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繁體中文
英語原文
The law of this chapter concerns the lands and estates of the Israelites in Canaan, the occupying and transferring of which were to be under the divine direction, as well as the management of religious worship; for, as the tabernacle was a holy house, so Canaan was a holy land; and upon that account, as much as any thing, it was the glory of all lands. In token of a peculiar title which God had to this land, and a right to dispose of it, he appointed, I. That every seventh year should be a year of rest from occupying the land, a sabbatical year, Le 25:1-7. 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, Le 25:18-22. II. That every fiftieth year should be a year of jubilee, that is, 1. A year of release of debts and mortgages, and return to the possession of their alienated lands, Le 25:8-17. Particular directions are given, (1.) Concerning the sale and redemption of lands, Le 25:23-28. (2.) Of houses in cities and villages, with a proviso for Levite-cities, Le 25:29-34. 2. A year of release of servants and bond-slaves. (1.) Here is inserted a law for the kind usage of poor debtors, Le 25:35-38. (2.) Then comes the law for the discharge of all Israelites that were sold for servants, in the year of jubilee, if they were not redeemed before. [1.] If they were sold to Israelites, Le 25:39-46. And, [2.] If sold to proselytes, Le 25:47-55. All these appointments have something moral and of perpetual obligation in them, though in the letter of them they were not only peculiar to the Jews, but to them only while they were in Canaan.
1-7
The Sabbatical Year (1490 BC)
繁體中文
安息年（主前1490年）
¹ 耶和華在西奈山對摩西說：
² 「你曉諭以色列人說：你們到了我所賜給你們的那地，地就要向耶和華守安息。
³ 六年你要種田地，六年你要修整葡萄園，收藏地的出產。
⁴ 但第七年地要守聖安息，就是向耶和華守的安息；不可種田，也不可修整葡萄園。
⁵ 遺落自長的莊稼不可收割，沒有修理的葡萄樹上所結的果子也不可摘取；因為這是地的安息年。
⁶ 地在安息年所出的，要給你和你的僕人、婢女、雇工人，並寄居在你那裏的外人當食物。
⁷ 你的牲畜和你地上的走獸，也要以地的出產為食物。」
摩西的律法非常重視安息日，安息日的成聖是最早、最古老的神聖制度，為要在人中間維持對造物主的認識和敬拜；那律法不僅恢復了每週安息日的遵守，更為進一步增進其尊榮，加設了安息年的制度：第七年地要守聖安息（Le 25:4）。猶太人由此推衍出一個通俗的傳統：世界存在六千年之後（千年在神如一日），世界將要終止，永恆的安息隨之而來——用這來推定那日那時，實在是一個薄弱的基礎，因為那日那時惟獨屬神的特權才能知道。這安息年從九月開始——在收割結束之後，他們宗教年曆的七月：律法規定：1. 在收割結束後隨即而來的播種期，他們不可在地裏播種；春天也不可修整葡萄園，因此也不可指望來年的收割或摘葡萄。2. 地裏自己出產的，他們不可主張任何產權或使用權，只能隨得隨吃，將其留給窮人、僕人、外人和牲畜（Le 25:5-7）。這要作地的安息年；他們既不可做與地有關的工，也不可指望地的果子；一切年度勞作在第七年當暫停，正如日常勞作在第七天暫停一樣。猶太人說他們「直到完成了對迦南的征服之後才開始計算安息年——那是在約書亞第八年；此後第七年就是第一個安息年，第五十年就是禧年。」在這一年要有普遍的債務豁免（申15:1,2），並在節期中公開宣讀律法（申31:10,11），使之更加莊嚴。如今：(1.) 神要藉此向他們表明：他們的地主是神，而他們是在他之下憑旨意使用的佃戶。地主通常與佃戶約定何時翻地、耕作多久、何時讓地休息：神要如此將那好地賜給他們，附帶這樣的條款和限制，使他們知道他們不是業主，而是倚靠主的。(2.) 讓地有時休息是對地的恩待，並能保持地的肥力（如我們的農人所說），為後代着想——神要他們顧念後代的滿足，不可將地當作只為一代人而設計的來使用。(3.) 當他們這樣一整年放下一切農事，他們就有更多餘暇參與宗教的操練，得以認識神和他的律法。(4.) 他們由此受教要慈愛慷慨，不可獨吞一切，而要樂意與別人分享神恩惠的禮物——那些是地自己出產的。(5.) 他們被帶入對神旨意持續不斷的倚靠中，發現正如人活着不是單靠食物，人得食物也不僅靠自己的勤勞——若神願意，可以藉神口中所出賜福的話，絲毫不用人的勞心費力（太4:4）。(6.) 他們被提醒人在伊甸園中所過的安逸生活——那時他吃各樣好東西，不像後來那樣汗流滿面。勞碌和辛勞是隨罪而來的。(7.) 他們受教去思考窮人是怎樣生活的——他們既不種也不收，僅靠神對少許之物的賜福。(8.) 這安息年預表了一切信徒藉着基督——我們真正的挪亞——所得的屬靈安息；他論到我們的操作和手中的勞碌，因為耶和華咒詛了地，就給了我們安慰和安息（創5:29）。藉着他，我們從世俗憂慮和勞碌的重擔中得釋放——兩者都為我們成聖、成為甘甜；我們也被激勵和鼓勵因信而活。正如這地的安息年所出的果子是共同享用的，基督所成就的救恩也是共同的救恩；這安息年似乎在基督教會中重新復興了——那時信徒都是一心一意的，沒有一人說他的東西有一樣是自己的，都是大家公用（徒2:44）。
英語原文
The Sabbatical Year (1490 BC)
¹ And the LORD spake unto Moses in Mount Sinai, saying,
² 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.
³ Six years thou shalt sow thy field, and six years thou shalt prune thy vineyard, and gather in the fruit thereof;
⁴ But in the seventh year shall be a sabbath of rest unto the land, a sabbath for the LORD: thou shalt neither sow thy field, nor prune thy vineyard.
⁵ That which groweth of its own accord of thy harvest thou shalt not reap, neither gather the grapes of thy vine undressed: for it is a year of rest unto the land.
⁶ And the sabbath of the land shall be meat for you; for thee, and for thy servant, and for thy maid, and for thy hired servant, and for thy stranger that sojourneth with thee,
⁷ And for thy cattle, and for the beast that are in thy land, shall all the increase thereof be meat.
