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Leviticus 25:2
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- Adam Clarke
- Keil-Delitzsch
- John Gill
- Tyndale
Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
The land keep a Sabbath - See this ordinance explained, Exo 23:11 (note). It may be asked here: if it required all the annual produce of the field to support the inhabitants, how could the people be nourished the seventh year, when no produce was received from the fields? To this it may be answered, that God sent his blessing in an especial manner on the sixth year, (see Lev 25:21, Lev 25:22), and it brought forth fruit for three years. How astonishing and convincing was this miracle! Could there possibly be any deception here? No! The miracle speaks for itself, proves the Divine authenticity of the law, and takes every prop and stay from the system that wishes to convict the Mosaic ordinances of imposture. See Exo 23:11. It is evident from this that the Mosaic law must have had a Divine origin, as no man in his senses, without God's authority, could have made such an ordinance as this; for the sixth year, from its promulgation, would have amply refuted his pretensions to a Divine mission.
Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch Old Testament Commentary
The Sabbatical Year. - When Israel had come into the land which the Lord gave to it, it was to sanctify it to the Lord by the observance of a Sabbath. As the nation at large, with its labourers and beasts of burden, was to keep a Sabbath or day of rest every seventh day of the week, so the land which they filled was to rest (to keep, שׁבּי שׁבת as in Lev 23:32) a Sabbath to the Lord. Six years they were to sow the field and cut the vineyard, i.e., cultivate the corn-fields, vineyards, and olive-yards (Exo 23:11 : see the remarks on cerem at Lev 19:10), and gather in their produce; but in the seventh year the land was to keep a Sabbath of rest (Sabbath sabbathon, Exo 31:15), a Sabbath consecrated to the Lord (see Exo 20:10); and in this year the land was neither to be tilled nor reaped (cf. Exo 23:10-11). זמר in Kal applies only to the cutting of grapes, and so also in Niphal, Isa 5:6; hence zemorah, a vine-branch (Num 13:23), and mazmerah, a pruning-knife (Isa 2:4, etc.). (Note: The meaning to sin and play, which is peculiar to the Piel, and is derived from zamar, to hum, has hardly anything to do with this. At all events the connection has not yet been shown to be a probable one. See Hupfeld, Psa 4:1-8 pp. 421-2, note.) The omission of sowing and reaping presupposed that the sabbatical year commenced with the civil year, in the autumn of the sixth year of labour, and not with the ecclesiastical year, on the first of Abib (Nisan), and that it lasted till the autumn of the seventh year, when the cultivation of the land would commence again with the preparation of the ground and the sowing of the seed for the eighth year; and with this the command to proclaim the jubilee year on "the tenth day of the seventh month" throughout all the land (Lev 25:9), and the calculation in Lev 25:21, Lev 25:22, fully agree.
John Gill Bible Commentary
Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them,.... What follows, being what the whole body of the people would be under obligation to observe, and therefore must be delivered to them all, at least to the heads and elders of the people, and by them to the rest: when ye come into the land which I give you; the land of Canaan, and until they came thither, the following law concerning the sabbatical year could not take place; and as Maimonides (i) says, it was only used in the land of Israel, and no where else, according to this text, and that both before and after the temple was built: then shall the land keep a sabbath unto the Lord; a rest from tillage, as it is afterwards explained; and this being according to the will of God, when observed would be to his honour and glory, and show that he was the proprietor of the land; and that the Israelites held it under him by this tenure, that every seventh year they should let it rest, which would be for the benefit of the land, and preserve it from being impoverished by continual usage and hereby they might learn to depend on the providence of God, and to observe that all increase is from him; and to consider the straits and difficulties the poor live in continually, as they in this seventh year; and by this means they would be at leisure to have an opportunity of reading the law, as they did at this time, Deu 31:10; and of meditating upon it, and of giving themselves up to religious exercises, as well as by it they might be led to the typical use of to look for and expect that sabbatism or rest, which remains for the people of God. And now this law did not take place as soon as they came into the land, for it was to be sown six years, and then was the year of rest; and indeed not till after Joshua had subdued the whole land, which was seven years a doing; nor till they were quite settled, and it was divided among them, and every man had his field and vineyard apart, which this law supposes; wherefore the Jewish writers (k) say, they were not bound to tithes until the fourteenth year, and from thence they began to reckon the sabbatical year; and the twenty first year they made a sabbatical year, and the sixty fourth a jubilee, which they make to be the first that were kept: and they reckoned this year to commence, not on the first of Nisan or March, which was the beginning of the year for ecclesiastical things, but on the first of Tisri or September, when the harvest and all the fruits of the earth were gathered in; and when on other years they used to proceed to sowing the next month, but were forbid on this; and so it is said in the Misnah (l), the first of Tisri is the beginning of the year for the sabbatical and jubilee years. (i) Hilchot Shemitah Vejobel, c. 4. sect. 25. (k) Torat Cohenim apud Yalkut, par. 1. fol. 191. 1. Maimon. ut supra, (Hilchot Tamidin) c. 10. sect. 2. (l) Roshhashanah, c. 1. sect. 1.
