Exodus 23:10-11. The text reads,
The Lord spoke to Moses on Mount Sinai, saying, “Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, When you come into the land that I give you, the land shall keep a Sabbath to the Lord. For six years you shall sow your field, and for six years you shall prune your vineyard and gather in its fruits, but in the seventh year there shall be a Sabbath of solemn rest for the land, a Sabbath to the Lord. You shall not sow your field or prune your vineyard. You shall not reap what grows of itself in your harvest, or gather the grapes of your undressed vine. It shall be a year of solemn rest for the land. The Sabbath of the land shall provide food for you, for yourself and for your male and female slaves and for your hired worker and the sojourner who lives with you, and for your cattle and for the wild animals that are in your land: all its yield shall be for food.” (Lev 25:1-7)
Leviticus 25:1-7 restates and further clarifies the command and prohibition of Exodus 23:10-11.49 Leviticus 25:4 calls the seventh year a וֹןתבָּשַׁתבַּשַׁ (“Sabbath of solemn rest”) for the land, marking out the seventh year rest as analogous to the Sabbath day and
47 See Ezek 29:5; Isa 32:14; Deut 32:15 for these uses of נָשׁ . See also BDB, s.v. “ נָטַ שׁ ,” and טַ
HALOT, “ נָשׁ .” For שָׁטַ ט , see BDB, s.v “ שָׁמַ ט ,” and HALOT, s.v “ שָׁמַ ט ”. מַ
48 See 2 Chr 26:20-23; Lev 26:34-35, 43; Dan 9:2; Jer 29:10; Ezra 1:1.
49 Dependency of Lev 25:3 on Exod 23:10 is perhaps shown through the repetition of םינִשָׁשׁשֵׁ
תִּ
זְ
רַ
ע (“six years you shall sow”) and הּתָאָוּבתְּ־תאֶתָּפְסַאָ (“gather in its fruits”).
as equally important as the Sabbath day.50 The fallow year does not just have humanitarian motives. There is religious significance to its observance. Time and land are submitted to the will of Yahweh. Israel is reminded that they, their land, their time, and their crops belong to Yahweh. Just as Israelites enjoy a day of rest every week after six units (days) of work, so the land enjoys a year of rest every year after six units (years) of work.
Leviticus 25:5 furthers the prohibited activity on the fallow year by adding,
“You shall not reap what grows of itself.” The technical term חַיפִסָ is usually translated
“aftergrowth” and refers to what grows the second year from seeds dropped during the harvest.51 At first glance, this appears to prohibit taking any fruit from one’s fields or from the uncultivated land in the region. However, verse 6 argues that the land “will provide food for you.” In fact, it is repeated in verse 7: “All its yield shall be for food.”
The prohibition in verse 5 is from the normal agricultural activities of harvest, which would have included gathering, storing, etc. Just as Israel was only to gather enough manna to eat for the day in Exodus 16, so during the Sabbath year they can only gather what they need to eat. This day-to-day dependence on the land would have reminded all Israelites of all classes that Yahweh gives the land and gives the produce of the land.
In fact, this dependence continued past the Sabbath year. If an Israelite cannot harvest and plant, then he will be dependent on the sixth year’s harvest for more than a calendar year. Leviticus 25:19-22 addresses this practical problem of fallow-year food provision directly:
The land will yield its fruit, and you will eat your fill and dwell in it securely. And if you say, ‘What shall we eat in the seventh year, if we may not sow or gather in our crop?’ I will command my blessing on you in the sixth year, so that it will produce a crop sufficient for three years. When you sow in the eighth year, you will be eating some of the old crop; you shall eat the old until the ninth year, when its crop arrives.
50 The emphatic phrase וֹןתבָּשַׁתבַּשַׁ designates the weekly Sabbath (Exod 16:23; 31:15; 35:2;
Lev 23:3), the Day of Atonement (Lev 16:31; 23:32), the Sabbath year (Lev 25:4-5), the Feast of Trumpets (Lev 23:24), and the first and eighth day of the Feast of Booths (Lev 23:39).
51 There is also what grows from the second growth, the שׁיחִסָ, “the self-seeded plant” (See 2 Kgs 19:29). See HALOT, s.v. “שׁיחִסָ.”
