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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 25:50

And he shall reckon with him that bought him ,.... That is, either the man himself should reckon with him, or whoever undertook to redeem him: from the year that he was sold to him unto the year of jubilee ; and so count how many years he had served, and how many were yet to come; and by this it appears, that one thus sold was not released at the end of six years, or the sabbatical year did not free him: and the price of his sale shall be according to the number of years ; whether... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Leviticus 25:51

If there be yet many years behind ,.... To the year of jubilee, and more than he had served: according unto them he shall give again the price of his redemption, out of the money that he was bought for ; suppose, for instance, when a man sold himself, there were twenty years to the year of jubilee, and he sold himself for twenty pieces of money, gold or silver, be the value what it will; and when he comes to treat with his master about his redemption, or a relation for him, and he has... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Leviticus 25:52

And if there remain but few years unto the year of jubilee ,.... Fewer than what he has served, then the less is given for his redemption: thus, for instance, in the above supposed case, if he has served fifteen years, and there remain but five to the year of jubilee: then he shall count with him, and according unto his years shall he give him again the price of his redemption ; as in the fore mentioned case, he shall give him five pieces of money; and thus the law of justice and... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Leviticus 25:53

And as a yearly hired servant shall he be with him ,.... Being redeemable every year, and upon his redemption might quit his master's service, as an hireling may; and the price of his redemption to be valued according to the years he served, and as if he had been hired for so much a year; as well as he was to be treated in a kind and gentle manner, not as a bondman, but as if he was an hired servant, as follows: and the other shall not rule with rigour over him in thy sight ; the... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Leviticus 25:54

And if he be not redeemed in these years ,.... The Targum of Jonathan supplies the text as we do, in any of the years from the time of his sale to the year of jubilee; and so Aben Ezra interprets it, in the years that remain to the jubilee; but he observes there are others that say, by the means of those above mentioned, that is, by his nearest of kin, or by himself; for the word "years" is not in the text, which may be supplied, either with "years" or "relations"; and so the Vulgate... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Leviticus 25:50

The price of his sale shall be, etc. - This was a very equitable law, both for the sojourner to whom the man was sold, and to the Israelite who had been thus sold. The Israelite might redeem himself, or one of his kindred might redeem him; but this must not be done to the prejudice of his master, the sojourner. They were therefore to reckon the years he must have served from that time till the jubilee; and then, taking the current wages of a servant per year at that time, multiply 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 25:8-55

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

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