Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Leviticus 25:9
Then shalt thou cause the trumpet of the jubilee to sound on the tenth [day] of the seventh month, in the day of atonement shall ye make the trumpet sound throughout all your land.
9. The year of Jubile began on the tenth of the seventh month and was proclaimed by the sound of the trumpet. The coincidence of this ceremony with the Day of Atonement presents a difficulty to some commentators, but according to Eze 40:1 the tenth day of the month is sometimes reckoned as the first day of the year. Others would regard the words ‘in the day of atonement’ as a later insertion. Dillmann sees nothing incongruous in the trumpet sound on the Day of Atonement, and considers the reconciliation of that day as an appropriate beginning of a year in which each one acquired his liberty. Restoration to God’s favour was the preliminary to entering upon his possession. Another explanation of the text is that the trumpet sound was a note of preparation six months before the actual commencement of the Jubile in the spring but the ceremony seems intended to usher in the actual year, and was coincident with the proclamation of liberty.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
The jubilee signified the true liberty from our spiritual debts and slaveries, to be purchased by Christ, and to be published to the world by the sound of the gospel.
The seventh month was the first month of the year for civil and worldly affairs, which were mainly concerned in the jubilee, and therefore it began in that month; and, as it seems, upon this very tenth day, when the trumpet sounded, as other feasts generally began when the trumpet sounded.
In the day of atonement; a very fit time, that when they fasted and prayed for Gods mercy to them in the pardon of their sins, then they might exercise their charity and kindness to men in forgiving their debts, which is the true fast, as is noted Isa 58:6, and to teach us that the foundation of all solid comfort and joy must be laid in bitter repentance and atonement for our sins through Christ.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
Then shall thou cause the trumpet of the jubilee to sound,…. At the end of forty nine years, or at the beginning of the fiftieth; or “the trumpet of a loud sound”; for here the word “jubilee” is not, which, according to some, was so called from the peculiar sound of the trumpet on this day, different from all others; though others, as Ben Melech, think, and the Jews commonly, that it had its name from the trumpet itself, which they suppose was made of a ram’s horn, “jobel”, in the Arabic language, signifying a ram; but the former reason is best; though perhaps it is best of all to derive it from , “to bring back, restore, return”, because at this time men were returned to their liberty, estates, and families, as hereafter expressed:
on the tenth [day] of the seventh month; the month Tisri or September, the first day of which was the beginning of the year for “jubilees” s; for the computation of the jubilee year was made from the first day of the month, though the trumpet was not blown, and the rights of the year did not begin till the tenth, as Maimonides t observes:
in the day of atonement shall ye make the trumpet sound throughout all your land; which day of atonement was on the tenth day of the said month, and a very proper time it was to sound the trumpet, that after they had been afflicting themselves, then to have joy and comfort; and when atonement was made for all their sins, then to hear the joyful sound; and when it might be presumed they were in a good disposition to release their servants, and restore the poor to their possessions, when they themselves were favoured with the forgiveness of all their sins. This sounding was made throughout all the land of Israel; throughout all the highways, as Aben Ezra, that all might know the year of jubilee was come; and this was done by the order of the sanhedrim, as Maimonides u says, and who, also observes, that from the beginning of the year, to the day of atonement, servants were not released to their own houses, but did not serve their masters, nor were fields returned to their owners; but servants ate, and drank, and rejoiced, and wore garlands on their heads; and when the day of atonement came, the sanhedrim blew the trumpet, and the servants were dismissed to their houses, and fields returned to their owners.
s Misn. Roshhashanah, c. 1. sect. 1. t In Misn. ib. u Hilchot Shemitah Vejobel, c. 10. sect. 10, 14.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(9) Cause the trumpet of the jubile to sound.Better, cause the blast of the cornet to sound; literally, cause to resound the cornet of loud sound. According to the authorities during the second Temple, the cornets used on this occasion, like those of the Feast of Trumpets or New Year, were of rams horns, they were straight, and had their mouth-piece covered with gold.
In the day of atonement shall ye make the trumpet sound.Better, In the day of atonement shall ye cause the cornet to sound. On the close of the great Day of Atonement, when the Hebrews realised that they had peace of mind, that their heavenly Father had annulled their sins, and that they had become reunited to Him through His forgiving mercy, every Israelite was called upon to proclaim throughout the land, by nine blasts of the cornet, that he too had given the soil rest, that he had freed every encumbered family estate, and that he had given liberty to every slave, who was now to rejoin his kindred. Inasmuch as God has forgiven his debts, he also is to forgive his debtors.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
9. Cause the trumpet of the jubilee to sound Literally, thou shalt cause a horn of loud clangor to pass through the land: R.V., “Send abroad the loud trumpet.” The trumpets used in the proclamation of the jubilee appear to have been curved horns, not the long, straight trumpets represented on the arch of Titus, (see illustration, Num 4:7, note,) and which, according to Hengstenberg, are the only ones represented in Egyptian sculptures and paintings. See Jos 6:4, note.
