Chapter Twenty-Five
A Sabbath Year for the Land
This chapter may be easier to understand if the 23rd verse is read first, “The land must never be sold on a permanent basis, for the land belongs to me. You are only foreigners and tenant farmers working for me.” (Leviticus 25:23, NLT) While much of the language relating to the Promised Land has been using terms like, “the land that I give you” (see verse two below), God is only letting them use the land, He retains ownership, something that will never change. God could revoke the use of the land if they disobeyed His law, which is what they did, and temporarily lost the use of the land due to violating the covenant made through Moses.[1]
25:1 The LORD spoke to Moses on Mount Sinai, saying, 2 “Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, When you come into the land that I give you, the land shall keep a Sabbath to the LORD. 3 For six years you shall sow your field, and for six years you shall prune your vineyard and gather in its fruits, 4 but in the seventh year there shall be a Sabbath of solemn rest for the land, a Sabbath to the LORD. You shall not sow your field or prune your vineyard. 5 You shall not reap what grows of itself in your harvest, or gather the grapes of your undressed vine. It shall be a year of solemn rest for the land. 6 The Sabbath of the land shall provide food for you, for yourself and for your male and female slaves and for your hired worker and the sojourner who lives with you, 7 and for your cattle and for the wild animals that are in your land: all its yield shall be for food.
While on Mount Sinai, God told Moses to inform the people of Israel that when they enter the Promised Land and begin to grow crops, the land will need to keep a Sabbath rest as well. Not in the sense of six days work followed by one day of rest, this was to allow the land to grow and be harvested for six years and then on the seventh year the land was to rest, with no harvesting or gathering of any kind. Just as God provided a double amount of food on the sixth day during their journey to the Promised Land, the “Sabbath of the land,” would provide an abundance of food prior to the seventh year, so that they would not need to harvest the land.
These verses repeat the command to allow the land to rest recorded in Exodus (see Exodus 23:10-11), with three differences. First, in Exodus 23:11 one of the reasons given is to provide food for the poor and to allow animals to eat. Secondly, we see here the fact that food will be provided for everyone including the livestock. Lastly, it is referred to as a, “Sabbath to YHWH,” and a “Sabbath of the land.” It was to God and for the land, sadly the meaning of these verses was lost by the time they entered the land. Through “rational thinking,” elaborate “loopholes” were created to continue harvesting the land nonstop for 490 years, which is why the nation was held captive for 70 years.[2]
The Year of Jubilee
25:8 “You shall count seven weeks of years, seven times seven years, so that the time of the seven weeks of years shall give you forty-nine years. 9 Then you shall sound the loud trumpet on the tenth day of the seventh month. On the Day of Atonement you shall sound the trumpet throughout all your land. 10 And you shall consecrate the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee for you, when each of you shall return to his property and each of you shall return to his clan. 11 That fiftieth year shall be a jubilee for you; in it you shall neither sow nor reap what grows of itself nor gather the grapes from the undressed vines. 12 For it is a jubilee. It shall be holy to you. You may eat the produce of the field.
Using the same pattern first described for the Feast of Weeks (7 X 7 + 1 = 50), but instead of seven weeks of days, this special year is determined by counting seven weeks of years (or seven ‘Sabbaths’ of years, same language used in Leviticus 23:15) for a total of 49 years. Then on the tenth day of the seventh month, on the Day of Atonement, the trumpet is to be sounded (Hebrew phrase “šô·pǎr’[3] terû·’āh’,”[4] loud blasts on the shofar, usually done in times of great joy, such as announcing a victory) throughout the land to herald and consecrate the arrival of the 50th year and proclaim liberty throughout the land (the makers of the Liberty Bell quoted this verse). God then said the year shall be a jubilee (Hebrew ‘yô·ḇēl’, referring to a horn of a ram).[5] The phrase could be translated, “proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants, it shall be a ram’s horn to you.” The English word ‘jubilee’ is believed to have been derived from the Latin translation of ‘yô·ḇēl’ as ‘jubilaeus’ (or iobeleus as seen in the Vulgate).