The law of Moses laid a great deal of stress upon the sabbath, the sanctification of which was the earliest and most ancient of all divine institutions, designed for the keeping up of the knowledge and worship of the Creator among men; that law not only revived the observance of the weekly sabbath, but, for the further advancement of the honour of them, added the institution of a sabbatical year: In the seventh year shall be a sabbath of rest unto the land, Le 25:4. And hence the Jews collect that vulgar tradition that after the world has stood six thousand years (a thousand years being to God as one day) it shall cease, and the eternal sabbath shall succeed—a weak foundation on which to build the fixing of that day and hour which it is God's prerogative to know. This sabbatical year began in September, at the end of harvest, the seventh month of their ecclesiastical year: and the law was, 1. That at the seed-time, which immediately followed the end of their in-gathering, they should sow no corn in their land, and that they should not in the spring dress their vineyards, and consequently that they should not expect either harvest or vintage the next year. 2. That what their ground did produce of itself they should not claim any property or use in, otherwise than from hand to mouth, but leave it for the poor, servants, strangers, and cattle, Le 25:5-7. It must be a sabbath of rest to the land; they must neither do any work about it, nor expect any fruit from it; all annual labours must be intermitted in the seventh year, as much as daily labours on the seventh day. The Jews say they "began not to reckon for the sabbatical year till they had completed the conquest of Canaan, which was in the eighth year of Joshua; the seventh year after that was the first sabbatical year, and so the fiftieth year was the jubilee." This year there was to be a general release of debts (De 15:1,2), and a public reading of the law in the feast (De 31:10,11), to make it the more solemn. Now, (1.) God would hereby show them that he was their landlord, and that they were tenants at will under him. Landlords are wont to stipulate with their tenants when they shall break up their ground, how long they shall till it, and when they shall let it rest: God would thus give, grant, and convey, that good land to them, under such provisos and limitations as should let them know that they were not proprietors, but dependents on their Lord. (2.) It was a kindness to their land to let it rest sometimes, and would keep it in heart (as our husbandmen express it) for posterity, whose satisfaction God would have them to consult, and not to use the ground as if it were designed only for one age. (3.) When they were thus for a whole year taken off from all country business, they would have the more leisure to attend the exercises of religion, and to get the knowledge of God and his law. (4.) They were hereby taught to be charitable and generous, and not to engross all to themselves, but to be willing that others should share with them in the gifts of God's bounty, which the earth brought forth of itself. (5.) They were brought to live in a constant dependence upon the divine providence, finding that, as man lives not by bread alone, so he has bread, not by his own industry alone, but, if God pleases, by the word of blessing from the mouth of God, without any care or pains of man, Mt 4:4. (6.) They were reminded of the easy life man lived in paradise, when he ate of every good thing, not, as since, in the sweat of his face. Labour and toil came in with sin. (7.) They were taught to consider how the poor lived, that did neither sow nor reap, even by the blessing of God upon a little. (8.) This year of rest typified the spiritual rest which all believers enter into through Christ, our true Noah, who giveth us comfort and rest concerning our work, and the toil of our hands, because of the ground which the Lord hath cursed, Ge 5:29. Through him we are eased of the burden of worldly care and labour, both being sanctified and sweetened to us, and we are enabled and encouraged to live by faith. And, as the fruits of this sabbath of the land were enjoyed in common, so the salvation wrought out by Christ is a common salvation; and this sabbatical year seems to have been revived in the Christian church, when the believers had all things common, Ac 2:44.
