Was to be celebrated among the Jews once every seven years; the land was to rest, and be left without culture, Exo 23:10,11 Lev 25:17 . God appointed the observance of the Sabbatical year, to preserve the remembrance of the creation of the world; to enforce the acknowledgment of his sovereign authority over all things, particularly over the land of Canaan, which he had given to the Hebrews; and to inculcate humanity on his people, by commanding that they should resign to servants, to the poor, to strangers and to brutes, the produce of the fields, of their vineyards, and of their gardens. Josephus and Tacitus both mention the Sabbatical year as existing in their day. See JUBILEE.\par
Sabbatical Year. Each seventh year, by the Mosaic code, was to be kept holy. Exo 23:10-11. The commandment is to sow and reap for six years, and to let the land rest on the seventh, "that the poor of thy people may eat; and what they leave, the beasts of the field shall eat". It is added in Deu 15:1, that the seventh Year should also be one of release to debtors. Deu 15:1-11. Neither tillage nor cultivation of any sort was to be practiced.
The Sabbatical Year opened in the Sabbatical Month, and the whole law was to be read every such year, during the Feast of Tabernacles, to the assembled people. At the completion of a week of Sabbatical Years, the sabbatical scale received its completion in the Year of Jubilee. See Jubilee, The Year of. The constant neglect of this law, from the very first, was one of the national sins, that were punished by the Babylonian captivity. Of the observance of the Sabbatical Year, after the captivity, we have a proof in 1Ma 6:49.
The sabbatical year began in the seventh month, and the whole law was then read during the feast of tabernacles; so that holy occupation, not apathetic rest, characterized it, as in the case of the Sabbath day. At the completion of the week of sabbatical years, the Jubilee crowned the whole. Canaan’s conquest took seven years, the allotment of land seven more; then began the law of the sabbatical year. These "years" were observed under the New Testament; and Judaizers even sought to force their observance on Gentile Christians (Gal 4:10). In Luk 6:1 explain "the first Sabbath of a year that stood second in a sabbatical cycle." Josephus (Ant. 14:10, section 6) implies that at that time years were reckoned by their place in a sabbatical cycle.
The Sabbath being the sign of God’s covenant with Israel (See SABBATH), and that He purposed that they should enjoy His rest, even the land must keep its Sabbath every seventh year. God promised that the produce of the sixth year should be enough for three years, so that the land resting a full year should cause no scarcity. Exo 23:10-11; Lev 25:2-7. Apparently the Sabbatical years were not observed. Lev 26:33-35. See JUBILEE.
SABBATICAL YEAR (including year of Jubilee)
1. OT references.—In a consideration of the regulations connected with the Sabbatical and Jubilee years, it is of the greatest importance to keep distinct the various stages of the Jewish legislation on the subject. The various ordinances differ greatly in character and detail; and in order to comprehend this diversity it is necessary to assume as granted the main conclusions of OT criticism, and to admit at any rate that a separation in time and difference in spirit characterize the several parts of the ‘Mosaic Law.’
Exodus. In Exo 23:10-11 an entire cessation of all field-work is ordered to take place in every 7th year. This is said to be dictated by a regard for the poor and the beasts of the field. In effect the gift of one year’s produce to the poor is prescribed, that the landless may receive the usufruct of the soil. In Exo 21:2-6 it is laid down that a Hebrew slave can be kept in bondage only for six years. After this period he was automatically emancipated, though his wife and children must remain in servitude, if he had married after his term of service began. But provision was made for cases where a slave might desire to remain in this condition. A public ceremony took place which signified his acceptance of the position in perpetuity. Nothing is here said which leads us to suppose that there was one simultaneous period of emancipation all over the country, and no reference is made to redemption of land or remission of debts.
Deuteronomy. In Deu 15:1-3 the 7th year is assigned as the period at which all the liabilities of a Jew were suspended (or possibly, as Josephus supposes, entirely cancelled); this provision was to be of universal operation. Deu 15:12-18 repeats the ordinances of Exo 21:1-36 with regard to the emancipation of slaves; here again no simultaneity of redemption can be inferred. Deu 31:10-13 prescribes that the Law is to be read every 7th year (the ‘year of release’) at the Feast of Tabernacles (cf. Neh 8:13-18). Nothing is said in Deuteronomy about a possible redemption of land.