During that year each person was to return to the property allocated to them and return to their own tribe. Throughout the year no one was to sow, reap, or gather any harvest. The statement, “You may eat the produce of the field,” is often misunderstood, referring to eating produce and fruit that the land produces on its own. In addition, we read in verses 18-22 that God will provide sufficient crop production in the previous years to cover the lack of produce during the year. However, the people will need to have faith that God will provide.
25:13 “In this year of jubilee each of you shall return to his property. 14 And if you make a sale to your neighbor or buy from your neighbor, you shall not wrong one another. 15 You shall pay your neighbor according to the number of years after the jubilee, and he shall sell to you according to the number of years for crops. 16 If the years are many, you shall increase the price, and if the years are few, you shall reduce the price, for it is the number of the crops that he is selling to you. 17 You shall not wrong one another, but you shall fear your God, for I am the LORD your God.
The Promised Land will later be divided and allocated by Joshua (the person who replaces Moses as leader of the people after his death), per God’s instructions (see Joshua chapters 13-21). The allocations were given the same names as the tribe (for example the tribe of Judah settled in the land of Judah, etc.) However, the members of each tribe could mingle and move to different territories if desired. During the Year of Jubilee, they were to return to their previously allocated land. If money was exchanged, the amount of money was prorated based on the amount of time that had passed from the date of the ‘sale’ (perhaps for accuracy it might be easier to consider the transaction more a lease than a sale since God is the real owner). For example, if the land was ‘sold’ only a year before the Year of Jubilee was celebrated, then the amount of payment would be significantly less than if it were over a period of several years. Regardless if the person was the buyer or the seller, no one was to pay or receive more or less than what was fair. In addition to the number of years, the number of crops should be considered as well, “After all, the person selling the land is actually selling you a certain number of harvests.” (Leviticus 25:16b, NLT)
In summary, all land sales (leases) were terminated during the Year of Jubilee and new agreements (contracts) made or renewed.
25:18 “Therefore you shall do my statutes and keep my rules and perform them, and then you will dwell in the land securely. 19 The land will yield its fruit, and you will eat your fill and dwell in it securely. 20 And if you say, ‘What shall we eat in the seventh year, if we may not sow or gather in our crop?’ 21 I will command my blessing on you in the sixth year, so that it will produce a crop sufficient for three years. 22 When you sow in the eighth year, you will be eating some of the old crop; you shall eat the old until the ninth year, when its crop arrives.
Once again God reminds the people of Israel to do, keep, and perform His statutes and rules (see Leviticus 18:4-5, 26; 19:19, 37; 20:8, 22, see also Deuteronomy 4:1, 6; 5:1; 6:1; 12:1; Ezekiel 20:19). The conditional is implied, then if they do, keep and perform as He requires, they will be able to dwell in the Promised Land safely and the land will produce abundantly.
Then He answers the concern about having enough food to eat during the years without sowing or gathering their crops. He promises that He will provide a sizable crop sufficient to last for three years. All they needed to do was to have faith so that they could be blessed.[6]
Considerations
There has been significant debate through the years as to how to set the date for the Year of Jubilee. There are several variables but the most significant one that is strongly argued is based on the question of when do you start the 50-year cycle? Does the cycle reset after the 50th year is done (year one would be the 51st year after the previous Jubilee), or do you keep counting the seven-year periods (year one of the next cycle is the 50th year of the previous Jubilee)? It would seem that the timing is based on the seven-year cycle, however, the debate among Jews continues.
Rules Regarding the Redemption of Property
25:23 “The land shall not be sold in perpetuity, for the land is mine. For you are strangers and sojourners with me. 24 And in all the country you possess, you shall allow a redemption of the land.
