Leviticus 25:2
in Leviticus 25“Speak to the Israelites and say to them: When you enter the land that I am giving you, the land itself must observe a Sabbath to the LORD.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye come into the land which I give you, then shall the land keep a sabbath unto Jehovah.
KJV
Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye come into the land which I give you, then shall the land keep a sabbath unto the Lord.
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This verse in Leviticus 25
Commentary
6 notes on this verseThe land keep a Sabbath - See this ordinance explained, Exo 23:11 (note). It may be asked here: if it required all the annual produce of the field to support the inhabitants, how could the people be nourished the seventh year, when no produce was received from the fields? To this it may be answered, that God sent his blessing in an especial manner on the sixth year, (see Lev 25:21, Lev 25:22), and it brought forth fruit for three years. How astonishing and convincing was this miracle! Could there possibly be any deception here? No!
This site's exposition
the LORD said to Moses on Mount Sinai
on Leviticus 25:1-2
The chapter's first sabbath belongs to the ground. Exodus 23:10 and 23:11 had ordered a fallow seventh year for the poor and the beasts. Here that year is called a sabbath unto the LORD, so God is the reason for the soil's rest.
This site's exposition
the land itself must observe a Sabbath
The command waits on a condition, When you enter the land, so Israel receives a farming law while still camped at Sinai. Adam Clarke asked how a people fed from its fields could live through a year without a crop, and verses 21 and 22 answer it.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them,....
In this God expected from them extraordinary instances of faith and obedience, and they might expect from God extraordinary instances of power and goodness in providing for them,
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
It lay entirely fallow, and its spontaneous produce was the common property of the poor and the stranger, the cattle and game. This year of rest was to invigorate the productive powers of the land, as the weekly Sabbath was a refreshment to men and cattle.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
“What has the subject of the Sabbatical year [stated here in this section] to do with that of Mount Sinai? Were not all the commandments declared on Sinai?
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. 5 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
18 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| דַּבֵּ֞ר | daber | speak | H1696 → | 1141 times |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| בְּנֵ֤י | benei | [the] people of | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| יִשְׂרָאֵל֙ | yisrael | Israel | H3478 → | 2507 times |
| וְאָמַרְתָּ֣ | veamarta | and you will say | H559 → | 5305 times |
| אֲלֵהֶ֔ם | ʾalehem | to them | H413 → | 5510 times |
| כִּ֤י | ki | if | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| תָבֹ֙אוּ֙ | tavou | you will go | H935 → | 2568 times |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | into | H413 → | 5510 times |
| הָאָ֔רֶץ | haaretz | the land | H776 → | 2504 times |
| אֲשֶׁ֥ר | ʾasher | which | H834 → | 5497 times |
| אֲנִ֖י | ʾani | I | H589 → | 874 times |
| נֹתֵ֣ן | noten | [am] about to give | H5414 → | 2011 times |
| לָכֶ֑ם | lakhem | to <the> you | ||
| וְשָׁבְתָ֣ה | veshavtah | and it will cease | H7673 → | 71 times |
| הָאָ֔רֶץ | haaretz | the land | H776 → | 2504 times |
| שַׁבָּ֖ת | shabat | a sabbath | H7676 → | 110 times |
| לַיהוָֽה׃ | layahweh | to Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
דַּבֵּ֞רspeak
daberH1696 →1141 times
אֶל־to
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
בְּנֵ֤י[the] people of
beneiH1121 →4930 times
יִשְׂרָאֵל֙Israel
yisraelH3478 →2507 times
וְאָמַרְתָּ֣and you will say
veamartaH559 →5305 times
אֲלֵהֶ֔םto them
ʾalehemH413 →5510 times
כִּ֤יif
kiH3588 →4482 times
תָבֹ֙אוּ֙you will go
tavouH935 →2568 times
אֶל־into
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
הָאָ֔רֶץthe land
haaretzH776 →2504 times
אֲשֶׁ֥רwhich
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
אֲנִ֖יI
ʾaniH589 →874 times
נֹתֵ֣ן[am] about to give
notenH5414 →2011 times
לָכֶ֑םto <the> you
lakhem
וְשָׁבְתָ֣הand it will cease
veshavtahH7673 →71 times
הָאָ֔רֶץthe land
haaretzH776 →2504 times
שַׁבָּ֖תa sabbath
shabatH7676 →110 times
לַיהוָֽה׃to Yahweh
layahwehH3068 →6520 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
2 Chronicles 36:21So the land enjoyed its Sabbath rest all the days of the desolation, until seventy years were completed, in fulfillment of the word of the LORD through Jeremiah.
it leads to
- Jeremiah 29:10
For this is what the LORD says: “When Babylon’s seventy years are complete, I will attend to you and confirm My promise to restore you to this place.
- Leviticus 26:34–35
Then the land shall enjoy its Sabbaths all the days it lies desolate, while you are in the land of your enemies. At that time the land will rest and enjoy its Sabbaths.
- Zechariah 1:12
Then the angel of the LORD said, “How long, O LORD of Hosts, will You withhold mercy from Jerusalem and the cities of Judah, with which You have been angry these seventy years?”
- Jeremiah 25:11–12
And this whole land will become a desolate wasteland, and these nations will serve the king of Babylon for seventy years.
- Daniel 9:2
in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, understood from the sacred books, according to the word of the LORD to Jeremiah the prophet, that the desolation of Jerusalem would last seventy years.
- Jeremiah 29:10
Through
Isaiah 8:8It will pour into Judah, swirling and sweeping over it, reaching up to the neck; its spreading streams will cover your entire land, O Immanuel!
it leads to
- Isaiah 7:14
Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call Him Immanuel.
- Matthew 1:23
“Behold, the virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call Him Immanuel” (which means, “God with us”).
- Isaiah 7:14
Through
Exodus 23:10For six years you are to sow your land and gather its produce,
it leads to
- Leviticus 25:3–4
For six years you may sow your field and prune your vineyard and gather its crops.
- Leviticus 25:3–4
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Leviticus
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Andrew Bonar, A Commentary on Leviticus; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: The Pentateuch and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.