Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Leviticus 25:10
And ye shall hallow the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout [all] the land unto all the inhabitants thereof: it shall be a jubilee unto you; and ye shall return every man unto his possession, and ye shall return every man unto his family.
10. a jubile ] lit. ‘a ram’s horn’ (blowing). Doubtless the year had originally the name year of the ram’s horn, and afterwards the first part of this title was dropped in current speech, thus leaving the Heb. word ybl, which, through the Vulg. Jubilaeus, has been adopted into English as jubile.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
By which it seems most probable that the year of jubilee was not the forty and ninth year, as some learned men think, but precisely the fiftieth year; which may appear,
1. Because the Jews account it so, which is confessed by the adversaries of this opinion, who say that the Jews err in the computation of the jubilee, as they do in Christ, the great end and antitype of the jubilee. But it is not probable that the Jews should universally err in a matter of constant practice among themselves, especially when there was nothing of interest or prejudice in the case, as there was in reference to Christ.
2. Because it is expressly called the fiftieth year here, and Lev 25:11, that fiftieth year, which was not true if it was but the nine and fortieth year. It is said it is called so popularly, and it was so if you take in the foregoing jubilee. But it must be remembered, that there was not yet any foregoing jubilee, but the very first of the kind is expressly called the fiftieth year, which in truth it was not if the jubilee was ended ere the fiftieth year began.
3. From the common course of computation. The old weekly sabbath is called the seventh day, because it truly was so, being next after the six days of the week, and distinct from them all; and the year of release is called the seventh year, Lev 25:4, as immediately following the six years, Lev 25:3, and distinct from them all. And therefore, in like manner, the jubilee must needs be called the fiftieth year, because it comes next after seven times seven, or forty-nine years, Lev 25:8, and is distinct from them all.
4. From Lev 25:11,12, where it is said, ye shall not sow, nor reap, &c; for it is the jubilee, &c.; which looks like a vain and useless repetition, if this year were but one of the seven years, for this very command was given concerning every seventh year, Lev 25:4; but if this year of jubilee was, as indeed it was, a year distinct from and coming after the seven sevens of years, then this repetition and application of that command to it was highly necessary, because otherwise it might seem hard and unreasonable that they should forbear sowing and reaping two years together, which hereby they are commanded to do. Two things are objected against this:
1. That the jubilee was only a revolution of forty-nine years. But that seems a great mistake, for it is most expressly distinguished from them all, and by way of distinction called the fiftieth year, therefore surely none of the forty-nine.
2. The difficulty propounded Lev 25:20 concerns only the seventh year, whereas it had been a greater difficulty if it had been extended to the jubilee, and the jubilee had been another vacant year coming next after the seventh year. But though the difficulty was greater for the jubilee, yet it was more frequent for the seventh year; and the resolution of the one made the way plan for the satisfaction of the other. For as God promised so to bless every sixth year, that it should bring forth fruit for three years, Lev 25:21; so when the case was extraordinary, as in the jubilee, it was but reasonable to expect an extraordinary blessing from God upon that sixth year which went next before the last of the seventh years, or the forty-ninth year, that it should then bring forth fruit for four years.
All the inhabitants thereof: understand such as were Israelites; principally to all servants, even to such as would not and did not go out at the seventh year, and to the poor, who now were acquitted from all their debts, and restored to their possessions. A jubilee; so called, either from the Hebrew word jobel, which signifies first a ram, and then a rams horn, by the sound whereof it was proclaimed; or from Jubal, the inventor of musical instruments, Gen 4:21, because it was celebrated with music and all expressions of joy. Every man unto his possession, which had been sold, or otherwise alienated from him. This law was not at all unjust, because all buyers and sellers had an eye to this condition in their bargains; but it was necessary and expedient in many regards; as,
1. To mind them that God alone was the Lord and Owner and Proprietor both of them and of their lands, and they only his tenants and farmers; a point which they were very apt to forget.
2. That hereby inheritances, families, and tribes might be kept entire and clear until the coming of the Messias, who was to be known, as by other things, so by the tribe and family out of which he was to come. And this accordingly was done by the singular providence of God until the Lord Jesus did come. Since which time those characters are miserably confounded; which is no small argument that the Messias is come.