Day of atonement See chap. 16. It does not seem likely that this great fast was disturbed by the joyful sound which, probably, burst forth in the afternoon when the high priest had concluded the solemn services of atonement. This view gives a deep significance to the jubilee, as a type of that era of gospel grace which follows the propitiatory death of the Lamb of God, the great sin offering. To avoid the incongruity of the jubilee and the great national fast on the same day, Hupfield would emend the text, so as to make the jubilee occur ten days earlier, at the feast of trumpets. See chap. xxiii, 24, note. According to Maimonides the interval of eight days between the feast of trumpets and the jubilee was a sort of saturnalia or carnival to all servants. On the tenth day the great Sanhedrin directed the trumpets to be sounded, and at that instant the bondmen became free and the lands reverted to their original owners.
All your land We are not to suppose that one trumpet passed from place to place, sounding through all the land, but many trumpets were simultaneously sounded by the priests in all their cities, in accordance with Num 10:8. All the Jewish writers assert that trumpets were sounded extensively all over the land in the mountains, in the streets, and at nearly every door when the signal was given by the proper authorities, called the “House of Judgment,” or the Great Sanhedrin. The design was to reach the ear of every Hebrew who had alienated his inheritance or divested himself of liberty.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Lev 25:9. On the tenth day of the seventh month Calmet observes from Maimonides, that “though the jubilee year began on the first day of the month Tizri, or September, yet neither were the slaves restored to liberty, nor the lands returned to their first owners, till the tenth day of that month. The nine first days were spent in pleasure and festivity, [which, it is to be feared, became too soon,] almost like that of the Romans in their saturnalia, [instead of the exercises of true devotion.] During these nine days the slaves did not work for their masters, but ate and drank, &c. and every one put a crown upon his head. No sooner was the day of solemn expiation come, which is the tenth of Tizri, but the counsellors of the Sanhedrim ordered the trumpets to sound; and at that instant the slaves were declared free, and the lands returned to their old owners.” Note; Though civil liberty is precious, how much more to be prized is the liberty of the Gospela liberty which leads to no excess, which gives us the victory over ourselves, and ends in the eternal enjoyment of the Sovereign Good!
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
DISCOURSE: 141
THE JUBILEE A TYPE OF THE GOSPEL
Lev 25:9-11. Then shalt thou cause the trumpet of the jubilee to sound, on the tenth day of the seventh month, in the day of atonement shall ye make the trumpet sound throughout all your land. 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. A jubilee shall that fiftieth year be unto you.
IN order that our Lords descent from Judah and from David should be clear and acknowledged, it was necessary that the various tribes and families should be kept distinct. With this view many ordinances were appointed for the continuing of every mans inheritance in his own family [Note: A difficulty on this subject having occurred, God himself decided it, and grounded a new law on that decision. See Num 36:6-7.]. This seems to have been the primary intent of that ordinance which is mentioned in the text. A variety of circumstances in a length of time might produce alienations of property; and if this had been suffered to continue, a confusion of the families and tribes would have at last ensued. To prevent this therefore, God commanded that on every fiftieth year every inheritance should revert to its original possessor. This season was called the Jubilee; which, while it answered many other important purposes, served in a very eminent manner to typify the Gospel.
We may Observe a very strict agreement between the jubilee and the Gospel:
I.
In the time and manner of their proclamation
The jubilee was proclaimed with the sound of trumpets
[The tendency of great reverses of fortune is, in many instances at least, to produce a torpor of mind, and a stupid indifference to the things we once highly valued. Hence it was but too probable, that they, who had alienated their inheritance and reduced themselves to the lowest ebb of misery, might sink into such a state of ignorance or indolence, as to let the period appointed for their restoration pass unnoticed. To prevent this, God commanded the trumpets to be sounded throughout all the land; that so the attention of all being awakened, and their spirits exhilarated, every individual might be stirred up to claim the privileges to which he was entitled.]
The precise time on which this sacred year commenced, was the day of atonement
[The day of atonement was the most solemn season in the whole year: the people were required to afflict their souls for sin; and peculiar sacrifices were to be offered for the iniquities of the whole nation. It should seem at first sight that this was an unfit season for the proclamation of such joyful tidings; but it was indeed the fittest season in the whole year: for, when could masters and creditors be so properly called upon to exercise mercy, as when they themselves had been obtaining mercy at the hands of a reconciled God? Or when could debtors and slaves so reasonably be expected to receive their liberties with gratitude, and improve them with care, as when they had been bewailing the sins, by which, in all probability, they had been deprived of them?]