Previously reviewed at the beginning of this chapter, verse 23 reminds the people of Israel that as far as God is concerned, when they finally reach the Promised Land, they are only visitors. Only able to stay in the land as long as they do, keep and perform (see verse 18) as they are told, and since God (and God alone) knows the future, He would have known that they would eventually fail. But equally known to Him would have been the knowledge that He would allow them to return, which they did.
God tells them that in all the country that will be possessed by them that the process of redemption of the land is to be allowed. The Hebrew word translated as ‘redemption’ is ‘ge’ǔl·lā(h)’,[7] used for the first time here in Scripture; of the 14 times found, the word is used nine times in this chapter alone. It refers to redemption, however, it appears to be exclusively used regarding legal rights of redemption, who can redeem (verses 31, 32, 48); what they can redeem (verse 26); when they can redeem (verses 26, 51, 52) and for how much (verses 26, 51, 52). These rules are exemplified and applied in the story of Ruth (see Ruth 4:6-7), which further aid in our understanding the concept of redemption, the primary theme of the Bible.[8]
25:25 “If your brother becomes poor and sells part of his property, then his nearest redeemer shall come and redeem what his brother has sold. 26 If a man has no one to redeem it and then himself becomes prosperous and finds sufficient means to redeem it, 27 let him calculate the years since he sold it and pay back the balance to the man to whom he sold it, and then return to his property. 28 But if he does not have sufficient means to recover it, then what he sold shall remain in the hand of the buyer until the year of jubilee. In the jubilee it shall be released, and he shall return to his property.
Redemption was also available to aid family members. If someone became poor and needed to sell their property to “make ends meet,” the nearest person in the family line was to serve as their kinsman-redeemer (the Hebrew word translated as redeemer is ‘ḡō’ǎl’ (or ‘gō’ēl’)[9] and the property that was sold was to be bought back for their family member. If the person had no relatives able to serve as a kinsman-redeemer and later becomes able to pay, the current owner must allow the person to buy back the property; the cost would need to be prorated based on the number of days occupied or used. However, if the person does not have a kinsman-redeemer and is not able to buy back the property, the property will be retained by the purchaser until the Year of Jubilee, at which time the property will be returned. The phrase, “shall be released,” is translated from the Hebrew verb ‘yā·ṣā’,[10] which appears over 1,000 times in the Old Testament, usually translated in conjunction with something or someone “going out”,[11] and is generally only translated as ‘release’ when used in relation to the Year of Jubilee, which is often called the year of release (but should not be confused with the year of release as described in Deuteronomy 15:1-23. The Deuteronomy text employs the Hebrew noun ‘šemiṭ·ṭā(h)’,[12] a release or cancellation of debt, also referred to as the forgiveness of all debts, at the end of seven years).[13]
25:29 “If a man sells a dwelling house in a walled city, he may redeem it within a year of its sale. For a full year he shall have the right of redemption. 30 If it is not redeemed within a full year, then the house in the walled city shall belong in perpetuity to the buyer, throughout his generations; it shall not be released in the jubilee. 31 But the houses of the villages that have no wall around them shall be classified with the fields of the land. They may be redeemed, and they shall be released in the jubilee. 32 As for the cities of the Levites, the Levites may redeem at any time the houses in the cities they possess. 33 And if one of the Levites exercises his right of redemption, then the house that was sold in a city they possess shall be released in the jubilee. For the houses in the cities of the Levites are their possession among the people of Israel. 34 But the fields of pastureland belonging to their cities may not be sold, for that is their possession forever.
In this text we see a delineation between property types. If a house located within a walled city was sold, the seller was allowed to redeem (buy back) the property anytime up to a year. After the period of one year, the ownership of the property would then be permanently transferred (unless sold again) and was not to be released during the Year of Jubilee. But if someone desired to sell a house that was not located in a walled city, that house would be classified in the same manner as the property of fields of land and was to be released in the Year of Jubilee.
