Leviticus 25:23-34

The Law of Redemption

23 'The land, moreover, shall not be sold permanently, for 1the land is Mine; for 2you are but aliens and sojourners with Me.
24 'Thus for every piece of your property, you are to provide for the redemption of the land.
25 '3If a fellow countryman of yours becomes so poor he has to sell part of his property, then his nearest kinsman is to come and buy back what his relative has sold.
26 'Or in case a man has no kinsman, but so recovers his means as to find sufficient for its redemption,
27 4then he shall calculate the years since its sale and refund the balance to the man to whom he sold it, and so return to his property.
28 'But if he has not found sufficient means to get it back for himself, then what he has sold shall remain in the hands of its purchaser until the year of jubilee; but at the jubilee it shall revert, that 5he may return to his property.
29 'Likewise, if a man sells a dwelling house in a walled city, then his redemption right remains valid until a full year from its sale; his right of redemption lasts a full year.
30 'But if it is not bought back for him within the space of a full year, then the house that is in the walled city passes permanently to its purchaser throughout his generations; it does not revert in the jubilee.
31 'The houses of the villages, however, which have no surrounding wall shall be considered as open fields; they have redemption rights and revert in the jubilee.
32 'As for 6cities of the Levites, the Levites have a permanent right of redemption for the houses of the cities which are their possession.
33 'What, therefore, belongs to the Levites may be redeemed and a house sale in the city of this possession reverts in the jubilee, for the houses of the cities of the Levites are their possession among the sons of Israel.
34 '7But pasture fields of their cities shall not be sold, for that is their perpetual possession.

Leviticus 25:23-34 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO LEVITICUS 25

In this chapter the Israelites are directed, when come into the land of Canaan, to observe every seventh year as a sabbatical year, in which there was to be no tillage of the land, and yet there would be a sufficiency for man and beast, Le 25:1-7; and every fiftieth year as a year of jubilee, in which also there was to be no tillage of the land, and every man was to return to his possession or estate, which had been sold to another any time before this, Le 25:8-17; and a promise of safety and plenty in the seventh year is made to encourage the observance of it, Le 25:18-22; and several laws and rules are delivered out concerning the sale of lands, the redemption of them, and their return to their original owner in the year of jubilee, Le 25:23-28; and the sale of houses, and the redemption of them, and the difference between those in walled cities and those in villages, with respect thereunto, Le 25:29-31; and also concerning the houses of the cities of the Levites, and the fields of the suburbs of them, Le 25:32-34; to which are added some instructions about relieving decayed, persons, and lending and giving to them, without taking usury of them, Le 25:34-38; and other laws concerning the release of such Israelites as had sold themselves for servants to the Israelites, in the year of jubilee, since none but Heathens were to be bondmen and bondmaids for ever, Le 25:39-46; and of such who were sold to proselytes, Le 25:47-55.

Cross References 7

  • 1. Exodus 19:5
  • 2. Genesis 23:4; 1 Chronicles 29:15; Psalms 39:12; Hebrews 11:13; 1 Peter 2:11
  • 3. Ruth 2:20; Ruth 4:4, 6
  • 4. Leviticus 25:16
  • 5. Leviticus 25:10, 13
  • 6. Numbers 35:1-8; Joshua 21:2
  • 7. Numbers 35:2-5

Footnotes 12

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