3. To set bounds both to the insatiable avarice of some, and the foolish prodigality of others, that the former might not wholly and finally swallow up the inheritances of their brethren, and the latter might not be able to undo themselves and their posterity for ever, which was a singular privilege of this law and people. Every man unto his family, from whom he was gone, being sold to some other family, either by himself or by his father.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
10. ye shall hallow the fiftiethyearMuch difference of opinion exists as to whether thejubilee was observed on the forty-ninth, or, in round numbers, it iscalled the fiftieth. The prevailing opinion, both in ancient andmodern times, has been in favor of the latter.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And ye shall hallow the fiftieth year,…. The year following the seven sabbaths of years, or forty nine years; and which they were to sanctify by separating it from all others, and devoting it to the uses it was to be put to, and the services done on it, and by abstaining from the tillage of the land, sowing or reaping, and from the cultivation of vines, olives, c.
and proclaim liberty throughout [all] the land to servants, both to those whose ears were bored, and were to serve for ever, even unto the year of jubilee, and then be released; and to those whose six years were not ended, from the time that they were bought; for the jubilee year put an end to their servitude, let the time they had served be what it would; for this year was a general release of servants, excepting bondmen and bondmaids, who were never discharged; hence called the “year of liberty”, Eze 46:17; and Josephus w says, the word “jobel” or “jubilee” signifies “liberty”:
unto all the inhabitants thereof; that were in servitude or poverty, excepting the above mentioned; from hence the Jews gather, than when the tribes of Reuben and Gad, and the half tribe of Manasseh, went into captivity, the jubilees ceased x, since all the inhabitants were not then in it; but that is a mistake, for the jubilees were continued unto the coming of the Messiah, and perhaps never omitted but once, in the time of the Babylonish captivity:
it shall be a jubilee unto you; to the Israelites, and to them only, as Aben Ezra observes; it was a time of joy and gladness to them, especially to servants, who were now free, and to the poor, who enjoyed their estates again:
and ye shall return every man unto his possession; which had been sold or mortgaged to another, but now reverted to its original owner:
and ye shall return every man unto his family; who through poverty had sold himself for a servant, and had lived in another family. The general design of this law was to preserve the rights of freeborn Israelites, as to person and property, to prevent perpetual servitude, and perpetual alienation of their estates; to continue families and estates as they were originally, that some might not become too rich, and others too poor; nor be blended, but the tribes and families might be kept distinct until the coming of the Messiah, to whom the jubilee had a particular respect, and in whom it ceased. The liberty proclaimed on this day was typical of that liberty from the bondage of sin, Satan, and the law, which Christ is the author of, and is proclaimed by him in the Gospel, Ga 5:1; a liberty of grace and glory, or the glorious liberty of the children of God: returning to possessions and inheritances may be an emblem of the enjoyment of the heavenly inheritance by the saints; though man by sin lost an earthly paradise, and came short of the glory of God, yet through Christ his people are restored to a better inheritance, an incorruptible one; to which they are begotten by his Spirit, have a right to it through his righteousness, and a meetness for it by his grace, and of which the Holy Spirit is the earnest and pledge, and into which Christ himself will introduce them. And the returning of them to their families may signify the return of God’s elect through Christ to the family that is named of him; these were secretly of the family of God from all eternity, being taken into it in the covenant of grace, as well as predestinated to the adoption of children: but by the fall, and through a state of nature by it, they became children of wrath, even as others; yet through redemption by Christ, and faith in him, they receive the adoption of children, and openly appear to be of the family of God, 2Co 6:18; and all this is proclaimed by the sound of the Gospel trumpet, which being a sound of liberty, peace, pardon, righteousness, salvation, and eternal life by Christ, is a joyful one, Ps 89:15; where the allusion seems to be to the jubilee trumpet.
w Antiqu. l. 3. c. 12. sect. 3. x Maimon. & Bartenora in Misn. Eracin, c. 8. sect. 1.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(10) And ye shall hallow the fiftieth year.Because it is here said Ye shall hallow the fiftieth year, the authorities during the second Temple inferred that the good work of the jubile is to begin with the first day of Tishri, which is the beginning of the year, and which ought to be hallowed. Hence as new year was with the Hebrews the preparation for the Day of Atonement, so it also became the prelude to the acts of mercy which finally came into operation on the Day of Atonement. They therefore began counting the cycle of the jubile from the first of Tishri, or new year, though they proclaimed it on the tenth, or on the close of the Day of Atonement. In accordance with this the authorities during the second Temple record that from the Feast of Trumpets [i.e., Tishri 1] till the Day of Atonement [i.e., Tishri 10], the slaves were neither manumitted to return to their homes, nor were made use of by their masters, but ate, drank, rejoiced, and wore garlands; and when the Day of Atonement came the judges blew the cornet, the slaves were manumitted to return to their homes, and the fields were set free.
