Year, Sabbatical. See Sabbatical Year.
Year, Sabbatical. Every seventh year all agricultural labor was suspended, and spontaneous productions were left to the poor, the traveller, and the wild beasts. Lev 25:1-7. This was (1) for the sake of the ground; (2) for the preservation of wild beasts; and (3) to make the people provident and sensible of dependence. The people could fish, hunt, take care of bees and flocks, repair buildings, manufacture clothes, and carry on commerce. This year was religiously observed. Deu 31:10-13. There was, moreover, a general release; no debt to a Jew was allowed to stand, but must be forgiven. Deu 15:1-11.
(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.