The Gospel also is to be publicly proclaimed in every place
[One would have imagined that it were quite sufficient for God once to make known the way in which he would pardon sinners, and that from that time every sinner would of his own accord exert himself to obtain the proffered mercy. But experience proves that our bereavement of heaven is not felt as any evil; our bondage to sin is not at all lamented; and, if no means were used to awaken mens attention to their misery, and to stir them up to embrace the blessings of salvation, the greater part of mankind would rest satisfied with their state, till the opportunity for improving it was irrevocably lost. God therefore sends forth his servants to preach the Gospel to every creature, and commands them to lift up their voice as a trumpet.]
This too has its origin in the great atonement
[If, as some contend, the year of our Lords death was the year of Jubilee, the coincidence was indeed very singular and important. But, however this might be, certain it is, that, without shedding of blood, there could be no remission; nor, till our Lord had expiated the sins of the whole world, could the Gospel be universally proclaimed. But no sooner was his sacrifice offered, than God was reconciled to his guilty creatures; and from that time must the commission given to his Apostles be dated. A very few days had elapsed, when they sounded the Gospel trumpet in the ears of that very people who had crucified the Lord of glory; and had the happiness to find thousands at a time brought from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. Thus clearly was the connexion marked between the atoning sacrifice of Christ, and the deliverance of sinners that was purchased by it.]
But the agreement between the two is yet more manifest,
II.
In the blessings conveyed by them
The privileges imparted by the jubilee were many and of great value
[There was, in the first place, an universal exemption from every kind of agricultural labour. None were either to reap the produce of the last year, or to sow their land with a view to a future crop; but all were to gather from day to day what had grown spontaneously; and every person had an equal right to all the fruits of the earth [Note: 7, 11.]. A better mode of improving their time was provided for them: public instruction was to be given to all, men, women, and children: in order that none, however their education had been neglected, might remain ignorant of God, and his law [Note: Deu 31:10-13.]. Now also debts, in whatever way they had been contracted, and to whatever amount, were to be freely remitted [Note: Deu 15:1-2.]. But, besides these privileges which were common to other sabbatical years, there were others peculiar to the year of jubilee. If any persons had, by their own voluntary act, or by the inexorable severity of some creditor, been sold, they were to receive their liberty, and to be restored to their families, as soon as ever the appointed trumpets should sound [Note: 911.]. Yea, if they had formerly possessed an inheritance in the land, they were to be instantly reinstated in the possession of it [Note: 0, 28.]: so that in a moment they reverted to their former condition, with all the advantage of their dear-bought experience.]
Analogous to these are the blessings imparted by the Gospel
[Varying their order, we shall first mention the forgiveness of sins. Though the debt we owe to God exceeds all possible calculation, it is all freely, and for ever remitted, as soon as ever the Gospel trumpet is heard, and its glad tidings are welcomed to the soul [Note: Act 10:43.]. Our bondage to sin and Satan is reversed; so that nothing shall ever lead us captive, provided we assert our liberty, and claim our privilege [Note: Rom 6:14.]: being made free by Christ, we shall be free indeed [Note: Joh 8:36.]. And, notwithstanding we have sold out heavenly inheritance, and alienated it for a thing of nought, yet are we called to take possession of it: we are restored to our fathers house; we are brought again into the family of saints and angels; and, with our title to heaven, have the enjoyment of it renewed [Note: Eph 2:19.]. Now too are we commanded to rest from all the works of the law, and from all the works of the flesh; and, every one of us, to subsist from day to day upon the bounties of divine grace [Note: Heb 4:10; Gal 2:20.]. As we sowed them not, so neither are we to reap them as our own, but to receive them on the same footing as the poorest and meanest of the human race; all of us being alike pensioners on the divine bounty. Nor are we to lay up in store of what God gives us; but every day to gather our daily bread. To all these blessings is added that of divine instruction: as we are taught how to improve our leisure, so are eyes given us to see, and ears to hear, and hearts to understand [Note: 1Jn 2:20.]: and henceforth it is to be our daily labour to grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. Such are the blessings bestowed by the Gospel; nor can any unworthiness in us deprive us of them, provided we thankfully accept them as the purchase of Christs blood, and the gifts of his grace [Note: For most congregations it would be more edifying to pass over briefly what was common to the sabbatical years, and to insist only on the blessings peculiar to the year of Jubilee, namely, deliverance from bondage, and restoration to ones inheritance.].]
Infer,
1.
