What is the sabbath year for the land in this passage?

The sabbath year is every seventh year after Israel enters the promised land. For six years they can sow, prune, and gather their crops. In the seventh year they must not plant or prune. They are not to harvest what grows by itself as a normal crop, but whatever the land produces on its own is open for everyone to eat: the owner, servants, hired workers, foreigners, and even the animals. This year reminds them that the land belongs to God and that they live by His provision, not only by their own work.

What happens in the Year of Jubilee and why is it important?

The Year of Jubilee comes after seven cycles of sabbath years, in the fiftieth year. On the Day of Atonement a trumpet is blown, and liberty is announced throughout the land. Israelites who sold their land return to their family property, and those who sold themselves into service are set free and go back to their families. Fields are not sown or harvested as usual. Jubilee stops permanent loss of land, breaks long-term poverty, and shows that God wants His people restored and not trapped forever.

Why could the land not be sold forever in this passage?

The land could not be sold forever because God says, “The land is mine; for ye are strangers and sojourners with me.” That means Israel are like tenants living on God’s property. When they “sell” land, they are really selling a number of harvests until the next Jubilee, not the land itself. In Jubilee the land returns to the original family. This keeps each tribe’s inheritance, stops people from being cut off for good, and reminds everyone that God, not wealth, has the final say.

How were buying and selling meant to be fair here?

When Israelites bought or sold land use, they had to set the price by the number of years left until the Jubilee. More years of crops meant a higher price, fewer years meant a lower price. God repeats that they must not oppress one another or use deceit. They are to fear God as they trade. This way, no one could charge as if they were selling permanent land, and both sides remembered that time, harvests, and property are all in God’s hands, so greed has no place.

What did God promise about food if they let the land rest?

People might worry, “What shall we eat the seventh year?” when they are not sowing or reaping in the sabbath and Jubilee years. God answers this fear by promising to command His blessing in the sixth year so that the land would produce enough for three years. They would eat that harvest during the seventh year, keep eating it in the eighth while they sow again, and still have some until the ninth year’s crop came in. This promise teaches trust in God’s care rather than fear of lack.

How were poor Israelites and their relatives to be treated?

If an Israelite became poor and had to sell land, there had to be a way to buy it back. A close relative could redeem it, or if the seller later had enough, he could redeem it himself by counting the years and paying back the remaining value. If he could not, the land returned at Jubilee. If a brother fell into poverty, others were to support him so that he could live among them. They must not charge interest on money or food. God ties this directly to fearing Him and remembering His rescue from Egypt.

What rules were given about Israelites who became servants?

If a poor Israelite sold himself to another Israelite, he was not to be treated like a harsh slave. He was to serve like a hired worker or guest until the Year of Jubilee. Then he and his children went free and returned to their family and land. God says they are His servants, brought out of Egypt, and must not be sold as permanent slaves or ruled with cruelty. This guarded their dignity and reminded everyone that God owns His people and watches how they are treated.

Why does this passage allow foreign bondmen but not harsh rule over Israelites?

The passage makes a difference between Israelite brothers and people from the nations around them. Israelites, who share in God’s covenant and rescue from Egypt, may not be held in permanent bondage or ruled with cruelty. Foreigners and their families could become permanent bondmen and remain in the household. This sounds hard to modern ears, and people read it in different ways, but in the passage the main point is that God’s own people must not enslave each other as if they themselves were not servants of God.

What does this passage teach about God’s character and values?

This passage shows God as the true owner of the land and the rescuer of His people. He cares about rest, not endless work, so He commands sabbath years. He cares about the poor, so He builds in release, redemption, and fair pricing. He hates oppression, so He twice says they must not oppress one another but fear Him. He provides enough in advance so they can afford to obey. Overall, God values mercy, justice, and trust in His care more than squeezing out every last gain from land or people.

How can the sabbath and Jubilee ideas speak to life today?

The exact laws were given to ancient Israel in their land, but the patterns still say something to us. They remind us that what we have is not really ours; we are stewards under God. Rest matters, not only for bodies and land but also to turn our hearts toward God. These laws push against greed, endless debt, and treating people as things. Today this can lead us to be generous, give people fresh starts when we can, refuse unfair gain, and trust that God will care for us when we choose faithfulness over fear.

Lev.25.1

Leviticus 25:1

KJV

And the Lord spake unto Moses in mount Sinai, saying,

The Seventh Year

The Sabbatic Year and Year of Jubilee

1 And the Lord spake unto Moses in mount Sinai, saying,

Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye come into the land which I give you, then shall the land keep a sabbath unto the Lord.

Six years thou shalt sow thy field, and six years thou shalt prune thy vineyard, and gather in the fruit thereof;

But in the seventh year shall be a sabbath of rest unto the land, a sabbath for the Lord: thou shalt neither sow thy field, nor prune thy vineyard.

That which groweth of its own accord of thy harvest thou shalt not reap, neither gather the grapes of thy vine undressed: for it is a year of rest unto the land.

And the sabbath of the land shall be meat for you; for thee, and for thy servant, and for thy maid, and for thy hired servant, and for thy stranger that sojourneth with thee,

And for thy cattle, and for the beast that are in thy land, shall all the increase thereof be meat.

The Year of Jubilee

¶ And thou shalt number seven sabbaths of years unto thee, seven times seven years; and the space of the seven sabbaths of years shall be unto thee forty and nine years.

Then shalt thou cause the trumpet of the jubile to sound on the tenth day of the seventh month, in the day of atonement shall ye make the trumpet sound throughout all your land.