Leviticus. In Lev 25:1-55 provision is made for a seventh-year fallow; but there is no mention of the poor. The reason assigned is that the land, being Jehovah’s land, must keep Sabbath, i.e. the Sabbath principle is extended to cover nature as well as man. We also find here the jubilee ordinances. After 49 years had elapsed, every 50th year was to be inaugurated as a jubilee by the blowing of the trumpet on the Day of Atonement. All slaves were to be emancipated (this may be a modified substitute for the earlier provisions with regard to emancipation after 7 years); no mention is made of the possibility of perpetual slavery, but it is ordained that the Hebrew slave of a foreigner may be redeemed by a relative, all Jews being essentially Jehovah’s servants. The land was to lie fallow, and providential aid is promised to ensure sufficiency of produce during the period of three years when no harvest could be gathered, viz. the 49th year, which would be a sabbatical fallow, the year of jubilee, and the following year, when tillage would be resumed. Here also we find elaborate directions for the redemption of land in the jubilee year. They may be thus summarized: (1) No landed property may be sold, but only the usufruct of its produce up to the next jubilee, and the price must be calculated by the distance from that period. (2) A kinsman may redeem land thus mortgaged, or (the meaning may possibly be) exercise a right of pre-emption upon it. (3) The mortgager may redeem at the selling price, less the yearly proportion for the time elapsed since the sale. (4) House property in walled towns (not in villages) may be sold outright, and is redeemable only during one year. Such property was presumably regarded as human and artificial, whilst all land was essentially the property of Jehovah. (5) The Levitical possessions were redeemable at any time, and did not come under the jubilee provisions. (6) Nothing is said in Lev. as to the remission of debts, but there is a general prohibition of usury. (7) In Lev 27:16-25 a field devoted to Jehovah must be valued at once at a fixed rate, and might be redeemed at this price, plus a fine of 20 per cent., up to the year of jubilee. If not redeemed by then it became sacred property: no redemption of it was thereafter possible.
2. Purposes of the Sabbatical rules.—The purposes underlying the ordinances above catalogued may be classified under 4 heads: but it is practically impossible to assign any certain priority of time to any one of the classes. (a) The periodical fallow. This is a very common provision in agriculture, and the seven years’ period is still observed in Syria. Since the fallow year was not at first everywhere simultaneous, the earlier historical books are silent about it: and indeed it cannot have been generally observed. For the 70 years’ captivity and desolation of the land was regarded as making up for the unobserved Sabbaths of the land (2Ch 36:21, cf. Lev 26:34; Lev 26:43). The reference in Neh 10:31 may be to the periodical fallow or to the remission of debts. But 1Ma 6:49; 1Ma 6:63 shows that the fallow year was observed later. (b) The emancipation of slaves (cf. Jer 34:8-9). Such a provision must have been very difficult to enforce, and we find no other possible reference to it. (c) The remission or suspension of debts. The only reference is the dubious one in Neh 10:31. (d) The redemption of real property. The kind of tenure here implied is not uncommonly found in other countries, and Jer 32:6 ff., Rth 4:1-22, Eze 7:13 show that something akin to it did exist in Palestine (cf. also Eze 46:17). But that it was in no sense universal may be inferred from Isaiah’s and Micah’s denunciations of land-grabbing; on the other hand, 1Ki 21:3-4 furnishes an instance of the inalienability of land. Cf. Leviticus, p. 543b.
In general we have no sign that the sabbatical and jubilee provisions were ever strictly observed in Biblical times. Their principles of rest and redemption, though never practised as a piece of social politics, were preached as ideals, and may have had some effect in discouraging slave-owning, land-grabbing, and usury, and in encouraging a more merciful view of the relations between Jew and Jew. Thus Isa 61:1-3 is steeped in the jubilee phraseology, and Christ adopted this passage to explain His own mission (Luk 4:18 ff.).
A. W. F. Blunt.
(Hebrew: shabbathon, year of rest)
The seventh year devoted to a cessation of agriculture, and holding in the period of seven years a place analogous to that of the Sabbath in the week. The three prescriptions enjoined were:
all agricultural labor was to be suspended
no debts could be exacted from an Israelite
the law was to be read on the Feast of Tabernacles to all Israel
The object of the year was to impress on the people that the land was the Lord’s and they only the tenants.
