Bible references

Key NT Scriptures

• Matthew 6:25-31
  Click to retrieve Matthew 6:25-31

Key OT Scriptures

• Deuteronomy 15:1-11
  Click to retrieve Deuteronomy 15:1-11
  Jewish Commentary
• Exodus 23:10-11
  Jewish Commentary
• Exodus 34:21
  Jewish Commentary
• Leviticus 25:1-7
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  Jewish Commentary
• Leviticus 25:20-22
  Jewish Commentary

Supportive NT Scriptures

• 2 Corinthians 9:10-12
• Luke 12:22-31
  Click to retrieve Luke 12:22-31

Supportive OT Scriptures

• Proverbs 11:24-25
  Jewish Commentary

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Commentary

Rabbi Michael Rudolph

The Sabbatical Year is characterized by the releasing of debts that are owed to us, 2 and by allowing our land to rest - that is, not cultivating the land or harvesting its crops. On the one hand, this Mitzvah can be viewed as one of benevolence (" so that the poor among your people can eat ... " Exodus 23:11 ) because (1) crops that grow of their own accord during the Sh'mittah are available to the poor for gleaning, and (2) Israelite debtors who cannot repay what they have borrowed can be released from a lifetime of bondage. On the other hand, I believe that the primary reason for the Sabbatical Year is revealed in Deuteronomy 25:20-22 , which promises God's supernatural provision to those who will obey Him and trust Him. A question that naturally comes to mind is how releasing loans and resting our land in the Sabbatical Year applies today. I am of the opinion that it continues to apply where today's circumstances are similar to those under which the ancient Israelites lived. Furthermore, when it does apply, it applies not only to Jews, but also to K'rov Yisrael Gentiles. How similar the circumstances need to be are revealed to us by the Ruach HaKodesh as we pray for guidance. As for most Gentiles (not K'rovei Yisrael ), I believe that their compliance is a blessing but not a requirement; I draw this conclusion (as an analogy) from Isaiah 56:1-7 , which promises blessing to the foreigner who keeps God's Sabbaths, but apparently does not require it of him. One thing that is certain, however, is that God continues to expect all of us to look to Him for provision, rather than to think that we can cause provision to come to us through our own efforts. We ought to consider the Sabbatical Year (and God's other Sabbaths - both weekly and annual) to be a test of our faith, because our willingness to release loans and to rest our land in the Sabbatical Year (as well as rest ourselves on the other Sabbaths), is an indication that we trust God, and are willing to rely upon Him. 2. There is a rabbinical document called a pruzbul , by which a private debt is made public by transferring it to a beit din , thus making it redeemable during and after a Sh'mittah . It is a legal contrivance to circumvent the discharge of a debt in the Sh'mittah .

Rabbi Daniel Juster

In modern societies that are not primarily agricultural, the Sh'mittah command (like th Jubilee command) is difficult to apply. However, there are underlying principles that have been noted by many Bible scholars. First, the command shows the importance of renewing and preserving the land so that it is not worn out. Secondly, the command shows that God does not want people to be forever burdened with debt, but rather to be able to have a new start. So, the command encompasses a principle of their needing to be a way of release from debts that lead to destruction. Bankruptcy laws are probably the modern social equivalent because the same underlying principle is involved. The Biblical text provides that assistance should be made available for those truly in need, and the Sabbatical year's discharge of debts, coupled with the requirement that we not harvest the corners of our fields (thereby allowing some of our crops to be gleaned) are special applications of God's requirement of us that we care for the poor.

Classical commentators

Maimonides, Meir, and HaChinuch agree that all debts must be cancelled during the Sabbatical Year, and that loans to needy Jews may not be withheld because an approaching Sh'mittah will preclude their collectability. Although Deuteronomy 15:3 permits the repayment of loans made to foreigners to be demanded during the Sh'mittah , Maimonides and HaChinuch interpret the Scripture as requiring that loans to idolaters be collected. Meir's compilation does not reference Deuteronomy 15:3 at all, and does not promulgate any such requirement. Also, none of the commentators connect trusting God with the Sh'mittah's cancellation of debts, or with Scripture's prohibition against our refusing to make uncollectable loans to needy Jews prior to a Sh'mittah . Similarly, neither Maimonides, nor Meir, nor HaChinuch connect trusting God with Scripture's requirement that we allow our land to rest during the Sabbatical Year. Meir alone asserts that agricultural commandments pertaining to the Sh'mittah are only applicable in Eretz Yisrael , and he therefore places them in an appendix, and lists them separately from his other mitzvot .

Copyright © Michael Rudolph and Daniel C. Juster, The Law of Messiah, Torah from a New Covenant Perspective, Volume 1 & 2

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Based on The Law of Messiah - Torah from a New Covenant Perspective by Michael Rudolph and Daniel C. Juster.

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Disclaimer: the original content is authored by Rabbi Michael Rudolph and Rabbi Daniel Juster; additional notes or implementation details on this website are not part of their original work and do not represent their views.

Record source: The Law of Messiah - Torah from a New Covenant Perspective - Volume 1 & 2

Copyright note: Copyright © Michael Rudolph and Daniel C. Juster, The Law of Messiah, Torah from a New Covenant Perspective, Volume 1 & 2