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Institution of the Jubilee; the Year of the Jubilee (1490 BC)
繁體中文
禧年之設立；禧年（主前 1490 年）
⁸ 你要計算七個安息年，就是七七年；七個安息年的日子共是四十九年。
⁹ 當年七月初十日，你要大發角聲；這日就是贖罪日，要在遍地發出角聲。
¹⁰ 第五十年，你們要當作聖年，在遍地給一切的居民宣告自由：這年必為你們的禧年；各人要歸自己的產業，各歸本家。
¹¹ 第五十年要作為你們的禧年：這年不可耕種，也不可收割自生的，也不可摘取沒有修理的葡萄園果子。
¹² 因為這是禧年；你們要當為聖年：你們可以喫地中的出產。
¹³ 在這禧年，你們各人要歸自己的產業。
¹⁴ 你若賣甚麼給鄰舍，或是從鄰舍的手中買甚麼，彼此不可虧負：
¹⁵ 你要按禧年以後的年數，向鄰舍買，他也要按年數的果子賣給你：
¹⁶ 年歲若多，要加增價值；年歲若少，要減少價值：因為他是按果子的年數賣給你。
¹⁷ 你們彼此不可虧負，只要敬畏你的神：因為我是耶和華你們的神。
¹⁸ 你們要遵行我的律例，謹守我的典章，也必遵行；這樣，你們就可以在那地安然居住。
¹⁹ 地必出土產，你們就要喫飽，在那地安然居住。
²⁰ 你們若說：這第七年我們不耕種，也不收藏出產，我們喫甚麼呢？
²¹ 我必在第六年賜福給你們，地便生三年的土產。
²² 第八年你們要耕種，也要喫陳糧；等到第九年的出產收進來的時候，你們還喫陳糧。
這裏有：I. 禧年的總體設立（Le 25:8-22 等）。
1. 何時守禧年：在七個安息年之後（Le 25:8），到底是第四十九年還是第五十年，是學者們爭論的一大問題：看來最有可能的是第七個安息年，即第四十九年（這是按一種十分常見的說法稱為第五十年），這一點我認為已被那位博學的年代學者卡爾維修解釋得相當清楚，其反對意見也被他消除了；但這裏不是辯論這問題的地方。從逾越節到五旬節（即第五十天，五旬節就是這個意思），要計算七個完整的安息，照樣從一個禧年到下一個禧年要計算七個安息年，而第七年被稱為第五十年；這一切對「七」的尊崇，都是為了神在第七日安息了創造之工的緣故。
2. 禧年當如何宣佈：要在全國各地吹角（Le 25:5），既要通知所有的人，也要表達他們的喜樂和勝利；jobel（禧年）這個詞，據推測就是指角聲的一種特別的方式，與其他任何聲音有所區分；因為若吹無定的號聲，誰能預備打仗呢（1Co 14:8）。角聲是在贖罪日結束時吹響的；禧年便從那時開始，這安排十分恰當：當他們為罪謙卑刻苦己心之後，就使他們聽見這歡喜快樂的聲音（詩 51:8）。當他們與神和好之後，就宣告自由；因為罪債的消除是領受一切真實安慰的先決條件（Ro 5:1,2）。我們的主耶穌正是照着這禧年莊嚴宣告的樣式，被預言要報告耶和華的恩年（賽 61:2）。祂差遣使徒，以永遠福音的號角來宣告這恩年，要傳給凡受造的。如今仍有預言說，到了末日，號筒要響，那號聲要釋放死人脫離墳墓的捆綁，並恢復我們的產業。
3. 在那一年除了每個安息年所守的地的安息（Le 25:11,12），以及債務的豁免（De 15:2,3）之外，還要格外作甚麼；就是要照律法使每一個以色列人恢復自上一個禧年以來他所失去的一切產業和自由；這樣看來，從來沒有一個民族像以色列那樣，在自由和產業（這是一個民族的榮耀）上得到如此確實的保障。神作了有效的安排，使他們只要緊緊跟隨神，這兩樣不但不會被別人以暴力奪去，也不會被他們自己的愚昧丟棄。
（1）每個人在迦南地分得的產業中所有的權利，不能被轉讓超過禧年；到了禧年，他或他的後裔就要歸回，對那產業擁有如同以往一樣毫無爭議的所有權和不受干擾的佔有權（Le 25:10,13）：各人要歸自己的產業；因此若有人賣了或抵押了他的地產或其中一部分，那地到了禧年就要歸還給他或他的後嗣，免費且無任何負擔。這對買主並無不公，因為禧年的日期是固定的，人人都知道何時來到，也照着這一點議定交易。按我們的律法，若土地是賜給某人及其繼承人的，附帶條件是他永不可出賣或轉讓，這賜予是有效的，但這條件是無效且互相矛盾的：Iniquum est ingenuis hominibus（法學家說）non esse liberam rerum suarum alienationem——禁止自由人轉讓自己的財產是不公正的。但書上也一致公認，若王將土地以世襲方式賜給某人，附帶條件他不可轉讓，這條件是有效的。如今神要讓祂的百姓以色列人知道，那地是祂的，他們不過是祂的租戶；因此祂約束他們，使他們沒有權利出賣，只能出租，期限不得超過下一個禧年。藉此規定，[1] 他們的家譜要小心保存，這對澄清我們救主的譜系大有用處。[2] 各支派的區分要維持下去；因為人雖然可以在別的支派中購買土地，卻不能保留到禧年以後，到那時土地自然就歸回原主了。[3] 沒有人能因以房接房，以地連地（賽 5:8）而暴富，而當專心耕種自己所有的，而不是擴充產業。羅馬共和國有時也規定，每人所擁有的土地不得超過五百畝。[4] 沒有一個家族會因此沉淪敗落，被定為永遠的貧窮。神如此特別顧念那百姓的體面，不但保全那塊美地歸全國所有，也保全每人應得的份歸他的家族，作為永遠的產業，使那地更能預表那不能奪去的上好福分。
（2）每個人與生俱來的自由，若是已被出賣或喪失，也當在禧年歸回：各人要歸本家（Le 25:10）。那些被賣到別家的人因此就成了自己家中的外人；但在這救贖之年，他們要歸回。這預表了我們藉着基督從罪和撒但的奴役中得贖，並恢復到神兒女榮耀的自由之中。有人計算，基督死的那一年正是禧年，也是最後一個守過的禧年。但無論如何，我們確知是兒子叫我們自由，我們就真自由了。
II. 藉此機會設立的一條禁止在買賣土地時欺壓的律法；買方和賣方都不可彼此欺騙（Le 25:14-17）。簡而言之，買方不可少給，賣方不可多取，要按因必在禧年歸回而調整的公正價值來計算。要先確定土地每年的淨產值是多少，然後算出到禧年為止值多少年的收益。但他們只可按果子的年數計算（Le 25:15），因此要扣除安息年的年份。不難看出，禧年越近，土地的價值就越低。年歲若少，要減少價值。但我們在實際中卻不容易由此推論出：這世界越接近其終局，我們就越當看輕世上的事物：因為時候減少了，這世界的樣子將要過去了，那置買的，要像沒有所得的一樣。人若面對一棟搖搖欲墜的舊房子，斷不會太看重它。一切交易都當按這條規則進行：你們彼此不可虧負，也不可利用對方的無知或急需來佔便宜，只要敬畏你的神。請注意，敬畏神的心若在心中作王，就必有效約束我們在言語行為上不對鄰舍行任何不義；因為人雖然看不見，但神必報應那欺騙虧負弟兄的人（1Pe 4:6）。尼希米或許正是引用這條律法（Ne 5:15），他告訴我們，他沒有欺壓手下的人，是因敬畏神。
III. 神向他們保證，他們守這些安息年不但不會吃虧，反而大有益處。神應許：1. 他們必安全：你們就可以在那地安然居住（Le 25:18，又見 Le 25:19）。這詞既指外在的平安，也指內心的安穩和信靠，使他們既免於災禍，也免於對災禍的恐懼。2. 他們必富足：*你們就要喫飽。*請注意，我們若謹慎盡本分，就可歡歡喜喜地將我們的安慰交託給神。3. 在那既不耕種也不收藏的一年，他們也不至缺乏當有的糧食：我必在第六年賜福給你們，地便生三年的土產（Le 25:21）。這是，（1）一個持續的奇事：平日一年只能供應下一年的需要，而第六年的出產卻能供應到第九年。（2）對嗎哪的長久記念——嗎哪在第六天賜下雙倍，夠兩天之用。（3）這是要鼓勵歷代一切屬神的人，在盡本分的道路上信靠祂，將憂慮卸給祂。在順服中的信心和捨己，斷不至吃虧。
²³ 地不可永賣，因為地是我的；你們在我面前是客旅，是寄居的。
²⁴ 在你們所得為業的全地，也要准人將地贖回。
²⁵ 你的弟兄若漸漸窮乏，賣了幾分他的地業，他至近的親屬就要來把弟兄所賣的贖回。
²⁶ 若沒有能給他贖回的，他自己漸漸富足，能贖回，
²⁷ 就要計算賣出的年數，把多餘的價值還給買主，他自己便歸回自己的地業。
²⁸ 倘若他不能將地贖回，那賣了的地就要留在買主的手裏，直到禧年：到了禧年，地要出，他自己便歸回自己的地業。
²⁹ 人若賣城內的住宅，在賣了以後可以贖回，在一整年之內有贖回權；在一整年以內，他都可以贖。