And ye shall hallow the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof: it shall be a jubile unto you; and ye shall return every man unto his possession, and ye shall return every man unto his family.

A jubile shall that fiftieth year be unto you: ye shall not sow, neither reap that which groweth of itself in it, nor gather the grapes in it of thy vine undressed.

For it is the jubile; it shall be holy unto you: ye shall eat the increase thereof out of the field.

Return of Property

In the year of this jubile ye shall return every man unto his possession.

And if thou sell ought unto thy neighbour, or buyest ought of thy neighbour’s hand, ye shall not oppress one another:

According to the number of years after the jubile thou shalt buy of thy neighbour, and according unto the number of years of the fruits he shall sell unto thee:

According to the multitude of years thou shalt increase the price thereof, and according to the fewness of years thou shalt diminish the price of it: for according to the number of the years of the fruits doth he sell unto thee.

Ye shall not therefore oppress one another; but thou shalt fear thy God: for I am the Lord your God.

The Blessing of Obedience

¶ Wherefore ye shall do my statutes, and keep my judgments, and do them; and ye shall dwell in the land in safety.

And the land shall yield her fruit, and ye shall eat your fill, and dwell therein in safety.

And if ye shall say, What shall we eat the seventh year? behold, we shall not sow, nor gather in our increase:

Then I will command my blessing upon you in the sixth year, and it shall bring forth fruit for three years.

And ye shall sow the eighth year, and eat yet of old fruit until the ninth year; until her fruits come in ye shall eat of the old store.

The Law of Redemption

¶ The land shall not be sold for ever: for the land is mine; for ye are strangers and sojourners with me.

And in all the land of your possession ye shall grant a redemption for the land.

¶ If thy brother be waxen poor, and hath sold away some of his possession, and if any of his kin come to redeem it, then shall he redeem that which his brother sold.

And if the man have none to redeem it, and himself be able to redeem it;

Then let him count the years of the sale thereof, and restore the overplus unto the man to whom he sold it; that he may return unto his possession.

But if he be not able to restore it to him, then that which is sold shall remain in the hand of him that hath bought it until the year of jubile: and in the jubile it shall go out, and he shall return unto his possession.

And if a man sell a dwelling house in a walled city, then he may redeem it within a whole year after it is sold; within a full year may he redeem it.

And if it be not redeemed within the space of a full year, then the house that is in the walled city shall be established for ever to him that bought it throughout his generations: it shall not go out in the jubile.

But the houses of the villages which have no wall round about them shall be counted as the fields of the country: they may be redeemed, and they shall go out in the jubile.

Notwithstanding the cities of the Levites, and the houses of the cities of their possession, may the Levites redeem at any time.

And if a man purchase of the Levites, then the house that was sold, and the city of his possession, shall go out in the year of jubile: for the houses of the cities of the Levites are their possession among the children of Israel.

But the field of the suburbs of their cities may not be sold; for it is their perpetual possession.

Redemption of the Poor

Of Poor Countrymen

¶ And if thy brother be waxen poor, and fallen in decay with thee; then thou shalt relieve him: yea, though he be a stranger, or a sojourner; that he may live with thee.

Take thou no usury of him, or increase: but fear thy God; that thy brother may live with thee.

Thou shalt not give him thy money upon usury, nor lend him thy victuals for increase.

I am the Lord your God, which brought you forth out of the land of Egypt, to give you the land of Canaan, and to be your God.

Redemption of Bondmen

¶ And if thy brother that dwelleth by thee be waxen poor, and be sold unto thee; thou shalt not compel him to serve as a bondservant:

But as an hired servant, and as a sojourner, he shall be with thee, and shall serve thee unto the year of jubile:

And then shall he depart from thee, both he and his children with him, and shall return unto his own family, and unto the possession of his fathers shall he return.

For they are my servants, which I brought forth out of the land of Egypt: they shall not be sold as bondmen.

Thou shalt not rule over him with rigour; but shalt fear thy God.

Both thy bondmen, and thy bondmaids, which thou shalt have, shall be of the heathen that are round about you; of them shall ye buy bondmen and bondmaids.

Moreover of the children of the strangers that do sojourn among you, of them shall ye buy, and of their families that are with you, which they begat in your land: and they shall be your possession.

And ye shall take them as an inheritance for your children after you, to inherit them for a possession; they shall be your bondmen for ever: but over your brethren the children of Israel, ye shall not rule one over another with rigour.

Redemption of Servants

Of Redeeming a Poor Man

¶ And if a sojourner or stranger wax rich by thee, and thy brother that dwelleth by him wax poor, and sell himself unto the stranger or sojourner by thee, or to the stock of the stranger’s family:

After that he is sold he may be redeemed again; one of his brethren may redeem him:

Either his uncle, or his uncle’s son, may redeem him, or any that is nigh of kin unto him of his family may redeem him; or if he be able, he may redeem himself.

And he shall reckon with him that bought him from the year that he was sold to him unto the year of jubile: and the price of his sale shall be according unto the number of years, according to the time of an hired servant shall it be with him.

If there be yet many years behind, according unto them he shall give again the price of his redemption out of the money that he was bought for.

And if there remain but few years unto the year of jubile, then he shall count with him, and according unto his years shall he give him again the price of his redemption.

And as a yearly hired servant shall he be with him: and the other shall not rule with rigour over him in thy sight.

And if he be not redeemed in these years, then he shall go out in the year of jubile, both he, and his children with him.

For unto me the children of Israel are servants; they are my servants whom I brought forth out of the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.

Cross References

No cross references available for this verse.