Leviticus 25:4

4 forsooth in the seventh year shall be the sabbath of the earth, of [the] resting of the Lord (but the seventh year shall be a sabbath of rest for the land, yea, a sabbath to the Lord); thou shalt not sow the field, and thou shalt not cut the vineyard,

Leviticus 25:4 Meaning and Commentary

Leviticus 25:4

But in the seventh year shall be a sabbath of rest unto the
land
From all tillage of it, from planting and cultivating any sort of trees in it; and even from digging pits, ditches; and caves, as say the Jewish writers ^F13: and this was typical of that rest which believers enter into under the Gospel dispensation, and of the rest in the new Jerusalem state, and especially in the ultimate glory; not only from the labours of the body, but of the mind, through sin, Satan, doubts and fears, and through conflicts with various enemies, and when even all spiritual labours and services will be at an end but that of praise:

a sabbath for the Lord;
for his honour and glory, to ascertain his property in the land, to show the power of his providence, and display his goodness in his care of all creatures, without any means used by them:

thou shalt neither sow thy field nor prune thy vineyard;
under which are comprehended all acts of agriculture, which respect the cultivation of vines, olives, figs, and, according to the Misnah ^F14, there were some instruments which it was not lawful to sell to an artificer in the seventh year, such as a plough, with all belonging to it, a yoke, a fan, a spade, but he may sell him a scythe, or a sickle, or a cart, and all its instruments; and which the commentators ^F15 interpret of one that is suspected of working in that year; the house of Shammai say, an heifer that ploughed might not be sold that year.

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FOOTNOTES:

F13 Torat Cohenim apud Yalkut, ut supra. (par. 1. fol. 191. 1.)
F14 Sheviith, c. 5. sect. 6.
F15 Maimon. & Bartenora in ib.

Leviticus 25:4 In-Context

2 Speak thou to the sons of Israel, and thou shalt say to them, When ye have entered into the land which I shall give to you, the earth keep the sabbath of the Lord (the land shall keep sabbaths to the Lord);

3 six years thou shalt sow thy field, and six years thou shalt cut thy vineyard, and thou shalt gather the fruits thereof;

4 forsooth in the seventh year shall be the sabbath of the earth, of [the] resting of the Lord (but the seventh year shall be a sabbath of rest for the land, yea, a sabbath to the Lord); thou shalt not sow the field, and thou shalt not cut the vineyard,

5 thou shalt not reap those things which the earth bringeth forth freely, and thou shalt not gather the grapes of thy first fruits, as vintage; for it is the year of resting of the land; (thou shalt not harvest those things which the land bringeth forth freely, and thou shalt not gather the grapes of thy first fruits, as vintage; for it is a year of rest for the land;)

6 but those fruits shall be to you into meat, to thee, and to thy servant, and to thine handmaid, and to thine hired man, and to the comeling that is a pilgrim with thee; (but those fruits shall be food for you, yea, for thee, and for thy slave, and for thy slave-girl, and for thy hired man, and for the newcomer who is a foreigner, or a stranger, among thee;)