³⁰ 若在一整年之內不贖回，那城內的住宅就要永遠歸給買主，世世代代為業；到了禧年也不得出。
³¹ 但房屋在無城牆的村莊裏的，要如鄉下的田地一樣：可以贖回，到了禧年也要出。
³² 然而利未人的城邑，和他們所得為業之城中的房屋，利未人隨時可以贖回。
³³ 若有人從利未人手中買去的，那賣了的房屋，到了禧年就要出；因為利未人城邑的房屋，是他們在以色列人中的產業。
³⁴ 只是他們城邑的郊野之地不可賣，因為是他們永遠的產業。
**³⁵ 你的弟兄若在你那裏漸漸窮乏，在你手中敗落；你就要幫補他：他雖是外人，是寄居的，也要使他在你那裏存活。
³⁶ 不可向他取利，也不可向他多要；只要敬畏你的神；使你的弟兄在你那裏存活。
³⁷ 你的銀子不可向他取利，你的糧食也不可向他多要。
³⁸ 我是耶和華你們的神，曾領你們從埃及地出來，為要將迦南地賜給你們，也要作你們的神。
這裏有：I. 關於以色列人在迦南地的地產及其轉讓的律法。1. 任何土地都不可從分得那地的家族中永遠賣斷。理由是：地是我的，你們在我面前是客旅，是寄居的（Le 25:23）。（1）神在這塊地上有特別的所有權，祂要藉此約束使他們常常記念這一點。那些已經將自己獻給神、因而也將一切所有的都獻給祂的敬虔人，他們的產業以特別的方式在神的支配之下，而祂的安排必須順服。（2）他們在那地上是與神同作客旅和寄居的，又有祂的會幕在他們中間，若轉讓自己那一份地，實際上就等於割斷自己與神相交和聯合的關係，而那塊地正是這相交的記號和象徵；拿伯正是為此緣故，寧可惹王怒，也不肯放棄先人所得的產業（1Ki 21:3）。2. 若有人因貧困所迫，為養家而賣了地，日後若能力恢復，可以在禧年之前贖回（Le 25:24,26,27），價錢要按從出賣到禧年的年數來計算。3. 若本人無力贖回，他的至近親屬可以贖（Le 25:25）：至近的親屬可以來贖。這位至近的親屬在希伯來文稱為Goel，即救贖者（Nu 5:8，得 3:9），贖地的權利屬於他。這預表了基督，祂取了我們的血肉之體，為要作我們的至近親屬，與我們骨肉相親；而祂既是我們惟一能贖的至親，贖回的權利就屬於祂。至於我們其他一切的親屬，都當脫下鞋子（得 4:6,7）；他們不能贖。但基督能贖，也已經贖了我們因罪而喪失和轉讓的產業，並將其重新賜給一切因信與祂聯合的人。我們知道這位救贖主活着（伯 19:25）。也有人將至近親屬的這項本分解釋為象徵基督徒之間當有的弟兄之愛，激勵他們挽回跌倒的人，並以溫柔的心把他們挽回。4. 若在禧年之前未曾贖回，到了禧年就自然歸還給賣主或抵押的人：到了禧年，地要出（Le 25:28）。這是象徵神在基督裏向我們所施的白白恩典；我們藉此——而非靠任何代價或功勞——得以恢復神的恩寵，重新獲得樂園的權利；我們的始祖和我們在他們裏面，因不順服而被逐出樂園。5. 城牆之內的房屋與鄉下的土地，或鄉村無城牆的房屋之間有所區分。城牆內的房屋更多是人自己勞碌的成果，不像鄉下的土地是神直接賜予的；因此若有人賣了城內的房屋，可以在賣後一年之內隨時贖回，否則就永遠歸買主為業，到了禧年也不必歸回（Le 25:29,30）。這條規定是為了鼓勵外人和進教者來他們中間定居。雖然他們不能在迦南購買土地作為自己和後裔的產業，卻可以在有城牆的城裏購買房屋，這對那些被認為靠貿易為生的人最為便利。但鄉村的房屋只能像土地一樣處置。6. 還附有一條優待利未人的條款，作為上述規則的例外。（1）利未人城邑中的住宅可以隨時贖回，若不贖回，到了禧年也要歸還（Le 25:32,33），因為利未人除了城邑和城邑的郊野之外沒有別的產業，神要表明利未人是祂特別看顧的；而且他們不至窮乏、不至被人從產業中擠出，也關乎公眾利益。（2）他們城邑四周的田地（Nu 35:4,5）在任何時候都不可賣，因為這些田地不屬於個別的利未人，而屬於利未人的城邑，如同法人的產業，他們不可轉讓，否則就是虧負自己的支派；因此若有人賣了這些田地，那交易就是無效的（Le 25:34）。連埃及人也注意保全祭司的地（Ge 47:22）。因此基督教的政府也當特別保護福音事奉者的供給，這理由不亞於前者。
II. 一條救濟窮人、善待欠債之窮人的律法，這條律法比前者更具有普遍和長遠的約束力。
1. 窮人當得着救濟（Le 25:35）。此處（1）假定我們的弟兄陷入貧窮困苦：你的弟兄若漸漸窮乏；不但指按肉身作猶太人的弟兄，也指按本性作人的弟兄，因為下文說，他雖是外人，是寄居的。一切人都當被看作弟兄來對待，因為我們眾人同有一位父（Mal 2:10）。他雖貧窮，卻仍舊是你的弟兄，當被愛、被認作弟兄。貧窮並不廢除這關係。他雖是亞伯拉罕的子孫，卻可能漸漸窮乏，敗落下來。請注意，貧窮和敗落是極大的苦難，也是極常見的苦難：常有窮人和你們同在。（2）我們當盡的本分：*你就要幫補他。*以同情的心憐憫窮人；以服侍的心為他們做事；以供應的心按他們的需要和我們的能力給予幫助。
2. 不可欺壓欠債的窮人：你的弟兄若漸漸窮乏，為了家庭的必要供養而需要向你借錢，你不可向他取利，無論是銀錢或糧食都不可（Le 25:36,37）。這條律法至今約束我們到此地步，但決不能被理解為約束那些為購買土地、從事貿易或其他投資而借錢的情形；在那種情形下，放貸的人與借貸的人一同分享利潤是合理的。此處的律法顯然是為救濟窮人而設的，對窮人來說，有時無息借貸與白白的施捨同樣是慈善之舉。請留意此處用來反對盤剝的論據。（1）神作窮人的後盾：只要敬畏你的神，祂必為你向窮人所行的一切傷害與你算賬：你不懼怕人，卻當懼怕祂。（2）當救濟窮人，使他在你那裏存活，他也可能在某方面對你有用。富人不能缺少窮人的手，正如窮人不能缺少富人的錢囊一樣。（3）為要強調這條誡命，這裏所用的理由與十誡的序言相同：我是耶和華你們的神，曾領你們從埃及地出來（Le 25:38）。請注意，蒙了憐憫的人當施憐憫。神若向我們施恩，我們就不當對弟兄嚴苛。
英語原文
Institution of the Jubilee; the Year of the Jubilee (1490 BC)
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 jubilee 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 jubilee unto you; and ye shall return every man unto his possession, and ye shall return every man unto his family.
¹¹ A jubilee 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 jubilee; it shall be holy unto you: ye shall eat the increase thereof out of the field.
¹³ In the year of this jubilee 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 jubilee 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 store.
Here is, I. The general institution of the jubilee, Le 25:8-22, etc.
1. When it was to be observed: after seven sabbaths of years (Le 25:8), whether the forty-ninth or fiftieth is a great question among learned men: that it should be the seventh sabbatical year, that is, the forty-ninth (which by a very common form of speech is called the fiftieth), seems to me most probable, and is, I think, made pretty clear and the objections removed by that learned chronologer Calvisius; but this is not a place for arguing the question. Seven sabbaths of weeks were reckoned from the passover to the feast of pentecost (or fiftieth day, for so pentecost signifies), and so seven sabbaths of years from one jubilee to another, and the seventh is called the fiftieth; and all this honour is put upon the sevenths for the sake of God's resting the seventh day from the work of creation.