And proclaim liberty . . . unto all the inhabitantsThat is, to all the Israelites, who are the true possessors of the land. Hence the ancient authorities conclude that the law of jubile was only in force as long as the whole Jewish nation dwelt in the land, but not after the tribes of Reuben and Gad, and half the tribe of Manasseh, were carried into captivity by Pul and Tilgath-Pilneser kings of Assyria (1Ch. 5:26), because all the inhabitants of the land dwelt no longer in it. It is from this declaration to proclaim liberty that the year of jubile is also called the year of freedom (Eze. 46:17).
It shall be a jubile.This is an abbreviation of the fuller form, a year of jubile, used in the other passages of this chapter (see Lev. 25:13; Lev. 25:28; Lev. 25:40; Lev. 25:50; Lev. 25:52; Lev. 25:54), and denotes a year proclaimed by the blast of the horn, since the word ybel signifies both rams horn and the sound emitted from it.
And ye shall return every man.See Lev. 25:14-16; Lev. 25:23-28.
Every man unto his family.See Lev. 25:39-40.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
10. The fiftieth year was to be set apart for specific purposes, to be not only a year of rest but of release and restoration. To obviate the difficulty of two successive years of rest for the soil and idleness for the people, much ingenuity has been exhibited in trying to prove that the fiftieth means the forty-ninth! We prefer to let a clear, unequivocal statement, involving no inconsistency nor physical impossibility, stand as written by Moses. Thus the jubilee was strictly a pentecostal year, holding the same relation to the preceding seven sabbatical years as the pentecost day did to the seven sabbath days; substantially the same formula is used in each case. See Lev 23:15-16.
Proclaim liberty unto all Not to all Hebrews only, but “to all sitting in her,” that is, in the land. The only exception may have been those sold for theft, but even this class is not excepted in the law. See concluding note, (2.)
Jubilee The term yobhel, primarily signifies a ram or ram’s horn, and secondarily, a cry of joy, as if from the verb yabhel, to shout joyfully. Others derive it from the causative form of the same verb, with the signification to make go, hence, to restore. We cannot speak with certainty on this obscure question. See Jos 6:4, note.
His possession The land originally allotted to his ancestor by Joshua and the land commission. See Num 34:17-28; Jos 14:1, notes.
His family From this he may have been separated either by selling himself, on account of poverty, (Lev 25:39; Lev 25:47,) or by being sold by judicial decree to compensate for a theft. Exo 22:2-3.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Lev 25:10. Ye shall hallow the fiftieth year i.e. Ye shall distinguish it from all other years in the manner here appointed. The Hebrew is, the year of the fiftieth year, which may either signify the year preceding the fiftieth year, or the fiftieth year; a round number for 49. Calculators also should remember the great difference between the commencement of the Jewish ecclesiastical and civil year. This and the 11th verse plainly prove what we have observed in a former note, that the year of jubilee was only a more solemn sabbatical year. There is no mention of the jubilees, but while the twelve tribes were in possession of the land of Canaan: the Talmudists pretend that they ceased when the tribes of Gad, Reuben, and the half tribe of Manasseh were carried into captivity; and they are not at all mentioned under the second temple, though the sabbatical years continued still to be observed. Some learned men have attempted to prove, by a calculation which appears pretty exact, that if the Jews had still observed their jubilees, the fifteenth year of Tiberius, when John the Baptist first began to preach, would have been a jubilee, and consequently the last; since fifty years after that the Jewish commonwealth was no longer in being. This particular is of some consequence in our disputes with the Jews, who pretend that the Son of David will come during the last jubilee: and this also exactly agrees with the design of the Gospel, and the end of John the Baptist’s coming; which was to proclaim the grand jubilee, the spiritual freedom of the children of God, foretold by Zec 9:14 and prefigured by the jubilees of the Jews. See Lamy Appar. chron. p. 142 and L’Enfant, &c. With respect to the chronological disputes concerning the aera of the first jubilee, we take not upon us to determine any thing: following Bishop Usher, we refer to his annals, and to the other writers who have treated on the subject.
