Leviticus 25:30-40

30 if he again-buyeth (it) not, and the circle of the year is passed, the buyer shall wield it, and his heirs into without end, and it shall not be able to be again-bought, yea, in the jubilee. (but if he buyeth it not back, and the circle of the year is passed, the buyer, and his heirs, shall own it forever, and it shall not be able to be bought back, yea, even in the Jubilee Year.)
31 Forsooth if the house is in a town that hath not walls, it shall be sold by the law of [the] fields; soothly if it is not again-bought in the jubilee, it shall turn again to the lord thereof (and even if it is not bought back, in the Jubilee Year it shall return to its original owner).
32 The houses of [the] deacons, that be in [the] cities, may ever[more] be again-bought; (But the houses of the Levites, that be in the cities, can be bought back forevermore;)
33 if those be not again-bought, those shall turn again in the jubilee to the lords (thereof); for the houses of the cities of deacons be for (their) possessions (forevermore) among the sons of Israel; (and even if they be not bought back, they shall still return to their original owners in the Jubilee Year; for the houses in the Levite cities shall be their possessions among the Israelites forevermore;)
34 forsooth the suburbs of them shall not be sold, for it is (their) everlasting possession.
35 If thy brother is made poor, and feeble in power, and thou receivest him as a comeling, and a pilgrim (and thou receivest him like a newcomer, or like a foreigner), and he liveth with thee,
36 take thou not usuries of him, neither more than thou hast given; dread thou thy God, that thy brother may live with thee. (receive thou not usury, or interest, from him, nor any more than thou hast given to him; fear thou thy God, and let thy brother live with thee.)
37 Thou shalt not give to him thy money (in)to usury (Thou shalt not charge him interest for thy money), and thou shalt not ask over that that thou lendest, (for) increases of (thy) fruits;
38 I am your Lord God, that led you out of the land of Egypt, that I should give to you the land of Canaan, and that I should be your God. (I am the Lord your God, who led you out of the land of Egypt, so that I could give you the land of Canaan, and so that I would become your God.)
39 If thy brother compelled by poverty selleth himself to thee, thou shalt not oppress him by servage of servants (thou shalt not make him thy slave),
40 but he shall be as an hired man and (as) a tenant; till to the year of jubilee he shall work with thee (he shall work for thee until the Jubilee Year),

Leviticus 25:30-40 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.

Copyright © 2001 by Terence P. Noble. For personal use only.