2. How it was to be proclaimed, with sound of trumpet in all parts of the country (Le 25:5), both to give notice to all persons of it, and to express their joy and triumph in it; and the word jobel, or jubilee, is supposed to signify some particular sound of the trumpet distinguishable from any other; for the trumpet that gives an uncertain sound is of little service, 1Co 14:8. The trumpet was sounded in the close of the day of atonement; thence the jubilee commenced, and very fitly; when they had been humbling and afflicting their souls for sin, then they were made to hear this voice of joy and gladness, Ps 11:8. When their peace was made with God, then liberty was proclaimed; for the removal of guilt is necessary to make way for the entrance of all true comfort, Ro 5:1,2. In allusion to this solemn proclamation of the jubilee, it was foretold concerning our Lord Jesus that he should preach the acceptable year of the Lord, Isa 61:2. He sent his apostles to proclaim it with the trumpet of the everlasting gospel, which they were to preach to every creature. And it stands still foretold that at the last day the trumpet shall sound, which shall release the dead out of the bondage of the grave, and restore us to our possessions.
3. What was to be done in that year extraordinary; besides the common rest of the land, which was observed every sabbatical year (Le 25:11,12), and the release of personal debts (De 15:2,3), there was to be the legal restoration of every Israelite to all the property, and all the liberty, which had been alienated from him since the last jubilee; so that never was any people so secured in their liberty and property (those glories of a people) as Israel was. Effectual care was taken that while they kept close to God these should not only not be taken from them by the violence of others, but not thrown away by their own folly.
(1.) The property which every man had in his dividend of the land of Canaan could not be alienated any longer than till the year of jubilee, and then he or his should return to it, and have a title to it as undisputed, and the possession of it as undisturbed, as ever (Le 25:10,13): "You shall return every man to his possession; so that if a man had sold or mortgaged his estate, or any part of it, it should then return to him or his heirs, free of all charge and encumbrance. Now this was no wrong to the purchaser, because the year of jubilee was fixed, and every man knew when it would come, and made his bargain accordingly. By our law indeed, if lands be granted to a man and his heirs, upon condition that he should never sell or alienate them, the grant is good, but the condition is void and repugnant: Iniquum est ingenuis hominibus (say the lawyers) non esse liberam rerum suarum alienationem—It is unjust to prevent free men from alienating their own possessions. Yet it is agreed in the books that if the king grant lands to a man in fee upon condition he shall not alienate, the condition is good. Now God would show his people Israel that their land was his, and they were his tenants; and therefore he ties them up that they shall not have power to sell, but only to make leases for any term of years, not going beyond the next jubilee. By this means it was provided, [1.] That their genealogies should be carefully preserved, which would be of use for clearing our Saviour's pedigree. [2.] That the distinction of tribes should be kept up; for, though a man might purchase lands in another tribe, yet he could not retain them longer than till the year of jubilee, and then they would revert of course. [3.] That none should grow exorbitantly rich, by laying house to house, and field to field (Isa 5:8), but should rather apply themselves to the cultivating of what they had than the enlarging of their possessions. The wisdom of the Roman commonwealth sometimes provided that no man should be master of above 500 acres. [4.] That no family should be sunk and ruined, and condemned to perpetual poverty. This particular care God took for the support of the honour of that people, and the preserving, not only of that good land to the nation in general, but of every man's share to his family in particular, for a perpetual inheritance, that it might the better typify that good part which shall never be taken away from those that have it.
(2.) The liberty which every man was born to, if it were sold or forfeited, should likewise return at the year of jubilee: You shall return every man to his family, Le 25:10. Those that were sold into other families thereby became strangers to their own; but in this year of redemption they were to return. This was typical of our redemption by Christ from the slavery of sin and Satan, and our restoration to the glorious liberty of the children of God. Some compute that the very year in which Christ died was a year of jubilee, and the last that ever was kept. But, however that be, we are sure it is the Son that makes us free, and then we are free indeed.
II. A law upon this occasion against oppression in buying and selling of land; neither the buyer nor the seller must overreach, Le 25:14-17. In short, the buyer must not give less, nor the seller take more, than the just value of the thing, considered as necessarily returning at the year of jubilee. It must be settled what the clear yearly value of the land was, and then how many years' purchase it was worth till the year of jubilee. But they must reckon only the years of the fruits (Le 25:15), and therefore must discount for the sabbatical years. It is easy to observe that the nearer the jubilee was the less must the value of the land be. According to the fewness of the years thou shalt diminish the price. But we do not find it so easy practically to infer thence that the nearer the world comes to its period the less value we should put upon the things of it: because the time is short, and the fashion of the world passeth away, let those that buy be as though they possessed not. One would put little value on an old house, that is ready to drop down. All bargains ought to be made by this rule, You shall not oppress one another, nor take advantage of one another's ignorance or necessity, but thou shalt fear thy God. Note, The fear of God reigning in the heart would effectually restrain us from doing any wrong to our neighbour in word or deed; for, though man be not, God is the avenger of those that go beyond or defraud their brethren, 1Th 4:6. Perhaps Nehemiah refers to this very law (Ne 5:15), where he tells us that he did not oppress those he had under his power, because of the fear of God.
III. Assurance given them that they should be no losers, but great gainers, by observing these years of rest. It is promised, 1. That they should be safe: You shall dwell in the land in safety, Le 25:18, and again, Le 25:19. The word signifies both outward safety and inward security and confidence of spirit, that they should be quiet both from evil and from the fear of evil. 2. That they should be rich: You shall eat your fill. Note, If we be careful to do our duty, we may cheerfully trust God with our comfort. 3. That they should not want food convenient that year in which they did neither sow nor reap: I will command my blessing in the sixth year, and it shall bring forth fruit for three years, Le 25:21. This was, (1.) A standing miracle, that, whereas at other times one year did but serve to bring in another, the productions of the sixth year should serve to bring in the ninth. Note, The blessing of God upon our provision will make a little go a great way, and satisfy even the poor with bread, Ps 131:15. (2.) A lasting memorial of the manna which was given double on the sixth day for two days. (3.) It was intended for an encouragement to all God's people, in all ages, to trust him in the way of duty, and to cast their care upon him. There is nothing lost by faith and self-denial in our obedience.
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 it, then shall he 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 jubilee: and in the jubilee 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 it within a whole year after it is sold; within a full year may he redeem it.
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 jubilee.
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 jubilee.
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 jubilee: 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; that he may live with thee.
³⁶ Take thou no usury of him, or increase: but fear thy God; that thy brother may live with thee.
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.