Ye shall return every man unto his possession, andunto his family This law, which may be called the Agrarian law of the Jews, was so famous, that the heathens themselves took notice of it; insomuch, that Diodorus Siculus says, lib. 11: that it was not lawful for the Jews to sell their own inheritances, i.e. to alienate them for ever from their families. Jameson well observes, that as Moses revived several of the ancient and primitive institutions of the patriarchs, so this appointment of restoring all slaves to their liberty, after a certain term of years, seems to have been one. Considering that all mankind are free by nature, it is highly probable that it was an original institution in the first laws of nations, that no person should absolutely lose his freedom. Many of the ancient heathen writers intimate, that there was such an appointment in the days of Saturn; and in commemoration of this original state of freedom, the Babylonians, Persians, Greeks, Romans, and others, celebrated annually a sort of saturnalia, wherein all slaves for a time enjoyed their freedom.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
The return of every man to his own possession and to his own family, beside the mercy of the thing itself; certainly, had this very important point in view; namely, to preserve in proper distinction the rights and connections of families. It is by this, in a very eminent degree, that we are enabled to trace the pedigree of the LORD JESUS. Mat 1:1 , etc. Luk 3:23 , etc. So that the poor Israelite, who by his own imprudence, or distressing providences from GOD, had forfeited his inheritance; and his connection was for a time obscured or lost during his captivity; had here an assurance that he should again recover the one, and again enjoy the other. What a beautiful type was this of our poor captive nature! Reader, you and I, by reason of sin, have lost our original inheritance, our birth-right, and our family claims. But JESUS the Redeemer of the soul, hath sounded the jubilee of his grace, and set us at happy liberty, and restored to us all our rights. Oh! thou precious GOD of all our mercies! Methinks I hear the joyful sound, “The year of jubilee is come; return ye ransomed sinners home.” May it be heard far and near, and may they come which are ready to perish. Isa 27:13 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Lev 25:10 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.
Ver. 10. And proclaim liberty. ] See this expounded by the prophet Isaiah. Isa 61:1-2 Luk 4:21 A most joyful jubilee indeed. In the year of Christ, 1617, the Pope proclaimed a jubilee for the peace of Italy and Austria. The Protestants also of Germany did the like, in honour of God, and for joy of the Reformation begun by Luther in Germany, a just a hundred of years before.
a [Exactly a hundred years before.]
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
hallow-set apart. Hebrew. chadash. See note on Exo 3:5.
proclaim = cause public notice to be given.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
proclaim: Exo 20:2, Ezr 1:3, Psa 146:7, Isa 49:9, Isa 49:24, Isa 49:25, Isa 61:1-3, Isa 63:4, Jer 34:8, Jer 34:13-17, Zec 9:11, Zec 9:12, Luk 1:74, Luk 4:16-21, Joh 8:32-36, Rom 6:17, Rom 6:18, 2Co 3:17, Gal 4:25-31, Gal 5:1, Gal 5:13, 1Pe 2:16, 2Pe 2:19, 2Pe 2:20
every man: Lev 25:13, Lev 25:26-28, Lev 25:33, Lev 25:34, Lev 27:17-24
ye shall return: Num 36:2-9
Reciprocal: Lev 25:9 – jubilee Lev 25:23 – The land Lev 25:41 – shall return Lev 26:34 – General Lev 27:21 – when Lev 27:22 – his possession Num 10:10 – in the day Num 36:4 – General Eze 46:17 – to the year
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
THE YEAR OF JUBILEE
And ye shall hallow the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof: it shall be a jubilee unto you; and ye shall return every man unto his possession, and ye shall return every man unto his family.
Lev 25:10-13
The Old Testament jubilee was meant to be a type of the entire New Testament dispensation in three points, imaging by its Sabbatic character the Gospel rest in Christ, by its unreserved deliverance of captives and slaves the Christian redemption from guilt and spiritual bondage, and by its universal restitution of property to the poor and needy the fulness of that inheritance which is treasured up for all the faithful in Christ, whose unsearchable riches, like the national possessions, opened up by the jubilee, enrich all, without impoverishing any who make good their title.
I. The first element of jubilee gladness, common to the Jew of old and the Christian amid the celebrations of the Gospel age, is the joy of distinction or of privilege.There was not a single memorial of blessing or promise, temporal or spiritual, which the jubilee did not recall, and hold up before the eyes of that most-favoured nation. The Jewish theocracy had for one of its main features a system of Sabbaths curiously and profoundly arranged for the interpenetration of Divine and political principles. Every half-century formed a grand Sabbatical circle. The fiftieth year, or year of jubilee, settled at the outset the great problem that no other people ever solved except through ages of struggle and revolution.
