Exodus 23:10
in Exodus 23For six years you are to sow your land and gather its produce,
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And six years thou shalt sow thy land, and shalt gather in the increase thereof:
KJV
And six years thou shalt sow thy land, and shalt gather in the fruits thereof:
⋯
This verse in Exodus 23
Commentary
5 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
This is the first mention of the Sabbatical year; the law for it is given at length in Lev 25:2. Both the Sabbatical year and the weekly Sabbath are here spoken of exclusively in their relation to the poor, as bearing testimony to the equality of the people in their covenant with Yahweh.
This site's exposition
six years thou shalt sow thy land
on Exodus 23:10-11
The seventh year belongs to the land, and the beneficiaries named are the poor of thy people first and then the beasts of the field. This is the arrival of the sabbatical year, which Leviticus 25:1 to 25:7 sets out at length and calls a sabbath of rest unto the land. 2 Chronicles 36:21 looks back on the exile and says the land enjoyed her sabbaths for seventy years, counting up the rests that were never kept.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
The institution of the sabbatical year was designed, 1. To shew what a plentiful land that was, into which God was bringing them, that so numerous a people could have rich maintenance out of the products of so small a country, without foreign trade, and yet could spare the increase of every seventh year.
And six years thou shall sow thy land, The land of Canaan, given to their ancestors and to them, and which they were now going to inherit; and when they came into it they were to plant it with vines and olives; or rather, these being ready planted, they were to prune and dress them; and they were to till their land, and plough it, and sow it with various sorts of grain, for six years running, from the time of their possession of it: and shall gather in the fruits thereof; corn and wine, and oil, into their own garners, treasuries, and cellars, as their own property, to dispose of as they pleased for their own use and profit.
Now this was designed, 1. To show what a plentiful land that was into which God was bringing them--that so numerous a people could have rich maintenance out of the produce of so small a country, without foreign trade, and yet could spare the increase of every seventh year.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
This too. Like many of the previous laws. is mentioned because of that the poor of thy people may eat (v. 11).
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
BUT THE SEVENTH YEAR ‘TISHM’TENAH U’N'TASHTAH’ (THOU SHALT LET IT REST AND LIE FALLOW). “ Tishm’tenah — by not tilling it. U’n'tashtah by not eating of its produce after ‘the time of removal.’ 358 See Leviticus:6-7.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 3 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
8 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְשֵׁ֥שׁ | veshesh | and six | H8337 → | 216 times |
| שָׁנִ֖ים | shanim | years | H8141 → | 877 times |
| תִּזְרַ֣ע | tizra' | you will sow | H2232 → | |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| אַרְצֶ֑ךָ | ʾartzekha | land your | H776 → | 2504 times |
| וְאָסַפְתָּ֖ | veasafta | and you will gather | H622 → | 200 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| תְּבוּאָתָֽהּ׃ | tevuatah | produce its | H8393 → |
וְשֵׁ֥שׁand six
vesheshH8337 →216 times
שָׁנִ֖יםyears
shanimH8141 →877 times
תִּזְרַ֣עyou will sow
tizra'H2232 →
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
אַרְצֶ֑ךָland your
ʾartzekhaH776 →2504 times
וְאָסַפְתָּ֖and you will gather
veasaftaH622 →200 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
תְּבוּאָתָֽהּ׃produce its
tevuatahH8393 →
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Exodus
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: The Pentateuch and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.