In the case of both the Sabbath year and the Jubilee year, the sixth year harvest will have to feed a family for the better part of three calendar years through a double portion. Just as Israel collected a double portion of manna on the sixth day (Exod 16:22), so they collect a double portion in the sixth year. The language of 25:4, הלָכְאָלְםכֶלָ, recalls God’s provision for mankind in Genesis 1:29, which is likewise described asהלָכְאָלְהיֶהְ יִםכֶלָ. Again and again, the narrative of the Pentateuch is punctuated with reminders that the Lord will abundantly provide for all of his people.52 In the case of the fallow year, Israelites were to be reminded of the Edenic reality in which mankind freely eats food for which he has not worked.53 It has even been suggested that the scraggly growth of the “untrimmed vines” parallels the scraggly growth of the Nazirite’s untrimmed bear. Land and man are intimately related such that the law employs visual similarities between each when they are set apart to the LORD.54 The practice of fallowing land is well-attested in the ANE and regularly practiced in agricultural societies.55 Cultivating the land year-to-year leads to a long-term depletion of nutrients that diminishes the harvest.56 While the main aim of the
52 Robert S. Kawashima, “The Jubilee Year and the Return of Cosmic Purity,” CBQ 65 (2003):
370-89, esp. 385.
53 Burnside, God, Justice, and Society, 199.
54 Burnside, God, Justice, and Society, 199-200; similarly, Kawashima, “The Jubilee Year,”
384. Burnside believes the only connection is the visual “scraggly growth” and rejects Kawashima’s proposal of a connection between both the Nazarite and the field being consecrated. It seems, though, that this is quibbling over words and that perhaps both realities are alluded to through the parallel language.
Burnside also cites Davis, who similarly argues that there is a parallel between leaving the edges of one’s fields untrimmed and not trimming the edge of one’s beard. See Ellen F. Davis, Scripture, Culture, and Agriculture: An Agrarian Reading of the Bible (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2009), 79.
55 For a more detailed treatment of how regular fallowing of the land added to the productivity of the land, see Jacob Milgrom, Leviticus 17-22, The Anchor Bible, vol. 3a (New York: Doubleday, 2000), 2245-50.
56 Sarna affirms this understanding: “Continuous cultivation of arable land leads to serious depletion of its nutrients and consequent loss of productivity. Hence, the effect of the Torah’s seventh year fallow system is conservationist. It preserves the fertility of the soil and enhances future productivity.” Sarna, Exodus, 143-44. Levine explains that the regular fallow helps reduce the amount of sodium in the soil, which regular irrigation adds year-to-year: “Allowing the land to lie fallow every seventh year helped to reduce the amount of sodium in the soil, especially where irrigation was employed.” Baruch A. Levine, Leviticus: Ṿa-Yiḳra, The JPS Torah Commentary (Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 1989), 170.
fallow is to cultivate dependency on God, it appears to have served a secondary purpose of setting up a pattern of caring for the soil’s fertility.
Was the Sabbath year celebrated at the same time universally or was it localized to regions? While the text is not clear, the rest of the laws on the Sabbath spectrum are universally obeyed at the same time: the Sabbath day, the Sabbaths involving multiple feasts, the Sabbath year release, and the Jubilee year.57 The repeated command that “the land” is to observe the fallow (Lev 25:4-6) appears to encompass the whole of Israel’s land given to them by Yahweh. In other words, Israel was to observe a fallow year across the entire nation at the same time.
The Release of Debts and Debt-Slaves
The second aspect of the Sabbath year is the universal release of debts at the beginning of the Sabbath year. The Sabbath year ensures that both land and mankind are released from their respective burdens. Deuteronomy 15:12-18 subsequently deals with the release of debt-slaves, which is not tied to the Sabbath year but operates on the six- plus-one principle of the Sabbath whereby debt-slaves are to be released after six years of service. As mentioned previously, the separation between the Sabbath year and the Jubilee year is one of degree. The Jubilee year completes the good work that is done in the Sabbath year. Thus, it is essential to understand the debt-release of the Sabbath year and the slave-release law which is connected to the six-plus-one timing of the Sabbath spectrum. Since the Jubilee is a Sabbath year and also releases Israelites from a form of slavery, the two laws must be viewed as complementary and it must be understood how
57 When looking at Exod 23:10-11 alone, Wright argues that a universal fallow would not benefit beasts and the poor on a year-to-year basis: “The poor of the people and the wild beasts would derive little sustenance from a single fallow every seven years, but the continuous presence of some land lying fallow in every locality would obviously provide some relief.” C. J. H. Wright, “What Happened Every Seven Years in Israel? Old Testament Sabbatical Institutions for the Land, Debts and Slaves, Part II,” EQ 56, no. 4 (October 1984): 131. This is an unfortunate reading that is controlled by the supposed merits of diachronic analysis and wrongly assumes that Leviticus developed after Exodus and represents a developed Fallow year tradition.
they worked together to ensure that every Israelite could remain free of debt and oppression so as to work their god-given plot of land.
