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Matthew Henry

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Leviticus 25:1-7

The law of Moses laid a great deal of stress upon the sabbath, the sanctification of which was the earliest and most ancient of all divine institutions, designed for the keeping up of the knowledge and worship of the Creator among men; that law not only revived the observance of the weekly sabbath, but, for the further advancement of the honour of them, added the institution of a sabbatical year: In the seventh year shall be a sabbath of rest unto the land, Lev. 25:4. And hence the Jews... read more

Matthew Henry

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Leviticus 25:8-22

Here is, I. The general institution of the jubilee, Lev. 25:8-22 1. When it was to be observed: after seven sabbaths of years (Lev. 25:8), whether the forty-ninth or fiftieth is a great question among learned men: that it should be the seventh sabbatical year, that is, the forty-ninth (which by a very common form of speech is called the fiftieth), seems to me most probable, and is, I think, made pretty clear and the objections removed by that learned chronologer Calvisius; but this is not a... read more

Matthew Henry

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Leviticus 25:23-38

Here is, I. A law concerning the real estates of the Israelites in the land of Canaan, and the transferring of them. 1. No land should be sold for ever from the family to whose lot it fell in the division of the land. And the reason given is, The land is mine, and you are strangers and sojourners with me, Lev. 25:23. (1.) God having a particular propriety in this land, he would by this restraint keep them sensible of it. The possessions of good people, who, having given up themselves to God,... read more

Matthew Henry

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Leviticus 25:39-55

We have here the laws concerning servitude, designed to preserve the honour of the Jewish nation as a free people, and rescued by a divine power out of the house of bondage, into the glorious liberty of God's sons, his first-born. Now the law is, I. That a native Israelite should never be made a bondman for perpetuity. If he was sold for debt, or for a crime, by the house of judgment, he was to serve but six years, and to go out the seventh; this was appointed, Exod. 21:2. But if he sold... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Leviticus 25:1

And the Lord spake unto Moses in Mount Sinai ,.... Not when Moses was with the Lord on that mount forty days, but after he came down from thence, even after the tabernacle was set up, while the children of Israel where encamped about that mountain, and before they took their journey from thence; for they continued some time in the wilderness of Sinai, and here it was the Lord spoke to Moses; for the words may be rendered "by" or "near Mount Sinai" F7 בהר "apud seu juxta montem",... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Leviticus 25:2

Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them ,.... What follows, being what the whole body of the people would be under obligation to observe, and therefore must be delivered to them all, at least to the heads and elders of the people, and by them to the rest: when ye come into the land which I give you ; the land of Canaan, and until they came thither, the following law concerning the sabbatical year could not take place; and as Maimonides F9 Hilchot Shemitah Vejobel, c. 4.... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Leviticus 25:3

Six years thou shalt sow thy field ,.... Under which is comprehended everything relating to agriculture, both before and after sowing, as dunging the land, ploughing and harrowing it, treading the corn, reaping and gathering it in; see Exodus 23:10 , and six years thou shall prune thy vineyard, and gather in the fruit thereof ; which is not to be restrained to vineyards only, but to be extended to oliveyards, orchards and gardens, and to the planting and cultivating of them, and... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Leviticus 25:4

But in the seventh year shall be a sabbath of rest unto the land ,.... From all tillage of it, from planting and cultivating any sort of trees in it; and even from digging pits, ditches; and caves, as say the Jewish writers F13 Torat Cohenim apud Yalkut, ut supra. (par. 1. fol. 191. 1.) : and this was typical of that rest which believers enter into under the Gospel dispensation, and of the rest in the new Jerusalem state, and especially in the ultimate glory; not only from the labours... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Leviticus 25:5

That which groweth of its own accord of thy harvest thou shalt not reap ,.... That which sprung up of itself from grains of corn, shed in the harvest of the preceding year, without any ploughing or sowing; he might reap it, but not as at other times, the whole of it, and gather it as his own property, but only somewhat of it in common with others for his, present use: neither gather the grapes of thy vine undressed ; which was on this year forbid to be dressed; the grapes of which he... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Leviticus 25:6

And the sabbath of the land shall be meat for you ,...., That is, that which grew up of itself but of the land, or on trees, vines, olives, &c.; undressed, should be the meat or food on which they should live that year: and this comprehends everything that is fit for food, and also for drink, and for anointing, and even for the lighting of lamps, as in the Misnah F17 Sheviith, c. 8. sect. 2. : for thee, and for thy servant, and for thy maid ; the owner of the fields and... read more

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