(Shenath shabbathon, "Year of rest"; Septuagint eniautos anapauseos; Vulgate annus requietionis).The seventh year, devoted to cessation of agriculture, and holding in the period of seven years a place analogous to that of the Sabbath in the week; also called "Year of Remission".Three prescriptions were to be observed during the year (Exodus 23:10-11; Leviticus 25:1-7; Deuteronomy 15:1-11, 31:10-13): The land was to lie fallow and all agricultural labor was to be suspended. There was to be neither plowing nor sowing, nor were the vines and olives to be attended to. The spontaneous yield was not to be garnered, but was to be left in the fields for common use, and what was not used was to be abandoned to the cattle and wild animals (Exodus 23:10-11; Leviticus 25:1-7). Of the fruit trees the olive is alone mentioned, because its oil was one of the three great agricultural products; but the law probably applied also to other trees. The prescribed rest was for the land, not for man. Hence work other than agricultural was not forbidden, nor even work in the fields which had no direct connection with raising crops, such as building walls of enclosure, digging wells, etc. No crops being reaped during the sabbatical year, the payment of debts would have been a great hardship, if not an impossibility, for many. Hence the creditor was commanded "to withhold his hand" and not to exact a debt from an Israelite, though he might demand it of strangers, who were not bound to abstain from agricultural pursuits (Deuteronomy 15:1-3, Hebrew text). The Talmudists and many after them understand the law to mean the remission of the debt; but modern commentators generally hold that it merely suspended the obligation to pay and deferred the creditor from extracting the debt during the year. The Douay translation "He to whom anything is owing from his friend or neighbour or brother cannot demand it again" is incorrect. During the sabbatical year the Law was to be read on the Feast of Tabernacles to all Israel -- men, women, and children -- as well as to the strangers within the gates, that they might know and fear the Lord, and fulfill all the words of the Law (Deuteronomy 31:10-13). The law concerning the release of Hebrew slaves in the seventh year (Exodus 21:2 sqq.; Deuteronomy 15:12 sqq.) is wrongly connected by some writers with the sabbatical year. That there was no special connection between the two is sufficiently shown by the requirement of six years of servitude, the beginning of which was not affixed to any particular year, and by the law prescribing the liberation of Hebrew slaves in the year of jubilee, which immediately followed the seventh sabbatical year (Leviticus 25:39 sqq.).Since the sabbatical year was preceded by six sowings and six harvests (Exodus 23:10), it began with autumn, the time of sowing, and probably coincided with the civil year, which began with the month of Tishri (September-October); some commentators, however, think that like the year of jubilee it began on the tenth of the month.The year was not well observed before the Captivity (cf. 2 Chronicles 36:21 and Leviticus 26:34, 35, 43). After the return, the people covenanted to let the land lie fallow and to exact no debt in the seventh year (Nehemiah 10:31), and thereafter it was regularly kept. The occurrence of a sabbatical year is mentioned in I Machabees 6:49 and 6:53, and its observance is several times referred to by Josephus (Jewish Wars I:2:4; Antiquities XI:8:5-6; XIII:8:1; XIV:16:2).The absence of any allusion to the celebration of the sabbatical year in pre-exilic times has led modern critics to assert that it was instituted at the time of the Restoration, or that at least the custom of allowing all fields to lie fallow simultaneously was then introduced. But it is hardly credible that the struggling community would have adopted a custom calculated to have a seriously disturbing effect on economic conditions, and without example among other nations, unless it had the sanction of venerable antiquity.The main object for which the sabbatical year was instituted was to bring home to the people that the land was the Lord’s, and that they were merely His tenants at will (Leviticus 25:23). In that year He exercised His right of sovereign dominion. Secondarily it was to excite their faith and reliance on God (Leviticus 25:20-22), and to stimulate their faithfulness to His Law (Deuteronomy 31:10-13).-----------------------------------F. BECHTEL Transcribed by Donald J. Boon The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume XIIICopyright © 1912 by Robert Appleton CompanyOnline Edition Copyright © 2003 by K. KnightNihil Obstat, February 1, 1912. Remy Lafort, D.D., CensorImprimatur. +John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York
1. Primary Intention:
We find the first rudiments of this institution in the so-called Covenant Book (Ex 21-23). Its connection with the day of rest (Sabbath) is obvious, although it strikes us as somewhat remarkable that in Exo 23:10-12 the regulation regarding the 7th year should precede the statute respecting the 7th day. Still it seems natural that after the allusion in Exo 23:9, “Ye were sojourners in the land of Egypt,” the Covenant Book should put in a good word for the poor in Israel (Exo 23:11: “Let it rest and lie fallow, that the poor of thy people may eat”). Even the beasts of the field are remembered (compare Jon 4:11).
