields of the country, that is, they were to fall under the same law with the lands whereof they were an appendage, and so might be redeemed at any time. See Lev 25:10; Lev 25:23. Several reasons are assigned for this distinction between houses in cities and those in villages: the principal one seems to be, that families were not distinguished by houses in cities as they were by those in the country, which were annexed to their lands, and therefore to be considered as a part of the inheritance. Le Clerc adds, that the houses in the country were necessary for the convenience of cultivating the lands; whereas men bred to husbandry might dispense with the want of town-houses. Men in cities too, we may observe further, being usually in trade, and their livelihood often depending upon their situation, the law of redemption, if it had taken place in cities, might have subjected them to many difficulties and inconveniencies.
Lev 25:30. The house that is in the walled city- In the Hebrew it is, in a city that hath not a wall: but because this seems contrary to the former, it is written and noted in the margin of our English Bibles to be read, hath a wall. See chap. Lev 11:22 for a like double reading. And it seems that the meaning is, that if it were in a city which some time had a wall, but for the present had none, or a very ruinous one, (as was the case of Jerusalem, 2Ki 25:10.) then the order here given should stand for the sale of the house. Beaumont.
Lev 25:31. They may be redeemed, and, &c.- It is very evident that the and here would be rendered more properly else, or otherwise.
Lev 25:32. Notwithstanding, the cities of the Levites, &c.- The Levites' city-houses are exempted from the general law respecting houses in cities; the reason for which is given in the 33rd verse, For the houses of the cities, &c. The body of the Levites being a standing and perpetual body, they could not absolutely alienate their houses or lands. See Num 18:21; Num 35:2. Deu 18:2.
Note; We are taught here, in the near kinsman and redeemer, to behold Jesus, flesh of our flesh, and bone of our bone, who, when we had sold all, and were become incapable of recovering our inheritance, paid down the purchase, and restored the lost title.
Lev 25:35. And if thy brother be waxen poor- The two great benefits of the year of jubilee were, a restoration to possessions and to freedom, Lev 25:10. Such particulars as respect possessions being settled, the case of freedom, or the release of servants and slaves, comes next to be considered: wherein the benevolence of the divine Lawgiver is very observable, inculcating upon the people the utmost compassion and charity towards their brethren in decay, to proselytes and strangers, as well as to native Jews: for so the sacred writer himself here explains the word brother.
Lev 25:36. Take thou no usury of him, &c.- This is explained by the next verse. See Exo 22:25. That thy brother may live with thee, signifies that he may prosper and thrive, &c. for, to live, in the Scripture, frequently signifies to be comfortable; Deu 8:1. A stronger motive to induce the people to be free and disinterested in their benevolence could not well be urged, than the free and disinterested benevolence of God to them, Lev 25:38.
REFLECTIONS.-God will have particular regard paid to his poor people, and no difference must be made between the home-born and the stranger. Wherever poverty is, it is a demand for our assistance. They must pity, and, out of their abundance, supply their wants; and as a small sum lent to the industrious poor is often the greatest charity which can be done them, as enabling them to work for themselves, they may not take any usury for it. These are laws still in force; for though interest from those who use our money to traffic and make gain with is lawful, yet many times the same charity which bids us freely give to one obliges us freely to lend another. The rich must not live for themselves merely, or engross all; God expects that, as he has given the poor life, we should make their subsistence comfortable.
Lev 25:40. He shall-serve thee until the year of jubilee- In Exo 21:2 it is said, that an Hebrew servant being bought should serve only six years, and go out in the seventh. The difference between these passages is supposed to consist in this: that the case in Exodus refers to such slaves as were sold by others; while the present refers to such as sold themselves, and who consequently might dispose of themselves for a longer period than it would have been equitable and humane to have assigned to those who were sold without their own consent.
Lev 25:42-43, &c. For they are my servants, &c.- A great distinction is made between native Israelites and strangers in the case of servitude; and the reason urged is, that the meanest Israelite, as well as the richest, was redeemed from Egyptian bondage, and had this honour, to be the peculiar servant and worshipper of the true God: the dignity therefore of his character, and his relation to God the common master, entitled him to good usage from his brethren, and was to secure him from oppressive slavery and rigour, like that which the Egyptians exercised over the Israelites. Exo 1:13-14. In consequence of this their external privilege, the Jews always valued themselves as a free people, according to a distinction which their rabbis make between internal and external liberty; averring that the latter may be lost, but the former never can: but, alas! how little did those rabbis know of the fall of man! And is not every one a slave internally, who is in subjection to irregular passions and appetites? But it must be granted, that human laws or external coercion cannot restrain the movements of the mind. May we not just hint, that if the appropriation of the Israelites to one common master and deliverer was a sufficient reason why they should never make slaves of each other, certainly that relation, in which all men now stand to the great Lord and Redeemer of the world, is a sufficient reason universally to abolish the unchristian practice of slavery at present?
Lev 25:47-54. If a sojourner-wax rich, &c.- Equitable in all his laws, God here provides that the sojourner in Israel should have the same legal advantages with the native: to whom, if reduced, though he grants the peculiar privilege of being redeemed before the jubilee, if he has it in his power, or, if he has not, of receiving the benefit of the year of jubilee, yet he takes care that full compensation shall be made to the sojourner, and that the price of redemption shall be exactly paid to him.
REFLECTIONS.-1. Our servants, being of the same flesh and blood with ourselves, have as much right to our kindness and good usage as we have to their service and fidelity. He knows not the gentle sway of a Saviour's love in his heart, who, becoming insolent, unreasonable, or fretful, is a lion in his house, and frantic among his servants. 2. Though the sinner has sold himself, blessed be God, the right of redemption remains good, and we have one of our brethren able and willing to pay the price, and set the poor soul at liberty from the servitude of sin.