Leviticus25

Leviticus 25 outlines God's laws for the Sabbatical year and the Year of Jubilee for the Israelites in the promised land. Every seventh year, the land was to rest, with no sowing or reaping, and its spontaneous produce was for all. After seven Sabbatical cycles, the fiftieth year was the Jubilee, when liberty was proclaimed, and all land and Israelite servants returned to their original families and possessions. These laws ensured economic equity and reminded the people of God's ultimate ownership and provision.

The Sabbath Year for the Land

1
ADONAI spoke to Moshe on Mount Sinai; he said,
2
"Tell the people of Isra'el, 'When you enter the land I am giving you, the land itself is to observe a Shabbat rest for ADONAI. ​
3
Six years you will sow your field; six years you will prune your grapevines and gather their produce.
4
But in the seventh year is to be a Shabbat of complete rest for the land, a Shabbat for ADONAI; you will neither sow your field nor prune your grapevines. ​
5
You are not to harvest what grows by itself from the seeds left by your previous harvest, and you are not to gather the grapes of your untended vine; it is to be a year of complete rest for the land.
6
But what the land produces during the year of Shabbat will be food for all of you - you, your servant, your maid, your employee, anyone living near you, ​
7
your livestock and the wild animals on your land; everything the land produces may be used for food.

The Fiftieth Year of Jubilee

8
"'You are to count seven Shabbats of years, seven times seven years, that is, forty-nine years. ​
9
Then, on the tenth day of the seventh month, on Yom-Kippur, you are to sound a blast on the shofar; you are to sound the shofar all through your land; ​
10
and you are to consecrate the fiftieth year, proclaiming freedom throughout the land to all its inhabitants. It will be a yovel for you; you will return everyone to the land he owns, and everyone is to return to his family. ​
11
That fiftieth year will be a yovel for you; in that year you are not to sow, harvest what grows by itself or gather the grapes of untended vines;
12
because it is a yovel. It will be holy for you; whatever the fields produce will be food for all of you.
13
In this year of yovel, every one of you is to return to the land he owns.
14
"'If you sell anything to your neighbor or buy anything from him, neither of you is to exploit the other.
15
Rather, you are to take into account the number of years after the yovel when you buy land from your neighbor, and he is to sell to you according to the number of years crops will be raised. ​
16
If the number of years remaining is large, you will raise the price; if few years remain, you will lower it; because what he is really selling you is the number of crops to be produced.
17
Thus you are not to take advantage of each other, but you are to fear your God; for I am ADONAI your God. ​

Assurance of Provision in the Land

18
"'Rather, you are to keep my regulations and rulings and act accordingly. If you do, you will live securely in the land.
19
The land will yield its produce, you will eat until you have enough, and you will live there securely.
20
"'If you ask, "If we aren't allowed to sow seed or harvest what our land produces, what are we going to eat the seventh year?" ​
21
then I will order my blessing on you during the sixth year, so that the land brings forth enough produce for all three years. ​
22
The eighth year you will sow seed but eat the the old, stored produce until the ninth year; that is, until the produce of the eighth year comes in, you will eat the old, stored food.

Redemption of Land and Property

23
"'The land is not to be sold in perpetuity, because the land belongs to me -you are only foreigners and temporary residents with me. ​
24
Therefore, when you sell your property, you must include the right of redemption.
25
That is, if one of you becomes poor and sells some of his property, his next-of-kin can come and buy back what his relative sold. ​
26
If the seller has no one to redeem it but becomes rich enough to redeem it himself,
27
he will calculate the number of years the land was sold for, refund the excess to its buyer, and return to his property.
28
If he hasn't sufficient means to get it back himself, then what he sold will remain in the hands of the buyer until the year of yovel; in the yovel the buyer will vacate it and the seller return to his property.
29
"'If someone sells a dwelling in a walled city, he has one year after the date of sale in which to redeem it. For a full year he will have the right of redemption; ​
30
but if he has not redeemed the dwelling in the walled city within the year, then title in perpetuity passes to the buyer through all his generations; it will not revert in the yovel. ​
31
However, houses in villages not surrounded by walls are to be dealt with like the fields in the countryside - they may be redeemed [before the yovel], and they revert in the yovel.
32
"'Concerning the cities of the L'vi'im and the houses in the cities they possess, the L'vi'im are to have a permanent right of redemption. ​
33
If someone purchases a house from one of the L'vi'im, then the house he sold in the city where he owns property will still revert to him in the yovel; because the houses in the cities of the L'vi'im are their tribe's possession among the people of Isra'el.
34
The fields in the open land around their cities may not be sold, because that is their permanent possession.

Laws Against Oppression and Usury

35
"'If a member of your people has become poor, so that he can't support himself among you, you are to assist him as you would a foreigner or a temporary resident, so that he can continue living with you. ​
36
Do not charge him interest or otherwise profit from him, but fear your God, so that your brother can continue living with you. ​
37
Do not take interest when you loan him money or take a profit when you sell him food.
38
I am ADONAI your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt in order to give you the land of Kena'an and be your God. ​

Laws Concerning Hebrew Servitude

39
"'If a member of your people has become poor among you and sells himself to you, do not make him do the work of a slave. ​
40
Rather, you are to treat him like an employee or a tenant; he will work for you until the year of yovel.
41
Then he will leave you, he and his children with him, and return to his own family and regain possession of his ancestral land.
42
For they are my slaves, whom I brought out of the land of Egypt; therefore they are not to be sold as slaves. ​
43
Do not treat him harshly, but fear your God.
44
"'Concerning the men and women you may have as slaves: you are to buy men- and women-slaves from the nations surrounding you. ​
45
You may also buy the children of foreigners living with you and members of their families born in your land; you may own these.
46
You may also bequeath them to your children to own; from these groups you may take your slaves forever. But as far as your brothers the people of Isra'el are concerned, you are not to treat each other harshly.

