---
title: "Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible -  Leviticus 25"
description: "CHAPTER 25   :-. 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 o"
image: "/images/missing.jpg"
url: "https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/commentary-critical-and-explanatory-on-the-whole-bible/leviticus/25"
---

CHAPTER 25

. 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 ([Joshua 5:12](../../../kjv/joshua/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.
[Joshua 5:12](../../../kjv/joshua/5/12). 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.

**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.

**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
[Leviticus 25:14](../../../kjv/leviticus/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
[2 Kings 19:29](../../../kjv/2-kings/19/29) [Isaiah 37:30](../../../kjv/isaiah/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, [Leviticus 27:20](../../../kjv/leviticus/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
([Numbers 35:4](../../../kjv/numbers/35/4) [Numbers 35:5](../../../kjv/numbers/35/5)).
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 ([Numbers 35:5](../../../kjv/numbers/35/5)).

**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 ([Psalms 15:5](../../../kjv/psalms/15/5);
[Ezekiel 18:8](../../../kjv/ezekiel/18/8); [Ezekiel 18:17](../../../kjv/ezekiel/18/17)),
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.

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