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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

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Leviticus 25:8

And thou shalt number seven sabbaths of years unto thee ,.... Or weeks of years; and there being seven days in a week, and a day being put for a year, seven weeks of years made forty nine years; the Targums of Onkelos and Jonathan, and Jarchi, interpret it seven "shemittas", or sabbatical years; and a sabbatical year being every seventh year, made the same number: seven times seven years : or forty nine years, as follows: and the space of the seven sabbaths of years shall be forty and... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Leviticus 25:8

Thou shalt number seven Sabbaths of years - This seems to state that the jubilee was to be celebrated on the forty-ninth year; but in Leviticus 25:10 ; and Leviticus 25:11 ; it is said, Ye shall hallow the fiftieth year, and, A jubilee shall this fiftieth year be. Probably in this verse Moses either includes the preceding jubilee, and thus with the forty-ninth makes up the number fifty; or he speaks of proclaiming the jubilee on the forty-ninth, and celebrating it on the fiftieth year... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Leviticus 25:8

Verse 8 8.And thou shalt number seven. The third kind of Sabbath follows, which was composed of forty-nine, or seven times seven years. This was the most illustrious Sabbath, since the state of the people, both as to their persons and their houses and property, was renewed; and although in this way God had regard to the public good, gave relief to the poor, so that their liberty should not be destroyed, and preserved also the order laid down by Himself; still there is no question but that He... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Leviticus 25:1-22

The sabbatic year. At the close of the original week the sabbath of the seventh day was given; that of the seventh year, on the entrance of the Hebrews into Canaan. The former was a memorial of creation; the latter, of redemption. These are intimately related. There are correspondences between the old creation and the new—the material and the spiritual. The grand effect of redemption will be the constitution of a new creation, in which the mundane system will participate. I. THE ... 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 25:8-9

The word jubile (as it is always spelt in the Authorized Version) is taken from the Hebrew word yovel, and it came to mean a year of liberty ( Ezekiel 46:17 ; Josephus, 'Ant.,' 3.12, 3), because it freed men and lands from the obligations to which they would otherwise have been liable; but originally it signified no more than a cornet-blast, and thence the year of the cornet-blast. The way to find the jubilee year was to number seven sabbaths of years, that is, seven weeks of years ( ... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Leviticus 25:8-17

The jubilee. The sabbath of the seventh day is commemorative of the rest of God after the work of creation, and anticipative of the rest in heaven for his people after the world's great week of toil and sorrow (see Hebrews 3:1-19 , Hebrews 4:1-16 ). The more to impress these things upon us, to keep alive our gratitude, and to stimulate our faith and hope, he also instituted the sabbaths of the Levitical system. Conspicuous amongst these are the grand sabbaths mentioned in this chapter,... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Leviticus 25:8-34

The jubilee, being a year of deliverance and joy, came to be a type of the Messianic dispensation, and of the final deliverance and state of happiness which is still to come. "The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me; because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord" ( Isaiah 61:1 , Isaiah... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Leviticus 25:8-34

The year of jubilee. Accumulation of sabbaths and sabbatical years; climax of rest. Proclaimed on Day of Atonement. Outcome of the original covenant. Specially soul-stirring and delightful, "waked up the nation from the very center of its moral being." "All estates and conditions of the people were permitted to feel the hallowed and refreshing influence of this most noble institution. The exile returned; the captive was emancipated; the debtor set flee; each family opened its bosom to... read more

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