Here is, I. A law concerning the real estates of the Israelites in the land of Canaan, and the transferring of them. 1. No land should be sold for ever from the family to whose lot it fell in the division of the land. And the reason given is, The land is mine, and you are strangers and sojourners with me, Le 25:23. (1.) God having a particular propriety in this land, he would by this restraint keep them sensible of it. The possessions of good people, who, having given up themselves to God, have therewith given up all they have to him, are in a particular manner at his disposal, and his disposal of them must be submitted to. (2.) They being strangers and sojourners with him in that land, and having his tabernacle among them, to alienate their part of that land would be in effect to cut themselves off from their fellowship and communion with God, of which that was a token and symbol, for which reason Naboth would rather incur the wrath of a king than part with the inheritance of his fathers, 1Ki 21:3. 2. If a man was constrained through poverty to sell his land for the subsistence of his family, yet, if afterwards he was able, he might redeem it before the year of jubilee (Le 25:24,26,27), and the price must be settled according to the number of years since the sale and before the jubilee. 3. If the person himself was not able to redeem it, his next kinsman might (Le 25:25): The redeemer thereof, he that is near unto him, shall come and shall redeem, so it might be read. The kinsman is called Goel, the redeemer (Nu 5:8, Ru 3:9), to whom belonged the right of redeeming the land. And this typified Christ, who assumed our nature, that he might be our kinsman, bone of our bone and flesh of our flesh, and, being the only kinsman we have that is able to do it, to him belonged the right of redemption. As for all our other kinsmen, their shoe must be plucked off (Ru 4:6,7); they cannot redeem. But Christ can and hath redeemed the inheritance which we by sin had forfeited and alienated, and made a new settlement of it upon all that by faith become allied to him. We know that this Redeemer liveth, Job 19:25. And some make this duty of the kinsman to signify the brotherly love that should be among Christians, inclining them to recover those that are fallen, and to restore them with the spirit of meekness. 4. If the land was not redeemed before the year of jubilee, then it should return of course to him that had sold or mortgaged it: In the jubilee it shall go out, Le 25:28. This was a figure of the free grace of God towards us in Christ, by which, and not by any price or merit of our own, we are restored to the favour of God, and become entitled to paradise, from which our first parents, and we in them, were expelled for disobedience. 5. A difference was made between houses in walled cities, and lands in the country, or houses in country villages. Houses in walled cities were more the fruits of their own industry than land in the country, which was the immediate gift of God's bounty; and therefore, if a man sold a house in a city, he might redeem it any time within a year after the sale, but otherwise it was confirmed to the purchaser for ever, and should not return, no, not at the year of the jubilee, Le 25:29,30. This provision was made to encourage strangers and proselytes to come and settle among them. Though they could not purchase land in Canaan to them and their heirs, yet they might purchase houses in walled cities, which would be most convenient for those who were supposed to live by trade. But country houses could be disposed of no otherwise than as lands might. 6. A clause is added in favour of the Levites, by way of exception from these rules. (1.) Dwelling houses in the cities of the Levites might be redeemed at any time, and, if not redeemed, should revert in the year of jubilee (Le 25:32,33), because the Levites had no other possessions than cities and their suburbs, and God would show that the Levites were his peculiar care; and it was for the interest of the public that they should not be impoverished, or wormed out of their inheritances. (2.) The fields adjoining to their cities (Nu 35:4,5) might not be sold at any time, for they belonged, not to particular Levites, but to the city of the Levites, as a corporation, who could not alienate without a wrong to their tribe; therefore, if any of those fields were sold, the bargain was void, Le 25:34. Even the Egyptians took care to preserve the land of the priests, Ge 47:22. And there is no less reason for the taking of the maintenance of the gospel ministry under the special protection of Christian governments.
II. A law for the relief of the poor, and the tender usage of poor debtors, and these are of more general and perpetual obligation than the former.
1. The poor must be relieved, Le 25:35. Here is, (1.) Our brother's poverty and distress supposed: If thy brother be waxen poor; not only thy brother by nation as a Jew, but thy brother by nature as a man, for it follows, though he be a stranger or a sojourner. All men are to be looked upon and treated as brethren, for we have all one Father, Mal 2:10. Though he is poor, yet still he is thy brother, and is to be loved and owned as a brother. Poverty does not destroy the relation. Though a son of Abraham, yet he may wax poor and fall into decay. Note, Poverty and decay are great grievances, and very common: The poor you have always with you. (2.) Our duty enjoined: Thou shalt relieve him. By sympathy, pitying the poor; by service, doing for them; and by supply, giving to them according to their necessity and thy ability.
2. Poor debtors must not be oppressed: If thy brother be waxen poor, and have occasion to borrow money of thee for the necessary support of his family, take thou no usury of him, either for money or victuals, Le 25:36,37. And thus far this law binds still, but could never be thought binding where money is borrowed for purchase of lands, trade, or other improvements; for there it is reasonable that the lender share with the borrower in the profit. The law here is plainly intended for the relief of the poor, to whom it is sometimes as great a charity to lend freely as to give. Observe the arguments here used against extortion. (1.) God patronizes the poor: "Fear thy God, who will reckon with thee for all injuries done to the poor: thou fearest not them, but fear him." (2.) Relieve the poor, that they may live with thee, and some way or other they may be serviceable to thee. The rich can as ill spare the hands of the poor as the poor can the purses of the rich. (3.) The same argument is used to enforce this precept that prefaces all the ten commandments: I am the Lord your God which brought you out of Egypt, Le 25:38. Note, It becomes those that have received mercy to show mercy. If God has been gracious to us, we ought not to be rigorous with our brethren.