II. Its design and effect are evident.(1) It was a bar to monopoly of the land. (2) It was a perpetual lesson in hope and encouragement. It was a constant assertion of equality. (3) It fostered patriotism, a virtue that thrives best on the soil. It kept alive in every man a sense of ownership in his country. (4) It was an inwrought education of the family, fostering a sense of its dignity, and guarding the sanctity of marriage and legitimacy of birth.
III. Though a political measure, it is informed with spiritual significance.It shadows forth the recovery from evil, the undoing of all burdens that weigh down humanity, the eternal inheritance awaiting Gods children when His cycle is complete.
Illustration
(1) This wonderful system not only kept houses and lands from accumulating in the hands of a few, and preserved a race of independent freeholders, but it was a constantly recurring type of that blessed time which awaits us, when the tyranny and wrong and oppression of time shall pass away in the golden light of millennial bliss. How sweetly does the word redemption recur, as if it were sweet to utter. Oh that our lives were more constantly permeated by the thought that we have been bought back to God by precious blood, and have inalienable rights!
(2) When Lincoln freed the American slaves, he simply proclaimed a freedom which scores of thousands had died to win, but for which the slave himself had done nothing. He had only to hear, and believe, and walk out, and he would have all the power of the United States to make the proclamation good. Just so; I have only to hear, and believe, and walk out, and I shall have all the mightiness of God behind me to make good His great Proclamation of release from my debt to the broken law; of liberty from the tyranny of sin within, and of circumstance and evil powers without; of reinstatement in all the possessions proper to a child of God; of return to God my spirits home; and of a future blessed with rest, and peace that passeth understanding. Jesus has won this jubilee for me.
(3) A fresh start! I need it sorely. Not only every seventh year, but every seventh day. Not only every fiftieth year, but all the time. I need to begin again. I need to forget my sinful past. I need a new grip on myself and my duty. I need a clean slate, a new sheet of paper. And I can get it all from Thee, O most indulgent Father!
(4) What are the blessings of jubilee? We have all been told that in true Gospel theology there are three RsRuin, Redemption, Regeneration. But we may with strict truth say, as we think of the notes of the gospel trumpet, that in the message of the Gospel there are five Rs. First, Remission; second, Release; third, Restoration; fourth, Reunion; and the fifth and crowning blessing of the jubilee, Rest.
Fuente: Church Pulpit Commentary
Lev 25:10. The fiftieth year The year of jubilee was not the forty and ninth year, as some learned men have erroneously thought, but precisely the fiftieth. The old weekly sabbath is called the seventh day, because it truly was so, being next after the six days of the week, and distinct from them all: and the year of release is called the seventh year, (Lev 25:4,) as immediately following the six years, (Lev 25:3,) and distinct from them all. And in like manner the jubilee is called the fiftieth year, because it comes next after seven times seven or forty-nine years, (Lev 25:8,) and is distinct from them all. Unto all the inhabitants Understand such as were Israelites; principally to all servants, even to such as would not and did not go out at the seventh year, and to the poor, who now were acquitted from all their debts, and restored to their possessions, which had been sold or otherwise alienated from them. This law was not at all unjust, because all buyers and sellers had an eye to this condition in their bargains; but it was expedient in many regards, as, 1st, To put them in mind that God alone was the Lord and proprietor both of them and of their lands, and that they were only his tenants; a point which they were apt to forget. 2d, That hereby inheritances, families, and tribes, might be kept entire and clear until the coming of the Messiah, who was to be known as by other things, so by the tribe and family out of which he was to come. And this accordingly was done by the singular providence of God until the Lord Jesus did come. Since which time those characters are miserably confounded: which is no small argument that the Messiah is come. 3d, To set bounds both to the insatiable avarice of some, and the foolish prodigality of others, that the former might not wholly and finally swallow up the inheritances of their brethren, and the latter might not be able to undo themselves and their posterity for ever, which was a singular privilege of this law and people.
His family From whom he was gone, being sold to some other family either by himself or by his father.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
25:10 And ye shall hallow the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout [all] the land unto all the {f} inhabitants thereof: it shall be a jubile unto you; and ye shall return every man unto his {g} possession, and ye shall return every man unto his family.
(f) Which were in bondage.
(g) Because the tribes should neither have their possessions diminished nor confounded.