Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Leviticus 25:20
And if ye shall say, What shall we eat the seventh year? behold, we shall not sow, nor gather in our increase:
Verse 20. What shall we eat the seventh year?] A very natural question, which could only be laid at rest by the sovereign promise in the next verse: I will COMMAND my BLESSING upon you in the sixth year, and it shall bring forth fruit for THREE YEARS. See Clarke on Le 25:2.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
A like objection, see Exo 34:23,24.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
And ye shall say, what shall ye eat the seventh year?…. Such as are of little faith, disbelieve the promise, and distrust the providence of God, and take thought for tomorrow, and indulge an anxiety of mind how they shall be provided with food in the sabbatical year ordered to be observed, in which there were to be no tillage of land, nor pruning of trees:
behold, we shall not sow; that being forbidden:
nor gather in our increase; neither the barley, nor the wheat, nor the grapes, nor olives, nor figs, into their houses and barns, to lay up for stores, as in other years; though they might go out and gather in for present use in common with others: now if any should put the above question, as it was very likely some would, in such a view of things, the answer to it follows.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
20. And if ye shall say. Men will never be obedient to God’s precepts, unless their distrust of Him is corrected, and will be always ingenious in laying hold of pretexts for disobedience. The difficulty, however, in this matter was a specious excuse for the Jews; for famine might have destroyed them in these two years, since in the seventh year they neither sowed nor reaped; and for reaping they were obliged to wait till the end of the eighth year. Now, whence were they to get seed enough to sow after the land had rested for a whole year? It is not without reason, then, that God delivers them from this doubt, promising them that He will give such abundance in the sixth year as shall suffice for the two following ones. The phrase must be observed, that God would “command His blessing” in an especial manner, and beyond the usual course, so that the land should be twice or thrice more fertile. Hence is suggested to us no ordinary ground of confidence in asking for our daily bread. But this was a special promise, that food should not fail the Jews on account of the Sabbatical year; a manifestation of which God had already given in the desert, when supplied a double portion of manna to those who gathered it on the day before the Sabbath. Now-a-days this inconvenience is avoided by the industry of farmers, who so divide their acres that the land should never lie fallow altogether, but that one part should supply the deficiency of another. This distribution did not obtain with the Jews. Therefore God relieved them from the fear of famine down to the harvest of the eighth year; although He seems at the same time to accustom them to frugality, lest they should waste in intemperance and luxury what He afforded in sufficient abundance to last for two years. To this precept He alludes, when He declares by the Prophets that the land “enjoyed her Sabbaths,” when it had vomited forth its inhabitants, (2Ch 36:21😉 for since they had polluted it by violating the Sabbath, so that it groaned as if under a heavy burden, He says that it shall rest for a long continuous period, so as to compensate for the labor of many years.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(20) What shall we eat the seventh year ?The Lawgiver here anticipates an objection on the part of those who are called upon to abstain from cultivating the land in the sabbatical year, and who are overanxious about the provisions of their families.
Behold, we shall not sow.That is, are forbidden to sow. (See Lev. 25:4.)
Nor gather in our increase.That is, we are even prohibited to gather the spontaneous growths and store them up, and are commanded to leave the increase in the field. (See Lev. 25:7.)
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
20. What shall we eat the seventh year This question is kindly anticipated and answered by God, lest the strain upon their faith might be too great if the people were left with no special promise. He knoweth our frame.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
The Problem Of Having A Seventh Year Without Sowing and Planting ( Lev 25:20-21 ).
Lev 25:20-21
“And if you shall say, What shall we eat the seventh year? Behold, we shall not sow, nor gather in our increase, then I will command my blessing on you in the sixth year, and it shall bring forth fruit for the three years.”
The first question we must raise here is as to the reference of ‘the seventh year’. Does it signify each sabbatical year after the six years of activity, ‘the seventh year’ as described in Lev 25:4, or does it refer to the forty ninth year before the year of Yubile (but which is never elsewhere thought of in terms of the seventh year)? The view followed here is that it has in mind the sabbatical years following each six year period, that is the ‘seventh year’ of Lev 25:4, the only seventh year referred to in the passage. Thus in the whole series of forty nine years the eighth and ninth years follow the first seventh year, and that is the first year in which the cause for concern described here would apply. The question is thus relating to all that has been spoken about since Lev 25:2.