Later when land is allotted to the various tribes, the Levities will not inherit large geographic areas like the others.[14] They will, however, be given several cities and the responsibility of maintaining the cities of refuge. In those cities the Levite owners can redeem any house they sold at any time, plus during the Year of Jubilee all houses that were previously sold are to be returned to the original owner. “After all, the houses in the towns reserved for the Levites are the only property they own in all Israel.” (Leviticus 25:33b, NLT) The pastureland around those cities is not to be sold, as it is their eternal possession.
Considerations
While it is true that as the Creator, God owns all things, the land that He promised to Abraham (see Genesis 12:1-3, 7; 13:14-17; 15:5-21; 17:1-14) and then later promised to the people of Israel to call home, is clearly something very special to Him. And now seeing that He retains ownership of that land, modern readers can understand why there is conflict in the Middle East. Especially between non-Israeli occupants and the nation of Israel over portions of the land that is owned by God. Since God has made it clear that the land is to be occupied and ruled by Israel, any attempt to negotiate land for peace will fail.
Being Kind to Your Brother
25:35 “If your brother becomes poor and cannot maintain himself with you, you shall support him as though he were a stranger and a sojourner, and he shall live with you. 36 Take no interest from him or profit, but fear your God, that your brother may live beside you. 37 You shall not lend him your money at interest, nor give him your food for profit. 38 I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt to give you the land of Canaan, and to be your God.
If a member of the family can no longer support themselves, they are to be allowed to live, as a guest would be allowed to do, among their own family. They are not to be charged interest on any loans or be the source of making any profit. Instead, the family is to trust and fear God, having faith that He will provide. God once again reminds the people of Israel that He can be trusted, as He is YHWH, who brought them out of Egypt, to be their God. After everything God has done for them, why would He stop providing after reaching the Promised Land?
25:39 “If your brother becomes poor beside you and sells himself to you, you shall not make him serve as a slave: 40 he shall be with you as a hired worker and as a sojourner. He shall serve with you until the year of the jubilee. 41 Then he shall go out from you, he and his children with him, and go back to his own clan and return to the possession of his fathers. 42 For they are my servants, whom I brought out of the land of Egypt; they shall not be sold as slaves. 43 You shall not rule over him ruthlessly but shall fear your God.
The people of Israel were forbidden to enslave a fellow Israelite. If someone was destitute, they were to be hired as a paid employee until the Year of Jubilee. At which time they were allowed, along with their family, to return to their land. God is claiming ownership of the people of Israel by calling them His servants (the word translated as ‘servants’ and ‘slaves’ is ‘ě’·ḇěḏ’).[15] He is the one who freed them from slavery and brought them out of Egypt, they belong to Him (compare with Romans 6:22; 1 Corinthians 7:23). No Israelite was to be sold to another Israelite as a slave, nor were they to be ruthlessly treated like the Egyptians did,[16] those that hired other Israelites were to understand this rule and fear God.
25:44 As for your male and female slaves whom you may have: you may buy male and female slaves from among the nations that are around you. 45 You may also buy from among the strangers who sojourn with you and their clans that are with you, who have been born in your land, and they may be your property. 46 You may bequeath them to your sons after you to inherit as a possession forever. You may make slaves of them, but over your brothers the people of Israel you shall not rule, one over another ruthlessly.
While not being allowed to be slaves themselves, the people of Israel could own slaves from other nations. They were also allowed to purchase slaves from foreigners traveling through their land (like the caravan that brought Joseph to Egypt, see Genesis 37:23-28). It was permissible that the slaves purchased, and their children born during their bondage, be considered their property, and could be passed down as an inheritance to all following generations. God then repeats the rule that no Israelite was to own another Israelite, nor was anyone allowed to treat another Israelite ruthlessly.
