Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Leviticus 25:11
A jubilee shall that fiftieth year be unto you: ye shall not sow, neither reap that which groweth of itself in it, nor gather [the grapes] in it of thy vine undressed.
Verse 11. A jubilee shall that fiftieth year be] The literal meaning of the word jubilee, yobel in Hebrew, and yobil in the Samaritan, has not been well ascertained. Josephus and the rabbins have caused many to err; the former says the word signifies liberty; , Antiq., l. 3, cap. 12, edit. Haverc., vol. 1., p. 184; but the word liberty signifies rather the intention of the institution, than the meaning of the Hebrew term. The rabbins say it signifies a ram’s horn, because the trumpets which were used in proclaiming this solemnity were made out of ram’s horns. This meaning is adopted in a few places in our translation, but none of the ancient versions acknowledge this sense of the term, the Chaldee excepted. Some derive it from yabal, to bring, carry away, because the Israelites at this time carried away the right of repossessing their inheritances which had been forfeited or alienated. The most natural derivation is from hobil, to cause to bring back, or recall, because estates, c., which had been alienated, were then brought back to their primitive owners. This was a wise and excellent institution, but appears to have been little regarded by the Jews after the Babylonish captivity. Indeed, it is not mentioned under the second temple, and the observance must have ceased among the Jews when they were brought under a foreign yoke.
The jubilee seems to have been typical,
1. Of the great time of release, the Gospel dispensation, when all who believe in Christ Jesus are redeemed from the bondage of sin – repossess the favour and image of God, the only inheritance of the human soul, having all debts cancelled, and the right of inheritance restored. To this the prophet Isaiah seems to allude, Isa 26:13, and particularly Isa 61:1-3.
2. Of the general resurrection. “It is,” says Mr. Parkhurst, “a lively prefiguration of the grand consummation of time, which will be introduced in like manner by the trump of God, 1Co 15:52, when the children and heirs of God shall be delivered from all their forfeitures, and restored to the eternal inheritance allotted to them by their Father and thenceforth rest from their labours, and be supported in life and happiness by what the field of God shall supply.”
It is worthy of remark that the jubilee was not proclaimed till the tenth day of the seventh month, on the very day when the great annual atonement was made for the sins of the people; and does not this prove that the great liberty or redemption from thraldom, published under the Gospel, could not take place till the great Atonement, the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus, had been offered up? See Le 25:9.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Though it come immediately after a seventh year, wherein also this was forbidden to you.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
8-11. thou shalt number sevensabbaths of yearsThis most extraordinary of all civilinstitutions, which received the name of “Jubilee” from aHebrew word signifying a musical instrument, a horn ortrumpet, began on the tenth day of the seventh month, or the greatday of atonement, when, by order of the public authorities, the soundof trumpets proclaimed the beginning of the universal redemption. Allprisoners and captives obtained their liberties, slaves were declaredfree, and debtors were absolved. The land, as on the sabbatic year,was neither sowed nor reaped, but allowed to enjoy with itsinhabitants a sabbath of repose; and its natural produce was thecommon property of all. Moreover, every inheritance throughout theland of Judea was restored to its original owner.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
A jubilee shall that fiftieth year be unto you,…. Which, clearly shows, that not the forty ninth year was the year of jubilee, as many learned men have asserted, chiefly induced by this reason, because two years would come together in which were no sowing reaping; but that God, that could cause the earth to forth fruit for three years, Le 25:21; could make it bring forth enough for four years; and in order to make their sentiment agree with this passage, they are obliged to make the foregoing jubilee one of the fifty, and begin their account from thence; but this could not be done in the first account of the jubilee; of the name, [See comments on Le 25:9];
ye shall not sow; in the year of jubilee, which shows also that this could not be the forty ninth year, which of course being a sabbatical year, there would be no sowing, reaping, c. and so this law or instruction would be quite needless:
neither reap that which groweth of itself in it, nor gather the [grapes] in it of thy vine undressed as in the sabbatical year,
[See comments on Le 25:5]; the same with respect to these things being to be observed in the year of jubilee, as in that; and so Jarchi observes that the same that is said of the sabbatical year is said of the jubilee, two holy years being found next to one another, the forty ninth year the sabbatical year, and the fiftieth year the jubilee.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(11) A jubile shall that fiftieth year be unto you.According to the unanimous testimony of the authorities during the second Temple, including Philo (ii. 287-290) and Josephus (Antt. iii. 12, 3), the jubile was observed every fiftieth year, as is plainly enjoined both in the verse before us and in Lev. 25:10. As the forty-ninth year is the sabbatical year and the fiftieth year the jubile, there were two successive fallow years.
Ye shall not sow.As the fiftieth year is jubile, and partakes of the nature of the sabbatical year, sowing and reaping are forbidden.
Neither reap that which groweth of itself in it.That is, the spontaneous growth of this year is not to be made into a regular harvest and stored up. (See Lev. 25:5.)
Vine undressed.See Lev. 25:5.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
11. Ye shall not sow, neither reap This prohibition makes the fiftieth year sabbatic, like the forty-ninth: the land being untilled two successive years. The sustenance of the people in this case is provided for by the threefold productiveness of the last secular year. See Lev 25:21.
Nor gather the grapes It is probable that this applied only to the fields, and not to the gardens attached to the houses.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Lev 25:11 A jubile shall that fiftieth year be unto you: ye shall not sow, neither reap that which groweth of itself in it, nor gather [the grapes] in it of thy vine undressed.
Ver. 11. A jubilee shall that fiftieth year be. ] Or, That jubilee shall be unto you the year of fifty years. This first Mosaical jubilee was in 1396 BC.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
A jubilee: Respecting the literal meaning of the word , yobel, or yovel, critics are not agreed. The most natural derivation of the word seems to be from , hovil, the Hiphil form of , yaval, to recall, restore, or bring back, because this year restored all slaves to their liberty, and brought back all alienated estates to their primitive owners. Accordingly the LXX render it here , a “remission”; and Josephus says it signifies , liberty. Lev 27:17
ye shall: Lev 25:5-7
Reciprocal: Exo 23:11 – the seventh Jos 6:4 – trumpets of rams’