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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

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Leviticus 25:35

And if thy brother be waxen poor ,.... An Israelite, as Aben Ezra, be reduced to a low estate, through afflictions in body, or in family, or through losses in trade, or want of business, or through one providence or another: and fallen in decay with thee ; in his worldly substance: or "his hand wavers", or "fails" F16 ומטה ידו "et nutaverit manus ejus", Montanus, Vatablus, Fagius; "vacillabit", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator. ; so that he cannot support himself and his... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Leviticus 25:1-55

The sabbatical year was instituted not for any supposed physical benefit accruing from it to the land, but, first, as serving for a link between the sabbath and the jubilee by means of the sacred number seven—the sabbatical year being the seventh year, and the jubilee being the year following the seven-times-seventh year; and secondly, and chiefly, as enforcing the lesson of the weekly sabbath in a manner that could not be overlooked, and symbolically, teaching the universal application of... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Leviticus 25:8-55

The jubilee. cf. Isaiah 61:1 -13; Luke 4:18 , Luke 4:19 . We have here a further appendix to the fourth commandment. After seven sabbatic years there came another year, called the jubilee, which was also sabbatic, and during which there was to be a universal restitution. The trumpet was to be blown on the Day of Atonement, and the captives were then to be released, the unfortunate ones who had been compelled to part with their inheritance had it restored to them, and there was a... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Leviticus 25:8-55

Year of jubilee: 1 . A nation's joy. On every fiftieth year of national life, as the sun went down on the great Day of Atonement, when the sins of the nation had been forgiven, and peace with God was once more assured, the sound of many trumpets ushered in the blessed year of jubilee. Then No nation now can expect to enjoy such an institution as this; we must learn to dispense with such miraculous arrangements as that which made the year of jubilee a possible thing to Israel ( ... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Leviticus 25:8-55

Year of jubilee: II. The world's redemption. The whole Christian era is one long year of jubilee. It is "the acceptable year of the Lord" ( Luke 4:19 ). That "acceptable year," the fiftieth year in the Jewish calendar, was a year of These, in a deeper, a spiritual sense, are the characteristics of the Christian era: 1 . It is a time of spiritual emancipation. Sin is the slavery of the soul; "men are "holden with the cords of their sins" ( Proverbs 5:22 ). They are in the... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Leviticus 25:8-55

Year of jubilee: III. The blessed kingdom. It may be thought that, while it is indeed true that the year of jubilee has a true counterpart in that dispensation of spiritual emancipation, social readjustment, regeneration, rest, joy, in which we stand; yet, on the other hand, there is so much of detraction in the sins and sorrows of the present time as to make the one but a very imperfect picture of the other. There is truth in this thought: it is only in a qualified sense that we can speak... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Leviticus 25:35-38

Slavery. It is presumed that no Hebrew will become a slave except on the pressure of poverty, and this poverty his brethren are commanded to relieve; but foreseeing that either want of charity on the part of the rich or unthrift on the part of the poor would certainly bring about slavery, the legislator makes regulations so as to soften its character as far as possible. The literal translation of Leviticus 25:35 is as follows: If thy brother becomes poor, and his hand faileth by thee, thou... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Leviticus 25:35-55

Bible. I. IN THE OLD TESTAMENT . It is accepted as a fact, not denounced or approved, but recognized and gradually ameliorated. 1 . Hebrew slaves are not to be treated with rigour ( Leviticus 25:43 , Leviticus 25:53 ), but as hired servants. How different from the state of slaves in the workshops of Greece and Rome! 2 . In the ease of Hebrew slaves, the duration of slavery was not to be perpetual. At the end of six years every slave was to be restored to liberty, and at... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Leviticus 25:35-55

Justice and mercy. The equity of the Mosaic laws has striking illustrations in the words now under review. We see it— I. IN THE KINDNESS ENJOINED TOWARDS THE POOR . 1 . Their necessities are to be relieved. 2 . The reasons for mercy are edifying. II. IN THE KINDNESS ENJOINED TOWARDS THE SLAVE . 1 . The Hebrew must show it. 2 . The stranger must show it. III. IN THE DETERMINATION OF THE RANSOM PRICE . In this... read more

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