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Oppression of Brethren Forbidden (1490 BC)
繁體中文
論不可欺壓弟兄；奴僕的條例（主前 1490 年）
³⁹ 你的弟兄若在你那裏漸漸窮乏，將自己賣給你；不可叫他像奴僕那樣服事你；
⁴⁰ 他要像雇工和寄居的一樣，在你那裏服事你，直到禧年。
⁴¹ 那時他和他的兒女要離開你，一同出去，歸回本家，到他祖宗的地業那裏歸回。
⁴² 因為他們是我的僕人，是我從埃及地領出來的：不可賣給人為奴僕。
⁴³ 你不可嚴嚴地管轄他；只要敬畏你的神。
⁴⁴ 至於你的奴僕、婢女，可以從你四圍的國民中買；你們要從他們中間買奴僕和婢女。
⁴⁵ 也可以從那些在你們中間寄居的外人中間買，以及從他們在你們地上所生的家裏買；他們要作你們的產業。
⁴⁶ 你們要將他們遺留給你們的子孫，作為產業永遠歸他們；他們要永遠作你們的奴僕：至於你們的弟兄以色列人，你們不可這樣彼此嚴嚴地管轄。
⁴⁷ 若在你中間寄居的外人或外人漸漸富足，你的弟兄在他那裏漸漸窮乏，將自己賣給那寄居的外人或外人，或外人宗族的一支；
⁴⁸ 賣了以後，他還可以贖回；他的弟兄中一個可以贖他；
⁴⁹ 他的伯叔，或伯叔的兒子，可以贖他；他家族中任何至近的親屬都可以贖他；他自己若富足起來，也可以自己贖回。
⁵⁰ 他要和買主計算，從賣給他的那年起，直到禧年：他的價銀要照着年數的多少計算，如同雇工的年數一樣。
⁵¹ 若還有許多年，就要照着那些年，從他被買的價銀中交還贖價。
⁵² 若到禧年只剩下幾年，他就要和他計算，照着年數交還贖價。
⁵³ 他要像年雇工在他那裏服事：那人在你眼前不可嚴嚴地管轄他。
⁵⁴ 他若在這些年中不贖回，到了禧年，他和他的兒女要一同出去。
⁵⁵ 因為以色列人是我的僕人；他們是我的僕人，是我從埃及地領出來的：我是耶和華你們的神。
此處是關於奴役制度的律法，為要維護猶太民族作為自由之民的尊嚴；他們是蒙神的大能從奴役之家救出來，進入神眾子、神長子那榮耀的自由之中。這條律法是：
I. 本地的以色列人不可被永遠當作奴僕。他若因債務或因犯罪被審判庭所賣，只可服事六年，第七年可以自由出去；這是先前已規定的（Ex 21:2）。但若他因極度貧困，一無所有，為保命而自賣，且是賣給本國的人，在這種情形下，此處規定：1. 他不可像奴僕那樣服事（Le 25:39），也不可當作奴僕出賣（Le 25:42）；意思是「不可把買他的主人看作對他有絕對的所有權，如同對戰爭中所擄的俘虜那樣，可以任意使用、變賣、遺贈，如同自己的牲畜一樣；不，他要像雇工一樣在你這裏服事，主人只可使用他，卻沒有暴虐的管轄權。」理由是：他們是我的僕人（Le 25:42）。神不以祂的僕人為奴隸，所以他們的弟兄也不可如此。神已經將他們從埃及贖出來，所以他們永不可被當作奴僕出賣。使徒將此靈意應用（1Co 7:23）：你們是重價買來的，不要作人的奴僕，即「不要作人的情慾的奴僕，也不要作自己情慾的奴僕」；因為我們既作了神的僕人，就不可容罪在我們必死的身上作王（Ro 6:12,22）。2. 他服事期間不可被嚴嚴地管轄，像以色列人在埃及那樣（Le 25:43）。他的工作和待遇都當相稱於亞伯拉罕子孫的身份。如今主人仍被要求給僕人公正和平等的待遇（Col 4:1）。僕人可以被使用，卻不可被虐待。那些終日對僕人張牙舞爪、盛氣凌人的主人，那些不合理地苛刻要求工作、動輒責罵、以高壓手段管轄僕人的人，忘了他們的主在天上；當祂起來的時候，他們將怎樣行呢？正如聖潔的約伯與自己理論的那樣（伯 31:13,14）。3. 到了禧年他要自由出去，他和他的兒女，要歸回本家（Le 25:41）。這預表了我們藉着神在基督裏的恩典，從罪和撒但的奴役中得贖；祂的真理必叫我們得以自由（Joh 8:32）。猶太學者說，在禧年的角聲吹響前十天，那些將因禧年而獲釋的僕人，就以設擺筵席、頭戴花冠來表達他們極大的喜樂：因此這被稱為歡呼的聲音（詩 89:15）。我們也當這樣因在基督裏所得的自由而歡喜。
II. 他們可以從四圍的外邦國民，或從在他們中間寄居的外人中（除了那七個當滅的國以外）購買奴僕；可以對他們行使管轄權，並將他們作為產業傳給子孫，因為禧年對他們並不帶來釋放（Le 25:44,46）。這樣，在我們英國的殖民地中，只有黑人被當作奴隸使用；這對基督教的名譽有多少貢獻，我就不說了。如今，1. 他們從鄰國所購買的奴僕身上擁有的權柄，是雅各祝福的應驗（Ge 27:29）：願眾民事奉你。2. 這預表了外邦人被帶入基督和祂教會的事奉之中。你求我，我就將列國賜你為基業（詩 2:8）。又有應許說（賽 61:5）：外人必起來牧放你們的羊羣，外邦人必作你們耕種的、修理葡萄園的；參看 Re 2:26,27。正直人必在早晨掌權（詩 49:14）。3. 這表明，唯有那些真以色列人——因信作亞伯拉罕子孫的人——才能享受福音禧年的好處；至於那些繼續行外邦之俗的人，他們仍舊是奴僕。請看這一點如何反過來加在那些不信的猶太人身上（Ga 4:25），在那裏，耶路撒冷在棄絕基督之後，被說成是和她兒女都是為奴的。在這裏我只補充一點：雖然他們並未被禁止嚴嚴地管轄所買的奴僕，但猶太學者說：「仁慈的品德和智慧的途徑，是人當有憐憫的心，不在任何僕人身上加重的重軛。」
III. 若一個以色列人自賣為僕給一個在他們中間寄居的富裕進教者，當注意使他享有同樣的權利，如同賣給以色列人一樣，甚至在某些方面更多。1. 他不可當作奴僕服事，而要像雇工一樣，且不可被嚴嚴地管轄（Le 25:53）——在你眼前，這暗示猶太官長當特別留意他，若他受虐待，就當受理並為他伸冤，即使受害的僕人自己不投訴。他到了禧年也要自由出去（Le 25:54）。外人的兒子可以永遠服事他們，但以色列的兒子卻不可永遠服事外人；然而這僕人既因自己的行為成了奴僕，就不可在第七年的豁免年出去，只能等到禧年。2. 他還有一個好處，就是在禧年之前可以被贖回（Le 25:48,49）。賣給以色列人的人若能力恢復，可以自己贖回，但他的親屬沒有權利贖他。「但若人賣給外人，」猶太人說，「他的親屬當竭力贖他；若他們不贖，就當用公費贖他，」這在尼希米記中確有實行（Ne 5:8）。贖價要照着對禧年的展望來計算（Le 25:50-52），如同贖地的算法一樣（Le 25:15,16）。博學的帕特里克主教引用一位猶太拉比對那條規定（Le 25:48）他的弟兄中一個可以贖他所作的福音性解釋。「這位救贖者，」拉比說，「就是彌賽亞，大衛的子孫。」他們期待這位彌賽亞作他們從被擄中歸回的救贖者，並使他們歸回故土；但我們歡迎祂作那來到錫安的救贖者，祂要除掉雅各的一切不敬虔，因為祂要將自己的百姓從罪惡中救出來；正是帶着這樣的認識，有人在耶路撒冷尋求救贖。
英語原文
Oppression of Brethren Forbidden (1490 BC)
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 jubilee:
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, or his uncle's 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 jubilee: 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 for.
⁵² And if there remain but few years unto the year of jubilee, 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 jubilee, both he, and his children with him.
⁵⁵ For unto me the children of Israel are servants; they are my servants whom I brought forth out of the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God.