We must, therefore, conclude that in this early period of the history of Israel the regulation regarding the 7th year was primarily intended for the relief of the poor and for the awakening of a sense of responsibility in the hearts of those better provided with the means of subsistence. It would be wrong, however, to deny its Sabbatic character, for the text says expressly, “But in the 7th year thou shalt let it rest” (literally, “thou shalt release it”), implying that the land was entitled to a rest because it needed it; it must be released for a time in order to gain fresh strength and insure its future fertility. Two motives, then, present themselves most clearly, one of a social, the other of an economic character, and both are rooted in God’s dealings with Israel (compare Exo 21:1).
2. Mosaic Legislation Humane:
Another evidence of the humane spirit pervading the Mosaic Law may be found in Exo 21:2-6 where, in the case of a Hebrew slave, the length of his servitude is limited to six years. The connection with the idea of the Sabbath is evident, but we fail to detect here any reference to the Sabbatical year. It is clear that the 7th year in which a slave might be set free need not necessarily coincide with the Sabbatical year, though it might, of course, The same is true of Deu 15:12-18; it has nothing to do with the Sabbatical year. On the other hand it is reasonable to assume that the “release” mentioned in Deu 15:1-3 took place in the Sabbatical year; in other words, its scope had been enlarged in later years so as to include the release from pecuniary obligation, i.e. the remission of debts or, at least, their temporary suspension. This means that the children of Israel were now developing from a purely agricultural people to a commercial nation. Still the same spirit of compassion for the poor and those struggling for a living asserts itself as in the earlier period, and it goes without saying that the old regulation concerning the release of the land in the 7th year was still in force (compare Deu 15:2: “because Yahweh’s release hath been proclaimed”).
According to Deu 15:1, this proclamation occurred at the end of every 7 years, or, rather, during the 7th year; for we must be careful not to strain the expression “at the end” (compare Deu 15:9, where the 7th year is called “the year of release”; it is quite natural to identify this 7th year with the Sabbatical year).
Moreover, we are now almost compelled to assert the Sabbatical year by this time had become an institution observed simultaneously all over the country. From the wording of the regulation regarding the 7th year in the Covenant Book we are not certain about this in those early times. But now it is different. “Yahweh’s release hath been proclaimed.”
3. General Observance:
It was a solemn and general proclamation, the date of which was very likely the day of atonement in the 7th month (the Sabbatical month). The celebration of the Feast of Tabernacles (booths) began five days later and it lasted from the 15th day to the 21st of the 7th month (Tisri). In the Sabbatical year, at that time, the Law was read “before all Israel in their hearing,” a fact which tends to prove that the Sabbatical year had become a matter of general and simultaneous observance (compare Deu 31:10-13). Another lesson may be deduced from this passage: it gives us a hint respecting the use to which the people may have put their leisure time during the 12 months of Sabbatical rest; it may have been a period of religious and probably other instruction.
In Lev 25:1-7 the central idea of the Sabbatical year is unfolded. Although it has been said we should be careful not to look for too much of the ideal and dogmatic in the institutions of the children of Israel, yet we must never lose sight of the religious and educational character even of their ancient legislation.
4. Central Idea:
One central thought is brought home to them, namely, God is the owner of the soil, and through His grace only the chosen people have come into its possession. Their time, i.e. they themselves, belong to Him: this is the deepest meaning of the day of rest; their land, i.e. their means of subsistence, belong to Him: this reveals to us the innermost significance of the year of rest. It was Yahweh’s pleasure to call the children of Israel into life, and if they live and work and prosper, they are indebted to His unmerited loving-kindness. They should, therefore, put their absolute trust in Him, never doubt His word or His power, always obey Him and so always receive His unbounded blessings.