Redeeming a Poor Person
25:47 “If a stranger or sojourner with you becomes rich, and your brother beside him becomes poor and sells himself to the stranger or sojourner with you or to a member of the stranger’s clan, 48 then after he is sold he may be redeemed. One of his brothers may redeem him, 49 or his uncle or his cousin may redeem him, or a close relative from his clan may redeem him. Or if he grows rich he may redeem himself. 50 He shall calculate with his buyer from the year when he sold himself to him until the year of jubilee, and the price of his sale shall vary with the number of years. The time he was with his owner shall be rated as the time of a hired worker. 51 If there are still many years left, he shall pay proportionately for his redemption some of his sale price. 52 If there remain but a few years until the year of jubilee, he shall calculate and pay for his redemption in proportion to his years of service. 53 He shall treat him as a worker hired year by year. He shall not rule ruthlessly over him in your sight. 54 And if he is not redeemed by these means, then he and his children with him shall be released in the year of jubilee. 55 For it is to me that the people of Israel are servants. They are my servants whom I brought out of the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God.
In a situation where a foreigner is living among the people of Israel and is wealthy enough to afford a slave, and an Israelite is destitute, they could sell themselves to the foreigner. However, any close family member can redeem them, or they can (if able) redeem themselves, at any time. The price for redeeming (buying back their freedom) is to be based on how many years until the next Year of Jubilee. The foreigner is to consider the Israelite as a hired worker and is never to treat them ruthlessly (note that God mentions, “in your sight,” perhaps a note of caution but also a call for policing). If the Israelite cannot be redeemed, then once the Year of Jubilee comes, they and their family are to be released. Once again God points out that they are His servants as He is the one that redeemed them from bondage in Egypt and that He is YHWH, their God.
Considerations
A Christian Perspective of the Year of Jubilee
The Year of Jubilee provides a model of redemption and forgiveness offered to mankind through Jesus Christ, who came to set mankind free from the captivity of sin and death. Paul would remind us, “So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus. And because you belong to him, the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you from the power of sin that leads to death. The law of Moses was unable to save us because of the weakness of our sinful nature. So God did what the law could not do. He sent his own Son in a body like the bodies we sinners have. And in that body God declared an end to sin’s control over us by giving his Son as a sacrifice for our sins.” (Romans 8:1-3, NLT) “For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.” (Galatians 5:1)
Jesus lived a sinless life, suffered, died on a cross, and rose again to pay the full price of redemption (see also Ephesians 2:1-10; Colossians 2:13-15). Those that have faith in Jesus (that He will do as He promised) are no longer in bondage, no longer slaves to sin, and can enter the rest that only God can provide. The author of Hebrews adds, “So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, for whoever has entered God’s rest has also rested from his works as God did from his. Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience. For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.” (Hebrews 4:9-13)
The proclamation of liberty throughout the land (see Leviticus 25:10) is often tied to the concept of releasing those imprisoned. The reference is to the bondage or imprisonment to a slave owner, not from prisons. Near the beginning of His ministry, Jesus read from Isaiah, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” (Luke 4:18-19, reading from Isaiah 61:1-2a) The Year of Jubilee pointed to Jesus and His ministry of redemption.
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[1] See the commentary and Considerations under Exodus 19:21-25.
[2] See commentary under Exodus 23:10-11 and Considerations under Exodus 23:19.
[3] Strong’s Hebrew 7782.
[4] Strong’s Hebrew 8643.
[5] Strong’s Hebrew 3104. See commentary under Exodus 19:10-13.
[6] See Considerations under Exodus 23:19.
[7] Strong’s Hebrew 1353.
[8] See the Introduction to the Book of Exodus regarding redemption and Considerations under Exodus 13:16 “Redemption Revisited.”
[9] Strong’s Hebrew 1350. See commentary under Genesis 48:13-16; the section titled “Sin Revisited” under A Brief Introduction to God’s Law between Exodus chapters 19 and 20; and the commentary under Exodus 21:12-13.
[10] Strong’s Hebrew 3318.
[11] See commentary under Genesis 1:11-13.
[12] Strong’s Hebrew 8059.
[13] See commentary under Deuteronomy 15:1-6.
[14] See commentary under Exodus 32:29.
[15] See Considerations under Genesis 9:28.
[16] See commentary under Exodus 1:13-14.