In what way it is that sinners are to be converted to God
[The priest might have expostulated with the Jewish debtors or bond-slaves on the folly of their past conduct; but it was the sound of the trumpet alone that could bring them to liberty. So we may represent to sinners the evil of their past ways, and denounce against them the judgments threatened in the word of God; but it is the sweet voice of the Gospel alone that will enable them to throw off their yoke, and lead them to the enjoyment of eternal glory. This is told us by the prophet; who, speaking of the conversion of the world in the latter day, says, In that day the great trumpet shall be blown, and they shall come who were ready to perish, and shall worship the Lord in the holy mount at Jerusalem [Note: Isa 27:13.]. O that this were duly considered by all who go forth as the Lords ambassadors! It is not to preach a scanty morality that we are called; but to publish the glad tidings of a full and free salvation; a salvation founded in the blood of Christ, and suited to those who are weeping for their sins. Behold then, this is the accepted time; this is the day of salvation: now the trumpet sounds in our ears; let us all arise, and bless our Deliverer; and improve the privileges so richly bestowed upon us. Then, when the last trumpet shall sound, and the time, which God has fixed for the redemption of his purchased possession, shall be fully come, we shall be claimed by him as his property, his portion, his inheritance for ever.]
2.
How solicitous is God to counteract the folly and wickedness of man!
[A subordinate end of the Jubilee was, to counteract the cupidity of some, and the prodigality of others. But it is a very principal end of the Gospel to remedy the miseries, which men have entailed upon themselves. Well might God have said to the whole human race, Ye have sown the wind, and ye shall reap the whirlwind: but instead of that, He says, Ye have sold yourselves for nought, and ye shall be redeemed without money [Note: Isa 52:3.]: I have no pleasure in the death of a sinner: turn ye, turn ye, why will ye die? Let not then these gracious declarations reach our ears in vain; Behold, the year of the Lords redeemed is come [Note: Isa 63:1.]: the perfect law of liberty is now proclaimed: the Lord himself now preaches deliverance to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound [Note: Luk 4:18-19.]: he says to the prisoners, Go forth and shew yourselves. The Lord grant that none may put from them these words of life, or receive this grace of God in vain!]
3.
How blessed are they who embrace the glad tidings of the Gospel!
[We can easily conceive the blessedness of one, who is in an instant restored from poverty and cruel bondage to the possession of liberty and affluence. But who can estimate aright the happiness of those who are freed from the curses of the law, the fears of death, the bondage of sin, and the damnation of hell? Who can fully appreciate the joy of a trembling and condemned sinner, who by the sound of the Gospel is enabled to call God his father, and heaven his rightful inheritance? Well does the Psalmist, in reference to this very ordinance or the Jubilee, exclaim, Blessed are the people that know the joyful sound [Note: Psa 89:15.]. Surely there is no state on earth to be compared with this. May we seek it as our supreme felicity; and may we all enjoy it as an antepast of heaven!]
Fuente: Charles Simeon’s Horae Homileticae (Old and New Testaments)
Lev 25:9 Then shalt thou cause the trumpet of the jubile to sound on the tenth [day] of the seventh month, in the day of atonement shall ye make the trumpet sound throughout all your land.
Ver. 9. In the day of atonement. ] Here began the jubilee: this feast was founded in a fast. “They that sow in tears, shall reap in joy”: neither is there any such comfort as theirs that have soundly soaked themselves in godly sorrow. Pardon of sin is the only foundation of all jubilees: and when God hath pardoned us, our hearts are in fittest frame to pardon others.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
trumpet = a curved horn of jubilee, i.e. of loud or joyful sound. Hebrew. yobel. First jubilee; the last at the Nativity (the 29th).
atonement. See note on Exo 29:33.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
seventh month
i.e. October.
atonement (See Scofield “Exo 29:33”).
Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes
jubilee: Lev 25:10-12, Lev 27:17, Lev 27:24, Num 36:4
of the jubilee to sound: Heb. loud of sound, Num 10:10, Psa 89:15, Act 13:38, Act 13:39, Rom 10:18, Rom 15:19, 2Co 5:19-21, 1Th 1:8
the day: Lev 16:20, Lev 16:30, Lev 23:24, Lev 23:27
Reciprocal: Jos 6:4 – trumpets of rams’ Jdg 7:8 – trumpets Isa 27:13 – the great Isa 61:2 – the acceptable
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Lev 25:9. Cause the trumpet of jubilee to sound The name jubilee is taken 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. The seventh month Which was the first month of the year for civil affairs; the jubilee therefore began in that month; and, as it seems, upon this very tenth day, when the trumpet sounded, as other feasts generally began when the trumpet sounded. In the day of atonement A very fit time, that when they fasted and prayed for Gods mercy to them in the pardon of their sins, then they might exercise their charity to men in forgiving their debts; and to teach us, that the foundation of all solid comfort must be laid in repentance and atonement for our sins through Christ.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
25:9 {e} Then shalt thou cause the trumpet of the jubile to sound on the tenth [day] of the seventh month, in the day of atonement shall ye make the trumpet sound throughout all your land.
(e) In the beginning of the 50 years was the Jubile, so called, because the joyful tidings of liberty were publicly proclaimed by the sound of a cornet.