Redemption from a Foreign Owner

47
"'If a foreigner living with you has grown rich, and a member of your people has become poor and sells himself to this foreigner living with you or to a member of the foreigner's family, ​
48
he may be redeemed after he has been sold. One of his brothers may redeem him;
49
or his uncle or his uncle's son may redeem him; or any near relative of his may redeem him; or, if he becomes rich, he may redeem himself.
50
He will calculate with the person who bought him the time from the year he sold himself to him to the year of yovel; and the amount to be paid will be according to the number of years and his time at an employee's wage. ​
51
If many years remain, according to them will he refund the amount for his redemption from the amount he was bought for.
52
If there remain only a few years until the year of yovel, then he will calculate with him; according to his years will he refund the amount for his redemption.
53
He will be like a worker hired year by year. You will see to it that he is not treated harshly.
54
"'If he has not been redeemed by any of these procedures, nevertheless he will go free in the year of yovel -he and his children with him. ​
55
For to me the people of Isra'el are slaves; they are my slaves whom I brought out of the land of Egypt; I am ADONAI your God. ​

Study Notes for Leviticus 25

Verse 2

These laws are contingent upon Israel entering and possessing the Promised Land, establishing that the covenant requirements apply specifically within the context of the Holy Land.

Verse 4

The sabbatical rest (Shemitah) served as a practical test of faith, requiring the people to trust God for provision, while also demonstrating that the land ultimately belongs to the Creator.

Verse 6

The spontaneous yield of the seventh year was to be shared equally among all—owners, servants, hired workers, and even animals—promoting social equality and minimizing economic stratification.

Verse 8

The Jubilee cycle is based on seven cycles of the sabbatical year (7x7=49), emphasizing the ultimate completion and restoration implied by the number seven.

Verse 9

The Jubilee (Yovel) was inaugurated on the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur), linking economic and social restoration to national spiritual cleansing and reconciliation with God.

Verse 10

This verse is the theological and social pinnacle of the chapter. The command to 'proclaim liberty' ensures that alienated ancestral lands are returned and indentured servants are freed, preventing permanent poverty and maintaining tribal integrity.

Verse 15

Land transfer was not a permanent sale of ownership but rather a lease of the remaining harvests until the next Jubilee. The price was calculated based on the number of years left, ensuring fairness.

Verse 17

The prohibition on oppression is enforced by the fear of God (reverence) rather than just civil law, emphasizing that economic injustice is a violation of the covenant relationship.

Verse 20

This section anticipates and addresses the Israelites' likely practical anxiety over the agricultural impact of resting the land for two consecutive years (Sabbatical and Jubilee).

Verse 21

God promises a supernatural triple yield in the sixth year, providing provision for the sixth, seventh (Sabbatical), and eighth (sowing) years, demonstrating divine faithfulness.

Verse 23

This verse provides the theological foundation for all land laws: God maintains ultimate ownership. Israel is merely resident on His property ('strangers and sojourners'), preventing the permanent alienation of tribal inheritances.

Verse 25

This introduces the institution of the *go'el* (kinsman redeemer), a relative who has the right and duty to buy back family property or personhood lost due to poverty.

Verse 29

A distinction is made between rural land (which must return in Jubilee) and urban dwelling houses in walled cities. Urban houses were treated differently because their value lay in the structure, not the agricultural production.

Verse 30

If not redeemed within a year, a house in a walled city became the permanent possession of the buyer, reflecting the emergent, non-agricultural economy of city life.

Verse 32

The properties of the Levites, who received no typical territorial inheritance, were given special protection, allowing them perpetual right of redemption or automatic return at Jubilee.

Verse 35

The requirement to relieve poverty extends even to resident strangers, showing that the covenant community had a universal ethical obligation to care for those in need among them.

Verse 36

Usury (taking interest) from a needy Israelite was forbidden because it capitalized on a brother's misfortune, violating the communal ethic of the covenant.

Verse 38

The Exodus is cited as the basis for these laws; God's redemption of Israel obligates them to live justly and maintain the social order He established.

Verse 39

A poor Israelite who sold himself into service could not be treated as chattel or a permanent slave (*bondservant*), but only as a temporary hired hand.

Verse 42

The reason for limited servitude is theological: since God redeemed Israel from Egyptian slavery, they belong exclusively to Him and cannot be permanently subjugated by another human master.

Verse 44

This passage permits the acquisition of slaves from surrounding foreign nations, a practice common in the ANE, but strictly distinguishes this permanent, inheritable bondage from the temporary indentured service of fellow Israelites.

Verse 47

This addresses the scenario where an Israelite is forced by poverty to sell himself to a wealthy resident alien (a non-Israelite living within the land).

Verse 50

The redemption price is calculated based on the remaining years until the Jubilee, treating the service as a prepaid lease, consistent with the land sale calculation (vv. 15-16).

Verse 54

This verse provides the final fail-safe: even if no kinsman redeems the servant, the Jubilee automatically grants freedom, ensuring the covenant promise of liberty is fulfilled.

Verse 55

The chapter concludes with a powerful reiteration of God’s claim over Israel, emphasizing that their identity as 'my servants' (redeemed from Egypt) is the ultimate justification for all these laws of liberty and restoration.

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