So the question was, would the observance of the sabbatical year mean that in the seventh year, and in each succeeding seventh year, they would have to go short? No, God assured them, as he had multiplied the Manna on the sixth day so would He multiply His provision so that it covered the years when there was no organised production. As He had already given them evidence with the Manna that He was able to do a similar thing, they had no reason to be afraid.
The need for three years was because while activity on the land would take place in the last months of the sixth year for growth during the sabbatical year, there would be no organised reaping to follow in the first part of the seventh year, and no sowing was to take place within the last part of the sabbatical year, the seventh year, because it was forbidden. Thus the first sowing would be in the eighth year (the last part of the first year in the new series) which would produce growth in the ninth year. This confirms that at this time the year began in the spring (Exo 12:2).
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Lev 25:20, &c. And if ye shall say, &c. This increase which the Lord promises to give in the sixth year, was a continual proof to the Jews of his regard to them, of his immediate government, and consequently of his particular providence over them; another striking advantage of the present institution! The supply of this sixth year was to be sufficient for three years, i.e. for the whole seventh, the eighth when they sowed afresh, and for part of the ninth till they reaped the fruits of the eighth year. This wise law respecting the sabbatical year, and the year of jubilee, affords us a full proof of the divinity of the Mosaic institution; for, had not the Jews been immediately under the divine protection and providence, it would have been impossible for them to have observed this law.
Note; 1. They who follow God’s will may safely trust him for a provision. 2. It would be a shame to a Christian if he had less faith than a Jew, and if we should be more afraid of wanting bread than they were. 3. With the blessing of God a little will go far; so that, like the widow’s cruse, we shall still have enough and to spare.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
DISCOURSE: 142
THE SABBATICAL YEAR
Lev 25:20-22. And if ye shall say, What shall we eat the seventh year? behold, we shall not sow, nor gather in our increase: Then will I command my blessing upon you in the sixth year, and it shall bring forth fruit for three years. And ye shall sow the eighth year, and eat yet of old fruit until the ninth year; until her fruits come in ye shall eat of the old store.
MANY of the commands of God to his people of old appear to be mere arbitrary impositions, without any other use than that of subjecting their wills to his. But I doubt whether there be one single law that will fairly bear this construction. The reasons of many are not known to us, and perhaps were not fully understood by the Jews themselves: yet we cannot doubt but that if God had been pleased to explain them fully to us, we should have seen as much wisdom and goodness displayed in those which are at present unintelligible to us, as in others which we understand. The command to give rest to the land every seventh year, when the extent of country was so disproportionate to its population, must appear exceeding strange to those who have not duly considered it. The generality of persons would account for it perhaps from its being conducive to the good of the land, which would be too much exhausted, if it were not permitted occasionally to lie fallow. But this could not be the reason: for then a seventh part of the land would most probably have been kept fallow every year, and not the whole at once. Moreover, it would not have been suffered to produce any thing which would tend to counteract the main design; whereas all the seed that had been accidentally scattered on it during the harvest, was suffered to grow up to maturity. Nor can the idea of lying fallow be applied with any propriety to the olive-yards and vineyards, which, though not trimmed and pruned that year, were suffered to bring all their fruit to maturity. We must look then to some other source for the reasons of this appointment. Those which appear the most probable and most important, it is the object of this discourse to set before you.
The ordinance itself is more fully stated at the beginning of the chapter [Note: 7. (Read it.) See also Exo 23:10-11.]: and it was given,
I.
To remind them that God was the great Proprietor of all
[In the verse following the text. God says to his people, The laud is mine. And it was his: he had dispossessed the former inhabitants, and had given it to his own people, assigning to every tribe its precise district, and to every family their proper portion. This they would have been likely to forget in the space of a few years: and therefore, as the great Proprietor, he specified the terms on which he admitted them to the possession of his land, reserving to himself the tithes and first-fruits, and requiring the whole to be left uncultivated and common every seventh year. Thus the people would be reminded from time to time that they were only tenants, bound to use the land agreeably to the conditions imposed on them.