The specifics of this debt-release show up in Deuteronomy 15:1-11. This debt- release law is found within a larger section, Deuteronomy 14:22–16:17, which compiles a unique set of laws performed at regular intervals: the annual and triennial tithe (14:22- 29), the septennial remission of debts and debt-slaves (15:1–18), the annual sacrifice of firstborn animals (15:19–23), and the three annual pilgrimage festivals (16:1-17).58
Given the humanitarian concern of the fallow provisions in the Sabbath year, it is not surprising that this humanitarian concern continues into more practical matters of debt. Every society must deal with members who become insolvent, whether through their poor decisions or adverse circumstances. Given this reality, the Mosaic law ensures that fairness and generosity characterize Israel’s lending practices. First, the Mosaic law forbids the charging of interest to fellow Israelites (Exod 22:25; Lev 25:35-37; Deut 23:19-20).
Second, the Mosaic law limits the terms of the loan to seven years by demanding that every debt is cancelled (Deut 15:1-11) and every debt-slave is released every seven years (Deut 15:12-18).59
58 Some have attempted to show a connection between the fourth commandment and 14:22–
16:17, a contention based on the larger proposal that Deut 12:1–26:15 is structured as an exposition and application of the Decalogue. This may be the case but takes some special pleading and is difficult to prove.
Nevertheless, it is clear that Deut 12:1–16:17 deals with proper worship of the Lord, both individually and within the sanctuary. In this sense, Deut 14:22–16:17 deals with the payment of proper tribute to the Lord with one’s time, animals, produce, debts, debt-slaves, etc. Jeffries Hamilton has plausibly argued that all the laws in 14:22–16:17 provide relief as the Sabbath day does: relief from hunger, debt and enslavement, exclusion from public worship. Jeffries M. Hamilton, Social Justice and Deuteronomy: The Case of Deuteronomy 15, Dissertation Series / Society of Biblical Literature 136 (Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1992), 115. For the argument that the structure of Deut 12–26 is based off of the Decalogue, see Calum M.
Carmichael, “A Singular Method of Codification of Law in the Mishpatim,” ZAW 84 (1972): 19-24;
Stephen A. Kaufman, “The Structure of the Deuteronomic Law,” Maarav 1 (1979): 105-58; and John H.
Walton, “The Decalogue Structure of the Deuteronomic Law,” 93-117, in Philip S. Johnston and David G.
Firth, Interpreting Deuteronomy: Issues and Approaches (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 2012).
59 This is quite similar to the laws of Hammurabi, especially §117, which stipulates that debt- slaves only served for three years. See chap. 2 of this dissertation and discussion below.
The key verses in the debt release law are Deuteronomy 15:1-3. Deuteronomy 15:4-6 provides motivation for obeying the command while verses 7-11 encourage the creditor to release freely the debts of fellow Israelites.60 Deuteronomy 15:1 commands,
“At the end of every seven years you shall grant a release [הטָּמִשְׁ].” While the text does not explicitly indicate that the seventh year is the Sabbath year, several allusions back to the other Sabbath year laws indicate that Deuteronomy is expanding on those Sabbath year laws. First, Deuteronomy 31:10 sets the year of release at the end of a regular cycle of seven years: “At the end of every seven years, at the set time [דﬠֵמֹבְּ] in the year of release [ שְׁת נַ הטָּמִשְּׁהַ], at the Feast of Booths.” The announcement of the release every seven years happened at the Feast of Booths, which celebrated Israel’s release from bondage to Egypt. As the Sabbath day is grounded in the Exodus redemption, so also the pairing of the Sabbath year with the Feast of Booths imbued the debt-release with a regular reminder of God’s past act of release in the Exodus. Second, there is a subtle linguistic connection with the Sabbath year legislation in Exodus 23. The verb “you shall let it rest”
[הנָּטֶמְשְׁתִּ] from Exodus 23:11 is alluded to in Deuteronomy 15:1. This verse uses the related noun הטָּמִשְׁ (“release”). The verb itself shows up in 15:2 (טוֹמשָׁ) and in 15:3 (טמֵשְׁתַּ). Since
שְׁ
מִ
טָּ
ה is only used in this passage and Deuteronomy 31:10, it seems that there is a
conceptual connection between the fallow provision and this provision of release. The idea is that both land and loans are to be released or let go. Third, there is a logical connection between the release of the land and the release of debts. The fallowing of land created the practical issue of no income with which to pay down a debt. The debt release is thus a logical extension of the land release (fallow) during the Sabbath year.61
60 Duane Christensen suggests that Deut 15:7-11 forms the middle of a chiastic structure, beginning with the triennial tithe, moving in with debt remission, then moving back out with debt-slave remission and sacrifice of firstborn livestock. While there is careful structuring in the text, it is not clear if the outer frames (triennial tithe and sacrifice of firstborn livestock) of Christensen’s chiasm actually match.
