Leviticus 25:4 NIV

Bridgeway Bible Commentary - Leviticus 25:1-34

Sabbatical and jubilee years (25:1-34)When the Israelites conquered Canaan and divided it among their tribes and families, they were not to be selfish or greedy in their use of the land. Just as people and their working animals were to rest one day in seven, so the land was to rest one year in seven. The lack of cultivation during this seventh or sabbatical year gave people the opportunity to recognize in a special way that God was the rightful owner of the land. At the same time it gave the... read more

E.W. Bullinger

E.W. Bullinger's Companion Bible Notes - Leviticus 25:4

sabbath of rest. See note on Exodus 16:23 . read more

Thomas Coke

Thomas Coke Commentary on the Holy Bible - Leviticus 25:4

Leviticus 25:4. A sabbath for the Lord— As the weekly sabbath was a testimony of their belief in and homage to God the Creator, so the yearly sabbath was a public testimony that their land was consecrated to the same God; that he had settled them in it as his true worshippers, and that they held it as tenants under him, their great lord and proprietor. We do not mention the wise and merciful ends of this institution, as they come with more propriety under what we have to say concerning the... read more

Thomas Constable

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Leviticus 25:1-7

1. The sabbatical year 25:1-7As God ordered the people to rest every seventh day, so He ordered them to let the land rest every seventh year. By resting the people renewed their strength and rejuvenated their productivity in His service. By resting the land’s strength likewise revived and its productivity increased. Modern agronomists have supported the practice of allowing land to lie fallow periodically. God did not want the Israelites to work the land "to death" (i.e., to rape their... read more

Thomas Constable

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Leviticus 25:1-55

F. Sanctification of the possession of land by the sabbatical and jubilee years ch. 25Chapter 25 concludes the laws God gave the Israelites on Mt. Sinai. It contains the only legislation on the subject of land ownership in the Pentateuch. These laws regarding the Promised Land correspond to the laws Moses previously gave regarding the people of Israel. God owned both the Israelites and the land He was giving them."The central theme of this last set of instructions is that of restoration.... read more

John Dummelow

John Dummelow's Commentary on the Bible - Leviticus 25:1-55

The Sabbatical Year. The Year of JubileeThe matters treated in this chapter are closely related to those in Leviticus 23, and their separation is another indication that we are dealing with a book made up of different elements. Observe again the change of number in Leviticus 25:14, Leviticus 25:17 and the interruption caused by Leviticus 25:18-22. Cp. what is said above in intro. to Leviticus 21.1-7. The law of the Sabbatical Year: see also Exodus 23:10-11; Deuteronomy 15:1-11; Deuteronomy... read more

Charles John Ellicott

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Leviticus 25:4

(4) The seventh year shall be a sabbath of rest.—Literally, the seventh year shall be a rest of solemn resting, or a sabbath of sabbaths. For the import of this phrase see Note on Leviticus 16:31. Like the weekly sabbath, the seventh year is to be the Lord’s sabbath. The soil is therefore to have a perfect rest.Thou shalt neither sow thy field.—What constitutes cultivation, and how much of labour was regarded as transgressing this law, may be seen from the following canons which obtained during... read more

William Nicoll

Expositor's Dictionary of Texts - Leviticus 25:1-55

Sojourning with God Leviticus 25:23 There are two views to be taken of that famous land about which so much of Old Testament history gathers. (1) When you are looking at the children of Israel passing out of Egypt and through the wilderness, their prospect of this promised land awaiting them reminds you of the heavenly inheritance held out to believers as the rest that remaineth for the people of God. (2) But when you think of the Israelites in actual occupation of Canaan, then there are... read more

William Nicoll

Expositor's Bible Commentary - Leviticus 25:1-55

THE SABBATIC YEAR AND THE JUBILEELeviticus 25:1-55THE system of annually recurring sabbatic times, as given in chapter 23, culminated in the sabbatic seventh month. But this remarkable system of sabbatisms extended still further, and besides the sacred seventh day, the seventh week, and seventh month, included also a sabbatic seventh year; and beyond that, as the, ultimate expression of the sabbatic idea, following the seventh seven of years, came the hallowed fiftieth year, known as the... read more

Arno Clemens Gaebelein

Arno Gaebelein's Annotated Bible - Leviticus 25:1-55

4. The Sabbatic Year and the Year of Jubilee CHAPTER 25 1. The Sabbatic year (Leviticus 25:1-7 ) 2. The jubilee (Leviticus 25:8-12 ) 3. The jubilee and the land (Leviticus 25:13-28 ) 4. The jubilee and the dwelling houses (Leviticus 25:29-34 ) 5. The jubilee, the poor and the bondmen (Leviticus 25:35-55 ) This is the great restoration chapter in Leviticus. All is connected preeminently with Israel’s land. The application, which has been made, that this chapter foreshadows a... read more