Instructive as this thought was to them, it is no less so to us. Indeed, we should never for one moment lose the remembrance of it. The whole world is mine, says God, and the fulness thereof [Note: Psa 24:1; Psa 50:12.]. Nay more, our very bodies and spirits are his [Note: 1Co 6:20.]: and consequently, all that we are, and have, should be used for him, and be entirely at his disposal. Of what incalculable benefit would it be to have our minds duly impressed with this truth! How would it lay the axe to the root of all those evils which arise within us from the diversity of our states and conditions in the world! Pride in the attainment of earthly things, anxiety in the possession, and sorrow in the loss of them, would be greatly moderated Instead of being agitated with the keen sensibilities of an owner, we should feel only a subordinate interest, like that of a steward: we should be neither elated with prosperity, nor depressed with adversity, but in every change should be satisfied, if only we were sure that we had done our duty, and that no blame attached to us.]
II.
To keep them from earthly-mindedness
[When our corn and wine are multiplied, we are apt to be thinking how we may treasure them up, rather than how we shall employ them to the honour of God. To counteract this sordid disposition, God provided, that, when he had given his people the richest abundance, they should think only of the temperate and grateful use of it, and not of amassing wealth. By this ordinance he said to them, what he says to us also, If riches increase, set not your hearts upon them [Note: Psa 62:10.]. He would have us live above this vain world; and not, when running for such a prize, be loading our feet with thick clay [Note: Hab 2:6.]. If we could have the reasons of Gods dispensations fully revealed to us, I have no doubt but that we should find that he has this end in view, when he sends us one bereavement after another: he does it, I say, that we may learn to set our affections on things above, and not on things on the earth ]
III.
To lead them to trust in him
[Like the rich fool in the Gospel, they would have been ready to say, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; eat, drink, and be merry. But God is jealous of his own honour. He will not endure that we should say to gold, Thou art my hope; or to the fine gold, Thou art my confidence. Indeed, he not only denounces against such conduct his heaviest judgments, but sets forth in most beautiful terms its practical effects [Note: Jer 17:5-6.] The cares of this world are as thorns and briers, which choke the seed which God has sown in our hearts, and prevent it from bringing forth any fruit to perfection. They also weigh down the spirits, and oftentimes prove an insupportable burthen to the soul: whereas the person who has learned to confide in God, is always happy: he knows in whom he has believed, and is assured that he shall want no manner of thing that is good. Hence David not merely affirms that such persons are happy, but appeals to God himself respecting it; O Lord God of hosts, blessed is the man that trusteth in thee. This was the state to which God designed to bring his people of old; and in it he would have all his people live, even to the end of the world. I would have you, says he, without carefulness: Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God; and the peace of God which passeth all understanding shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.]
IV.
To make them observant of his providential care
[When they saw that the sabbatical year was at hand, how forcibly would they be struck with the provision which God had made for it! They would have three years to live on the produce of one single year [Note: Commentators appear to me to mistake in supposing that the sabbatical year began, like their civil year, in autumn: for then, the sowing and reaping being brought within one year, the loss of that whole time would be felt only for two years: but if their year began, like their ecclesiastical year, in the spring, then they would of course not sow in the sixth year, nor reap in the eighth year; because they could not reap or sow in the seventh year: consequently, they could only sow in the eighth year what they were to reap in the ninth. The language of the 22d verse seems to require this interpretation. Next to this interpretation, I should prefer that of making the words three years to signify one year, and parts of two.]. But when they saw their barns overflowing with the produce of the earth, and their presses bursting out with new wine, methinks they would say, This is the hand of God: we will love him; we will serve him; we will trust in him: we will shew, that we are not insensible of all his love and kindness.
Such sentiments and conduct would tend exceedingly to exalt and honour God; and would conduce very much to the happiness of all. We are apt to think that there is great comfort annexed to the idea of wealth and plenty: but the comfort which a poor man has in receiving his pittance as from the hand of God, far outweighs all that the rich ever felt in their unsanctified abundance The more we enjoy God in the creature, the more we enjoy the creature itself ]
V.
To typify the felicity of heaven
[Canaan was an acknowledged type of heaven: and this ordinance fully represented the blessedness there enjoyed. All the land was common during the seventh year; and every person in it, whether rich or poor, a native or a foreigner, had an equal right to every thing in it. None were to assert an exclusive claim to any thing: none were to reap or treasure up the fruits of the earth: but all were to participate with equal freedom the bounties of heaven. What a delightful picture does this give us of that blessed state, in which there will be no distinction of persons, no boast of exclusive rights, no want of any thing to the children of God: but all will have a fulness of joy at Gods right hand, and rivers of pleasure for evermore! Even in the Church below there was a little of this, when the disciples had all things common, and none said that any thing he possessed was his own; but in the Church above, this will universally prevail, and endure to all eternity.]