If we thus put all the emphasis on the religious character of the Sabbatical year, we are in keeping with the idea permeating the Old Testament, namely that the children of Israel are the chosen people of Yahweh. All their agricultural, social, commercial and political relations were to be built upon their divine calling and shaped according to God’s sovereign will.
But did they live up to it? Or, to limit the question to our subject: Did they really observe the Sabbatical year? There are those who hold that the law regarding the Sabbatical year was not observed before the captivity. In order to prove this assertion they point to Lev 26:34 f, 43; also to 2Ch 36:21. But all we can gather from these passages is the palpable conclusion that the law regarding the Sabbatical year had not been strictly obeyed, a deficiency which may mar the effect of any law.
The possibility of observing the precept respecting the Sabbatical year is demonstrated by the post-exilic history of the Jewish people. Nehemiah registers the solemn fact that the reestablished nation entered into a covenant to keep the law and to maintain the temple worship (Neh 9:38; Neh 10:32 ff). In Neh 10:31 of the last-named chapter he alludes to the 7th year, “that we would forego the 7th year, and the exaction of every debt.” We are not sure of the exact meaning of this short allusion; it may refer to the Sabbatical rest of the land and the suspension of debts.
For a certainty we know that the Sabbatical year was observed by the Jews at the time of Alexander the Great. When he was petitioned by the Samaritans “that he would remit the tribute of the 7th year to them, because they did not sow therein, he asked who they were that made such a petition”; he was told they were Hebrews, etc. (Josephus, Ant., XI, viii, 6).
During Maccabean and Asmonean times the law regarding the Sabbatical year was strictly observed, although it frequently weakened the cause of the Jews (1 Macc 6:49, 53; Josephus, Ant., XIII, viii, 1; compare Josephus, Jewish Wars, I, ii, 4; Ant., XIV, x, 6; XV, i, 2). Again we may find references to the Sabbatical year in Josephus, Ant., XIV, xvi, 2, etc.; Tac. Hist. v. 4, etc., all of which testifies to the observance of the Sabbatical year in the Herodian era. The words of Tacitus show the proud Roman’s estimate of the Jewish character and customs: “For the 7th day they are said to have prescribed rest because this day ended their labors; then, in addition, being allured by their lack of energy, they also spend the 7th year in laziness.” See also ASTRONOMY, I, 5, (3), (4); JUBILEE YEAR.
A sabbatical year was a year when all farming land was given rest from agricultural activity. It was supposed to occur every seventh year throughout Israel’s history. There was also to be release for debtors and a public reading of the Mosaic law every seventh year. Although these latter two functions were not specifically connected with the year of rest for the land, they were probably arranged to coincide with it.
Rest for the land
Just as people and their working animals rested one day in seven, so the land was to be rested one year in seven. By ceasing agricultural activity during this year, the Israelites had the opportunity to recognize in a special way that God was the rightful owner of the land. They were merely tenants, and could not treat God’s land as they wished. Also, the rest from farming gave the land the opportunity to clear itself of pests and restore its natural powers of production (Exo 23:10-11; Lev 25:1-7; Lev 25:23).
The people had no reason to fear a shortage of food during the sabbatical year. God would bless every sixth year with double the normal produce, so that people could store up food for use the next year. In addition there would be enough natural growth during the sabbatical year for people such as the poor who could not store up in advance. There would also be enough for the flocks and herds (Lev 25:6-7; Lev 25:12; Lev 25:18-22). If the people disobeyed God’s laws and did not rest the land one year in seven, God would force them to rest it by driving them from it (Lev 26:34-43; cf. 2Ch 36:20-21; Jer 34:13-22).
Release for debtors
At the end of every seven years, Israelites were to forgive any debts owed them by fellow Israelites. They were to consider themselves one big family, where those who had money helped those who were in need. They were not to refuse anyone a loan, even if the year of release was approaching. However, in the case of foreigners who owed Israelites debts, normal business procedures applied (Deu 15:1-11). Israelites who were slaves of their fellow Israelites were also released in the seventh year. Foreigners who were slaves of Israelites apparently did not enjoy this privilege (Deu 15:12-18; Lev 25:44-46; see SLAVE).
Reading of the law
One duty of the priests in the year of release was to gather the people together for a public reading of the law, to remind them of their responsibilities as God’s people. This reading was to take place at the central place of worship when the people assembled to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles (Deu 31:9-13).