Exodus 23:11

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Exodus 23:10-19

Here is, I. The institution of the sabbatical year, Exod. 23:10, 11. Every seventh year the land was to rest; they must not plough nor sow it at the beginning of the year, and then they could not expect any great harvest at the end of the year: but what the earth did produce of itself should be eaten from hand to mouth, and not laid up. Now this was designed, 1. To show what a plentiful land that was into which God was bringing them?that so numerous a people could have rich maintenance out of... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Exodus 23:11

But the seventh year thou shall let it rest, and lie still ,.... From tillage, and make its fruits common, as the Targum of Jonathan; the note of Jarchi is, "let it rest", from perfect tillage, as ploughing and sowing; "and lie still", from dunging and harrowing, or weeding: this law was intended to show that God was the original proprietor and owner of this land, and that the Israelites held it under him; and to teach them to depend upon and trust in his providence; as well as that there... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Exodus 23:11

The seventh year thou shalt let it rest - As, every seventh day was a Sabbath day, so every seventh year was to be a Sabbath year. The reasons for this ordinance Calmet gives thus: - " To maintain as far as possible an equality of condition among the people, in setting the slaves at liberty, and in permitting all, as children of one family, to have the free and indiscriminate use of whatever the earth produced. " To inspire the people with sentiments of humanity, by making it their duty... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Exodus 23:1-19

THE BOOK OF THE COVENANT .— Continued . MISCELLANEOUS LAWS — continued . The same want of logical arrangement appears in this chapter as in the preceding one. The first nine verses contain some twelve laws, of which not more than two that are consecutive can be said to be on the same subject. There is perhaps in the section a predominant idea of warning against sins and errors connected with the trial of causes before a court, but Exodus 23:4 and Exodus 23:5 , at... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Exodus 23:1-33

1 . That he will send an angel before them to be their guide, director, and helper ( Exodus 23:20 - 23). 2 . That he will be the enemy of their enemies ( Exodus 23:22 ), striking terror into them miraculously ( Exodus 23:27 ), and subjecting them to other scourges also ( Exodus 23:28 ). 3 . That he will drive out their enemies "by little and little" ( Exodus 23:30 ), not ceasing until he has destroyed them ( Exodus 23:23 ). 4 . That he will give them the entire... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Exodus 23:10-11

CEREMONIAL LAWS ( Exodus 23:10-19 ). Law of the Sabbatical year . Days of rest, at regular or irregular intervals, were well known to the ancients and some regulations of the kind existed in most countries But entire years of rest were wholly unknown to any nation except the Israelites. and exposed them to the reproach of idleness.. In a primitive condition of agriculture, when rotation of crops was unknown, artificial manure unemployed, and the need of letting even the best land... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Exodus 23:10-11

The Sabbatical year. The Sabbatical year—an institution peculiar to the Israelites, and quite contrary to anything of which they had had experience in Egypt—is a remarkable proof, I. OF THE DIVINE WISDOM . Under the ordinary circumstances of tillage, land from time to time requires rest. In Egypt it was otherwise. There, under the exceptional circumstances of a soil continually recruited by the spread over it of a rich alluvium from the great river, not only was the whole... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Exodus 23:10-20

Sabbaths and feasts. I. SABBATHS . 1 . The Sabbatic year ( Exodus 23:10 , Exodus 23:11 ). Every seventh year the land was to lie fallow, and what it spontaneously produced was to be a provision for the poor, and for the beasts of the field. There was connected with the ordinance a special promise of unusual fertility in the sixth year—of such plenty as would make the nation independent of a harvest in the seventh (Le Exodus 25:21 , Exodus 25:22 ). The Sabbatic year was ... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Exodus 23:10-12

This is the first mention of the Sabbatical year; the law for it is given at length in Leviticus 25:2. Both the Sabbatical year and the weekly Sabbath are here spoken of exclusively in their relation to the poor, as bearing testimony to the equality of the people in their covenant with Yahweh. In the first of these institutions, the proprietor of the soil gave up his rights for the year to the whole community of living creatures, not excepting the beasts: in the latter, the master gave up his... read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Exodus 23:10-11

Exodus 23:10-11. The institution of the sabbatical year was designed, 1st, To show what a plentiful land that was into which God was bringing them, that so numerous a people could have rich maintenance out of the products of so small a country, without foreign trade, and yet could spare the increase of every seventh year. 2d, To teach them confidence in his care and bounty while they did their duty; that as the sixth day’s manna served for two days’ meat, so the sixth year’s increase should... read more

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