This subject, in its different bearings, affords ample matter of instruction to,
1.
The doubtful and undetermined Christian
[The Jews were required to sacrifice their worldly prospects for the Lord: and were threatened, that, if they did not obey this ordinance, God would expel them from the land. This threatening too was executed in the Babylonish captivity, according to the number of sabbatical years which they had neglected to observe [Note: Lev 26:33-35, with 2Ch 36:20-21.]. Shall Christians then be backward to exercise self-denial, or to sacrifice their temporal interests for their Lord and Saviour? Let them not hesitate between duty and interest: the calls, though apparently opposite, are indeed the same: if we sacrifice any thing for the Lord, he will repay us an hundred-fold. If we will lose our lives for his sake, we shall find them: but if we will save them here, we shall lose them in the eternal world.]
2.
The careful and worldly-minded Christian
[If the Jews, whose principal rewards were of a temporal nature, were taught not to place their affections on earthly things, how much less should we! It is really a disgrace to Christianity, when persons who profess godliness are as anxious after this world as those who have no prospects beyond. Yet how common is this character! Happy would it be for them if they would study our Lords sermon on the mount; and learn from the very birds of the air to live without anxiety for the morrow [Note: Mat 6:25-30.]. Not that they should neglect their earthly business, whatever it may be: but, in the habit and disposition of their minds, they should be content with such things as they have, and realize the prayer which they profess to approve, Give us day by day our daily bread!]
3.
The fearful and unbelieving Christian
[On the command being given respecting the observance of the sabbatical year, some are represented as asking, What shall we eat the seventh year? Now thus it is with many Christians, who are anticipating evils, and questioning with themselves what they shall do under such or such circumstances? and fearing, that, if they proceed in the way of duty, they shall not be able to stand their ground. But the answer to such persons is, Sufficient for the day is the evil thereof. We have no right to anticipate evils; at least, not so to anticipate them as to distress ourselves about them. All that we need to inquire, is, What is the way of duty? True, to carnal minds we may appear to act absurdly, and to thwart our own interests: but the path of duty will always be found the path of safety. God is the same God as ever he was: and, if he call us to exercise faith on him, he will never disappoint us. Justly did Jesus reprove his disciples for fearing, when they had him in the same vessel with them. Let us remember, that he is embarked with us, and that they who trust in him shall not be ashamed or confounded world without end.]
4.
The humble and believing Christian
[Did you ever, when exercising faith in God, find yourself disappointed of your hope? Did he ever leave you or forsake you? If the command have appeared formidable at a distance. have you not always found that your strength was increased according to your day, and that His grace was sufficient for you? Have you not found also, that, though your obedience might be self-denying, it has always been productive of happiness? In short, are you not living witnesses of the truth and faithfulness of your Lord? Go on then, and be examples of a holy self-denying obedience. Prefer the performance of duty before worldly prospects, how lucrative soever they may appear: and let it be seen in you. what it is to live by faith on the Son of God, who has loved you, and given himself for you.]
Fuente: Charles Simeon’s Horae Homileticae (Old and New Testaments)
Lev 25:20 And if ye shall say, What shall we eat the seventh year? behold, we shall not sow, nor gather in our increase:
Ver. 20. And if ye shall say. ] A clear answer to a carnal objection. Usually God conceals the objection in Scripture, and meets it with an answer, which is an act of grace.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
What . . . ? Figure of speech Erotesis. App-6. (A lesson for us. God’s “I will” the answer to our “What? “).
behold. Figure of speech Asterismos. App-6.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Num 11:4, Num 11:13, 2Ki 6:15-17, 2Ki 7:2, 2Ch 25:9, Psa 78:19, Psa 78:20, Isa 1:2, Mat 6:25-34, Mat 8:26, Luk 12:29, Phi 4:6, Heb 13:5, Heb 13:6
Reciprocal: Exo 23:11 – the seventh Lev 25:4 – General 2Ki 19:29 – Ye shall eat Isa 37:30 – Ye shall Mat 6:31 – What shall we eat Mat 6:33 – and all