Tyndale Open Study Notes
25:2-7 During the year of Sabbath rest, there was to be no formal cultivation or harvesting of the land; from what grew on its own the landowner could gather what he needed for his household day by day. Whatever remained uneaten was left for the poor and for foreigners (Exod 23:10-11), and what they left provided food for both wild and domestic animals. See also Exod 21:2; Deut 15:1-11.
Leviticus 25:2
The Seventh Year
1Then the LORD said to Moses on Mount Sinai,2“Speak to the Israelites and say to them: When you enter the land that I am giving you, the land itself must observe a Sabbath to the LORD.
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An Introduction to the Day of Atonement
By Ron Bailey1.9K43:27AtonementGEN 10:1GEN 16:1GEN 25:9LEV 10:1LEV 16:1LEV 25:2LEV 25:9In this sermon, the speaker reflects on the tragedy that occurred in one of the leading families of the Israelites right at the beginning of their journey as a nation of priests. The sermon emphasizes the importance of learning how to gather to God and make Him the focus of our lives. The Gospel is described as God's means of reconciling humanity to Himself and restoring a relationship of easy fellowship. The sermon also mentions the story of King David bringing the ark back to Jerusalem and the importance of following God's instructions in worship.
(Rebuilding the House of the Lord) 2. Rebuildling the House of the Lord
By Roy Hession1.6K47:28RebuildingLEV 25:2EZR 3:1PSA 85:10HAG 2:91PE 2:24The video shown in the sermon was a documentary made by a television network in America, showcasing testimonies of people who had been reached by Jesus. The speaker was deeply moved by the revelations shared in the film, witnessing the transformation and grace that had reached these individuals. However, the sermon also highlights the danger of looking back and being obsessed with the past, rather than embracing the new things that God is doing in the present. The sermon then transitions to discussing the period of restoration after the captivity of the Israelites, emphasizing God's continued purpose of grace despite their failures.
The Sabbath
By Lewis Sperry Chafer0LEV 25:2Lewis Sperry Chafer delves into the significance of the Sabbath, highlighting God's sanctification of one-seventh of all time and the various apportionments of time prescribed for Israel, including the sabbatic year and the year of jubilee. He explains the transition from the seventh day to the first day of the week for Christians due to the New Creation's beginning, emphasizing the perpetuation of the one day in seven division of time. Chafer explores the historical periods from Adam to Moses, Moses to Christ, and the Church, discussing the observance and significance of the Sabbath in each era, ultimately pointing to the Lord's Day of the New Creation as surpassing the Sabbath in glory, privileges, and blessings.
- Adam Clarke
- Keil-Delitzsch
- John Gill
- Tyndale
Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
The land keep a Sabbath - See this ordinance explained, Exo 23:11 (note). It may be asked here: if it required all the annual produce of the field to support the inhabitants, how could the people be nourished the seventh year, when no produce was received from the fields? To this it may be answered, that God sent his blessing in an especial manner on the sixth year, (see Lev 25:21, Lev 25:22), and it brought forth fruit for three years. How astonishing and convincing was this miracle! Could there possibly be any deception here? No! The miracle speaks for itself, proves the Divine authenticity of the law, and takes every prop and stay from the system that wishes to convict the Mosaic ordinances of imposture. See Exo 23:11. It is evident from this that the Mosaic law must have had a Divine origin, as no man in his senses, without God's authority, could have made such an ordinance as this; for the sixth year, from its promulgation, would have amply refuted his pretensions to a Divine mission.
Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch Old Testament Commentary
The Sabbatical Year. - When Israel had come into the land which the Lord gave to it, it was to sanctify it to the Lord by the observance of a Sabbath. As the nation at large, with its labourers and beasts of burden, was to keep a Sabbath or day of rest every seventh day of the week, so the land which they filled was to rest (to keep, שׁבּי שׁבת as in Lev 23:32) a Sabbath to the Lord. Six years they were to sow the field and cut the vineyard, i.e., cultivate the corn-fields, vineyards, and olive-yards (Exo 23:11 : see the remarks on cerem at Lev 19:10), and gather in their produce; but in the seventh year the land was to keep a Sabbath of rest (Sabbath sabbathon, Exo 31:15), a Sabbath consecrated to the Lord (see Exo 20:10); and in this year the land was neither to be tilled nor reaped (cf. Exo 23:10-11). זמר in Kal applies only to the cutting of grapes, and so also in Niphal, Isa 5:6; hence zemorah, a vine-branch (Num 13:23), and mazmerah, a pruning-knife (Isa 2:4, etc.). (Note: The meaning to sin and play, which is peculiar to the Piel, and is derived from zamar, to hum, has hardly anything to do with this. At all events the connection has not yet been shown to be a probable one. See Hupfeld, Psa 4:1-8 pp. 421-2, note.) The omission of sowing and reaping presupposed that the sabbatical year commenced with the civil year, in the autumn of the sixth year of labour, and not with the ecclesiastical year, on the first of Abib (Nisan), and that it lasted till the autumn of the seventh year, when the cultivation of the land would commence again with the preparation of the ground and the sowing of the seed for the eighth year; and with this the command to proclaim the jubilee year on "the tenth day of the seventh month" throughout all the land (Lev 25:9), and the calculation in Lev 25:21, Lev 25:22, fully agree.
John Gill Bible Commentary
Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them,.... What follows, being what the whole body of the people would be under obligation to observe, and therefore must be delivered to them all, at least to the heads and elders of the people, and by them to the rest: when ye come into the land which I give you; the land of Canaan, and until they came thither, the following law concerning the sabbatical year could not take place; and as Maimonides (i) says, it was only used in the land of Israel, and no where else, according to this text, and that both before and after the temple was built: then shall the land keep a sabbath unto the Lord; a rest from tillage, as it is afterwards explained; and this being according to the will of God, when observed would be to his honour and glory, and show that he was the proprietor of the land; and that the Israelites held it under him by this tenure, that every seventh year they should let it rest, which would be for the benefit of the land, and preserve it from being impoverished by continual usage and hereby they might learn to depend on the providence of God, and to observe that all increase is from him; and to consider the straits and difficulties the poor live in continually, as they in this seventh year; and by this means they would be at leisure to have an opportunity of reading the law, as they did at this time, Deu 31:10; and of meditating upon it, and of giving themselves up to religious exercises, as well as by it they might be led to the typical use of to look for and expect that sabbatism or rest, which remains for the people of God. And now this law did not take place as soon as they came into the land, for it was to be sown six years, and then was the year of rest; and indeed not till after Joshua had subdued the whole land, which was seven years a doing; nor till they were quite settled, and it was divided among them, and every man had his field and vineyard apart, which this law supposes; wherefore the Jewish writers (k) say, they were not bound to tithes until the fourteenth year, and from thence they began to reckon the sabbatical year; and the twenty first year they made a sabbatical year, and the sixty fourth a jubilee, which they make to be the first that were kept: and they reckoned this year to commence, not on the first of Nisan or March, which was the beginning of the year for ecclesiastical things, but on the first of Tisri or September, when the harvest and all the fruits of the earth were gathered in; and when on other years they used to proceed to sowing the next month, but were forbid on this; and so it is said in the Misnah (l), the first of Tisri is the beginning of the year for the sabbatical and jubilee years. (i) Hilchot Shemitah Vejobel, c. 4. sect. 25. (k) Torat Cohenim apud Yalkut, par. 1. fol. 191. 1. Maimon. ut supra, (Hilchot Tamidin) c. 10. sect. 2. (l) Roshhashanah, c. 1. sect. 1.
Tyndale Open Study Notes
25:2-7 During the year of Sabbath rest, there was to be no formal cultivation or harvesting of the land; from what grew on its own the landowner could gather what he needed for his household day by day. Whatever remained uneaten was left for the poor and for foreigners (Exod 23:10-11), and what they left provided food for both wild and domestic animals. See also Exod 21:2; Deut 15:1-11.