Duane L. Christensen, Deuteronomy 1:1–21:9, 2nd ed., WBC, vol. 6a (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2001), 309.
61 One might even argue that Deuteronomy is filling out a condensed law from Exod 23.
While the connection between the fallow year is typically granted, the object and scope of the release imagined in Deuteronomy 15:2 is heavily debated. This verse has been the subject of much discussion as it prompts two interrelated debates regarding what exactly is happening in the Sabbath-year release. First, commentators disagree on whether loans in general are released or just pledges for loans. Second, many disagree on the scope of the debt-release, some arguing it is a temporary relief while others argue it is permanent. The following will review the main lines of arguments for each viewpoint while arguing that the sabbath-year debt-release is permanent and applies to loans in general, which logically would include the release of pledges for loans.
The first debate concerns the object of the release at the end of every seven years. The debate centers around the meaning of the phrase “every creditor shall release what he has lent to his neighbor” (וּהﬠֵרֵבְּהשֶּׁ יַרשֶׁאֲוֹ ד יָהשֵּׁמַלﬠַבַּ־לכָּטוֹמשָׁ).62 The construct phrase וֹד יָהשֵּׁמַלﬠַבַּ־לכָּ literally translates, “Every owner of a loan of his hand.” This leads to the common English translation: “creditor” (cf. ESV, NASB, KJV, TNIV). However, North and Wright have argued against the traditional translation. They do not believe a full release of a loan’s principal was practical as it would discourage creditors from lending in the first place.63 Second, they argue that it was only a debt-suspension since the הטָּמִשְׁ is parallel to the suspension of harvesting. As a result of these misgivings with the traditional reading of the text, they argue that Deuteronomy 15:2 releases pledged persons (i.e., debt-slaves) or pledged land, not loans themselves. The idea is that debt- slaves would have secured their loans by offering their work or the usufruct of their land as collateral and as a practical way of amortizing the debt itself.
62 For an in-depth treatment of this debate and major viewpoints, see Gregory Chirichigno, Debt-Slavery in Israel and the ANE (Sheffield: JSOT Press, 1993), 263-75; John Sietze Bergsma, The Jubilee from Leviticus to Qumran: A History of Interpretation, Supplements to Vetus Testamentum 115 (Boston: Brill, 2007), 131n102; R. North, “Yâd in the Shemitta-law,” VT 4 (1954): 196-99, esp 199; Robert North, Sociology of the Biblical Jubilee, Analecta Biblica 4 (Rome: Pontifical Biblical Institute, 1954), 185- 87; C. J. H. Wright, “What Happened?, Part I,” 129-38.
63 North, Sociology of the Biblical Jubilee, 185-86; Wright, “What Happened? Part I,” 136-37.
North and Wright justify that pledges are released and not loans from a creative translation of Deuteronomy 15:2. First, they argue that מַה should be rendered “pledge” שֵּׁ
instead of “loan.”64 Second, they argue that יָוֹ modifies ד לﬠַבַּ־לכָּ and should be interpreted as “power,” “disposition,” or “control.”65 The result is the translation: “Every holder of a pledge at his disposition shall release what he has received by pledge-loan contract with his brother.”66 North cites cuneiform texts that describe a debtor’s self-sale “into the hands”
(ina qātē) of the creditor, whereby the handshake signifies the debtor surrendering himself into the creditor’s custody. In this case, the debt-slave (whether the debtor or a dependent of the debtor) works off the debt while in the hands of the creditor. North goes so far as to argue, without any basis in the text, that the debtor, his family, and his land is possessed until the debt is worked off.67 Wright argues that only land was taken as pledge since land would have been sold before family members. In addition to ANE parallels, North cites several scriptures as grounds for rendering מַה as “pledge.” These references are Job 17:3; שֵּׁ
Proverbs 6:1; 11:15; and 22:26.68 North does not explain these citations and they do not appear to justify his translation as they tend to discuss the practice of pledges in general.
Proverbs 22:26 does relate pledges to debts, but a correlation between the two does not necessitate that every loan involved a pledge necessarily.
Wright and North also argue that the loan for which the pledge stands is only suspended, which is the second large debate surrounding Deuteronomy 15:2.69 In this view, the pledged person would have rights to return to their land, profit from its produce,
64 North, Sociology of the Biblical Jubilee, 187; Wright, “What Happened? Part I,” 135-36.
65 Wright, “What Happened? Part I,” 135.
66 North, “Yâd in the Shemitta-Law,” 199.
67 North, Sociology of the Biblical Jubilee, 187.
68 North, “Yâd in the Shemitta-law,” 198.
69 Craigie argues for a temporary release since farmers would not be able to make payments during a fallow year. Craigie, The Book of Deuteronomy, 236.