Leviticus 25:8-55

Leviticus 25:8-55

[8] And thou shalt number  seven  sabbaths  of years  unto thee, seven  times  seven  years;  and the space  of the seven  sabbaths  of years  shall be unto thee forty  and nine  years.  [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.  [10] And ye shall hallow  the fiftieth  year,  and proclaim  liberty  throughout all the land  unto all the inhabitants  thereof: it shall be a jubile  unto you; and ye shall return  every man  unto his possession,  and ye shall return  every man  unto his family.  [11] A jubile  shall that fiftieth  year  be unto you: ye shall not sow,  neither reap  that which groweth  of itself in it, nor gather  the grapes in it of thy vine undressed.  [12] For it is the jubile;  it shall be holy  unto you: ye shall eat  the increase  thereof out of the field.  [13] In the year  of this jubile  ye shall return  every man  unto his possession.  [14] And if thou sell  ought  unto thy neighbour,  or buyest  ought of thy neighbour's  hand,  ye shall not oppress  one  another:  [15] According to the number  of years  after  the jubile  thou shalt buy  of thy neighbour,  and according unto the number  of years  of the fruits  he shall sell  unto thee: [16] According  to the multitude  of years  thou shalt increase  the price  thereof, and according  to the fewness  of years  thou shalt diminish  the price  of it: for according to the number  of the years of the fruits  doth he sell  unto thee. [17] Ye shall not therefore oppress  one  another;  but thou shalt fear  thy God:  for I am the LORD  your God.  [18] Wherefore ye shall do  my statutes,  and keep  my judgments,  and do  them; and ye shall dwell  in the land  in safety.  [19] And the land  shall yield  her fruit,  and ye shall eat  your fill,  and dwell  therein in safety.  [20] And if ye shall say,  What shall we eat  the seventh  year?  behold, we shall not sow,  nor gather  in our increase:  [21] Then I will command  my blessing  upon you in the sixth  year,  and it shall bring forth  fruit  for three  years.  [22] 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  [23] The land  shall not be sold  for ever:  for the land  is mine; for ye are strangers  and sojourners  with me. [24] And in all the land  of your possession  ye shall grant  a redemption  for the land.  [25] If thy brother  be waxen poor,  and hath sold  away some of his possession,  and if any of his kin  come  to redeem  that which his brother  sold.  [26] And if the man  have none to redeem  it, and himself  be able  to redeem  it; [27] Then let him count  the years  of the sale  thereof, and restore  the overplus  unto the man  to whom he sold  it; that he may return  unto his possession.  [28] But if he  be not able  to restore  it to him, then that which is sold  shall remain in the hand  of him that hath bought  it until the year  of jubile:  it shall go out,  and he shall return  unto his possession.  [29] And if a man  sell  a dwelling  house  in a walled  city,  then he may redeem  year  after it is sold;  within a full year  may he redeem  [30] And if it be not redeemed  within the space  of a full  year,  then the house  that is in the walled  city  shall be established  for ever  to him that bought  it throughout his generations:  it shall not go out  in the jubile.  [31] But the houses  of the villages  which have no wall  round about  them shall be counted  as the fields  of the country:  they may be redeemed,  and they shall go out  in the jubile.  [32] Notwithstanding the cities  of the Levites,  and the houses  of the cities  of their possession,  may the Levites  redeem  at any time.  [33] And if a man purchase  of the Levites,  then the house  that was sold,  and the city  of his possession,  shall go out  in the year of jubile:  for the houses  of the cities  of the Levites  are their possession  among  the children  of Israel.  [34] But the field  of the suburbs  of their cities  may not be sold;  for it is their perpetual  possession.  [35] And if thy brother  be waxen poor,  and fallen in decay  with thee;  then thou shalt relieve  him: yea, though he be a stranger,  or a sojourner;  with thee. [36] Take  thou no usury  but fear  thy God;  that thy brother  [37] Thou shalt not give  him thy money  upon usury,  nor lend  him thy victuals  for increase.  [38] I am the LORD  your God,  which brought you forth  out of the land  of Egypt,  to give  you the land  of Canaan,  and to be your God.  [39] And if thy brother  that dwelleth by thee be waxen poor,  and be sold  unto thee; thou shalt not compel  him to serve  as a bondservant:  [40] But as an hired servant,  and as a sojourner,  he shall be with thee, and shall serve  thee unto the year  of jubile:  [41] And then shall he depart  from thee, both he and his children  with him, and shall return  unto his own family,  and unto the possession  of his fathers  shall he return.  [42] For they are my servants,  which I brought forth  out of the land  of Egypt:  they shall not be sold  as  bondmen.  [43] Thou shalt not rule  over him with rigour;  but shalt fear  thy God.  [44] Both thy bondmen,  and thy bondmaids,  which thou shalt have, shall be of the heathen  that are round about  you; of them shall ye buy  bondmen  and bondmaids.  [45] Moreover of the children  of the strangers  that do sojourn  among you, of them shall ye buy,  and of their families  that are with you, which they begat  in your land:  and they shall be your possession.  [46] And ye shall take them as an inheritance  for your children  after  you, to inherit  them for a possession;  they shall be your bondmen  for ever:  but over your brethren  the children  of Israel,  ye shall not rule  one  over another  with rigour.  [47] And if a sojourner  or stranger  wax rich  by thee,  and thy brother  that dwelleth by him wax poor,  and sell  himself unto the stranger  or sojourner  by thee, or to the stock  of the stranger's  family:  [48] After  that he is sold  he may be redeemed again;  one  of his brethren  may redeem  him: [49] Either his uncle,  son,  may redeem  him, or any that is nigh  of kin  unto him of his family  may redeem  him; or if he be able,  he may redeem  himself.  [50] And he shall reckon  with him that bought  him from the year  that he was sold  to him unto the year  of jubile:  and the price  of his sale  shall be according unto the number  of years,  according to the time  of an hired servant  shall it be with him. [51] If there be yet many  years  behind, according  unto them he shall give again  the price of his redemption  out of the money  that he was bought  [52] And if there remain  but few  years  of jubile,  then he shall count  with him, and according  unto his years  shall he give him again  the price of his redemption.  [53] And as a yearly  hired servant  shall he be with him: and the other shall not rule  with rigour  over him in thy sight.  [54] And if he be not redeemed  in these years, then he shall go out  in the year  of jubile,  both he, and his children  [55] For unto me the children  of Israel  are servants;  whom I brought forth  out of the land  of Egypt:  I am the LORD  your God. 

What does Leviticus 25:8-55 Mean?

Contextual Meaning

"The Jubilee legislation found in Leviticus 25 presents a vision of social and economic reform unsurpassed in the ancient Near East." [1]
The word "jubilee" probably comes from the Hebrew yabal, meaning "to bring [2]," as in the bringing forth of produce. [3] The year of jubilee did for the land what the Day of Atonement did for the people. This year removed the disturbance or confusion of God"s will for the land that resulted from the activity of sinners eventually. During this year God brought the land back into the condition that He intended for it. The fact that the priests announced the year of jubilee on the Day of Atonement ( Leviticus 25:9) confirms this correspondence.
"The main purpose of these laws is to prevent the utter ruin of debtors." [4]
However this law also remedied the evils of slavery, destitution, and exhausting toil.