We have here the laws concerning servitude, designed to preserve the honour of the Jewish nation as a free people, and rescued by a divine power out of the house of bondage, into the glorious liberty of God's sons, his first-born. Now the law is,
I. That a native Israelite should never be made a bondman for perpetuity. If he was sold for debt, or for a crime, by the house of judgment, he was to serve but six years, and to go out the seventh; this was appointed, Ex 21:2. But if he sold himself through extreme poverty, having nothing at all left him to preserve his life, and if it was to one of his own nation that he sold himself, in such a case it is here provided, 1. That he should not serve as a bond-servant (Le 25:39), nor be sold with the sale of a bondman (Le 25:42); that is, "it must not be looked upon that his master that bought him had as absolute a property in him as in a captive taken in war, that might be used, sold, and bequeathed, at pleasure, as much as a man's cattle; no, he shall serve thee as a hired servant, whom the master has the use of only, but not a despotic power over." And the reason is, They are my servants, Le 25:42. God does not make his servants slaves, and therefore their brethren must not. God had redeemed them out of Egypt, and therefore they must never be exposed to sale as bondmen. The apostle applies this spiritually (1Co 7:23), You are bought with a price, be not the servants of men, that is, "of the lusts of men, no, nor of your own lusts;" for, having become the servants of God, we must not let sin reign in our mortal bodies, Ro 6:12,22. 2. That while he did serve he should not be ruled with rigour, as the Israelites were in Egypt, Le 25:43. Both his work and his usage must be such as were fitting for a son of Abraham. Masters are still required to give to their servants that which is just and equal, Col 4:1. They may be used, but must not be abused. Those masters that are always hectoring and domineering over their servants, taunting them and trampling upon them, that are unreasonable in exacting work and giving rebukes, and that rule them with a high hand, forget that their Master is in heaven; and what will they do when he rises up? as holy Job reasons with himself, Job 31:13,14. 3. That at the year of jubilee he should go out free, he and his children, and should return to his own family, Le 25:41. This typified our redemption from the service of sin and Satan by the grace of God in Christ, whose truth makes us free, Joh 7:32. The Jewish writers say that, for ten days before the jubilee-trumpet sounded, the servants that were to be discharged by it did express their great joy by feasting, and wearing garlands on their heads: it is therefore called the joyful sound, Ps 89:15. And we are thus to rejoice in the liberty we have by Christ.
II. That they might purchase bondmen of the heathen nations that were round about them, or of those strangers that sojourned among them (except of those seven nations that were to be destroyed); and might claim a dominion over them, and entail them upon their families as an inheritance, for the year of jubilee should give no discharge to them, Le 25:44,46. Thus in our English plantations the negroes only are used as slaves; how much to the credit of Christianity I shall not say. Now, 1. This authority which they had over the bondmen whom they purchased from the neighbouring nations was in pursuance of the blessing of Jacob, Ge 27:29, Let people serve thee. 2. It prefigured the bringing in of the Gentiles to the service of Christ and his church. Ask of me, and I will give thee the heathen for thy inheritance, Ps 2:8. And it is promised (Isa 61:5), Strangers shall stand and feed your flocks, and the sons of the alien shall be your vine-dressers; see Re 2:26,27. The upright shall have the dominion in the morning, Ps 49:14. 3. It intimates that none shall have the benefit of the gospel jubilee but those only that are Israelites indeed, and the children of Abraham by faith: as for those that continue heathenish, they continue bondmen. See this turned upon the unbelieving Jews themselves, Ga 4:25, where Jerusalem, when she had rejected Christ, is said to be in bondage with her children. Let me only add here that, though they are not forbidden to rule their bondmen with rigour, yet the Jewish doctors say, "It is the property of mercy, and way of wisdom, that a man should be compassionate, and not make his yoke heavy upon any servant that he has."
III. That if an Israelite sold himself for a servant to a wealthy proselyte that sojourned among them care should be taken that he should have the same advantages as if he had sold himself to an Israelite, and in some respects greater. 1. That he should not serve as a bondman, but as a hired servant, and not to be ruled with rigour (Le 25:53), in thy sight, which intimated that the Jewish magistrates should particularly have an eye to him, and, if he were abused, should take cognizance of it, and redress his grievances, though the injured servant did not himself complain. Also he was to go free at the year of jubilee, Le 25:54. Though the sons of strangers might serve them for ever, yet the sons of Israel might not serve strangers for ever; yet the servant here, having made himself a slave by his own act and deed, should not go out in the seventh year of release, but in the jubilee only. 2. That he should have this further advantage that he might be redeemed again before the year of jubilee, Le 25:48,49. He that had sold himself to an Israelite might, if ever he was able, redeem himself, but his relations had no right to redeem him. "But if a man sold himself to a stranger," the Jews say, "his relations were urged to redeem him; if they did not, it was fit that he should be redeemed at the public charge," which we find done, Ne 5:8. The price of his ransom was to be computed according to the prospect of the year of jubilee (Le 25:50-52), as in the redemption of land, Le 25:15,16. The learned bishop Patrick quotes one of the Jewish rabbin for an evangelical exposition of that appointment (Le 25:48), One of his brethren shall redeem him. "This Redeemer," says the rabbi, "is the Messiah, the Son of David." They expected this Messiah to be their Redeemer out of their captivity, and to restore them to their own land again; but we welcome him as the Redeemer who shall come to Zion, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob, for he shall save his people from their sins; and under this notion there were those that looked for redemption in Jerusalem.
本章的律法關乎以色列人在迦南地的田地和產業。這些土地的經營和轉讓，如同宗教敬拜的管理一樣，都要在神的指示之下；因為會幕是聖潔的房屋，迦南也是聖潔的土地；正因如此，它成了萬國之地的榮耀。為表明神對這地有獨特的主權，並有權支配它，神設立了以下條例：
一、每逢第七年，地要休耕，不可耕種，作為安息年，Le 25:1-7。在這條例中，神期望他們表現出非凡的信心和順服，他們也可以期望神以非凡的大能和恩典來供養他們，Le 25:18-22。
二、每逢第五十年要作為禧年，即：1. 豁免債務和抵押、歸還已變賣產業之年，Le 25:8-17。其中又有具體指示：（1）關於土地的買賣和贖回，Le 25:23-28。（2）關於城邑和鄉村的房屋，並對利未人的城邑另有規定，Le 25:29-34。2. 釋放僕人和奴隸之年。（1）此處插入了一條關於善待貧窮欠債人的律法，Le 25:35-38。（2）隨後是關於在禧年釋放一切賣身為奴的以色列人的律法——若他們在此之前未被贖回。[1] 若賣給以色列人，Le 25:39-46。[2] 若賣給歸信的外邦人，Le 25:47-55。這一切定例都包含某些道德性和永遠約束人的成分，雖然就其字面而言，不僅是猶太人特有的，而且只在他們住在迦南期間適用。