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Behar-Bechukotai - in Mount
Sinay - סיני
(In regular read with Parashah 33, in leap years read separately)
Shanah ha Shimittah (sabbatical year); Shavatah la Eretz (Sabbatical ceasing for land) and Shnat (year) ha Yovel or Seven Year land Shabbat (Shemittah) - (cf Devarim 15:1-11)
25:1(i)
And YHWH spake unto Mosheh
at Mount Sinay, saying:
25:2
Daber el-benai Yisra'el ve amarta aleihem:
Ki
tavou el-ha eretz asher Ani noten lakhem ve shavta ha
eretz shabat la Yehovah:
When
ye come into the land which I give you, then the land shall have a Shabat unto
YHWH (יהוה).
25:3 Six shanim (years) thou shalt sow thy field, and six shanim (years) thou shalt prune thy kerem (vineyard), and gather in the fruit thereof;
25:4 But in the Shanah ha shevi'it (7th yr) shall be a Shabbat of rest unto the land, a Shabbat for YHWH (יהוה):
Thou shalt neither sow thy field, nor prune thy kerem (vineyard).
25:5 Thou shalt not reap the aftergrowth of thy harvest, neither gather the grapes of thy vine undressed: [for] it is a Shanat Shabbaton (year of rest) unto ha eretz (land).
25:6 And the Shabbat of the land shall be oklah (food) for you; for thee, and for thy servant, and for thy maid, and for thy sakhir (employee, hired servant), and for toshavkha ha gerim (thy stranger who sojourneth) with thee,
25:7 And for thy cattle, and for the beast that [are] in thy land, shall all the increase thereof be oklah (food).
25:8 And thou shalt number seven Shabbatot of shanim (years) unto thee, seven times seven shanim (years); and the space of the seven Shabbatot of shanim (years) shall be unto thee forty and nine shanim (years).
25:9 Then shalt thou cause the Shofar of the yovel to sound a broken blast on the tenth [day] of the seventh month, in Yom ha Kippurim shall ye make the Shofar sound throughout all your land.
25:10
And ye shall kadosh (set apart) the fiftieth year, and proclaim
deror (release) throughout [all] the land unto all the inhabitants
thereof: it shall be a yovel (Jubilee) unto you; and ye shall return
every man unto his possession, and ye shall return every man
unto his mishpochah (family).
25:11 A yovel (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.
25:12 For it [is] the yovel; it shall be kodesh unto you: ye shall eat the increase thereof out of the field.
25:13 In the year of this yovel ye shall return every man unto his possession.(holding)
25:14(LY:ii)
And if thou sell ought unto thy neighbour, or buyest [ought] of thy neighbour's hand, ye shall not to exploit one another:
25:15 According to the number of shanim (years) after the yovel thou shalt buy of thy neighbour, [and] according unto the number of shanim (years) of the fruits he shall sell unto thee:
25:16 According to the multitude of shanim (years) thou shalt increase the price thereof, and according to the fewness of shanim thou shalt diminish the price of it: for [according] to the number [of the years] of the fruits doth he sell unto thee.
25:17 Ye shall not to take advantage of one another; but thou shalt fear Eloheicha: for ANI YHWH (יהוה) Eloheichem.
25:18 Wherefore ye shall do My chukkot (statutes), and shomer My mishpatim, and do them; and ye shall dwell in the land in safety.
25:19(RY:ii, LY:iii)
And the land shall yield her fruit, and ye shall eat your fill, and dwell therein in safety.
25:20 And if ye shall say:
What shall we eat the Shanah HaShevi'it (7th yr)?
hinnei, we shall not sow, nor gather in our increase:
25:21 Then I will command My berkah(blessing) upon you in the sixth year, and it shall bring forth fruit for shalosh (3) shanim (years).
25:22 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].
25:23 The land shall not be sold for ever: for the land [is] mine; for you [are] gerim (strangers) and toshavim (sojourners) with Me.
25:24 And in all the eretz your possession ye shall grant a geulah (redemption) for the land.
25:25(LY:iv)
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.
25:26 And if the man have none to redeem it, and himself be able to redeem it;
25:27 Then let him chishav (count) the shenei (years) of the mimka (sale) thereof, and ha shiv (refund) ha adaf (surplus) unto the man to whom he makhar (sold) it; that he may shav (return) unto his achuzato (possession).
25:28 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 Shnat (year) ha Yovel : and in the yovel it shall go out, and he shall return unto his possession.
25:29(RY:iii, LY:v)
And if a man sell a Beit Moshav (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.
25:30 And if it be not redeemed within the space of a full year, then the bayit 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 yovel.
25:31
But the batim haChatzer (village houses) 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
yovel.
Levite Cities The Levites’ Ancestral Heritage
25:32 Notwithstanding the cities of the Leviim, [and] the batim (houses) of the cities of their possession, may the Leviim redeem at any time.
25:33
And if a man purchase of the Leviim, then the bayit that
was sold, and the city of his possession, shall go out in [the
year of] yovel: for the Batim (houses) of the cities of the Leviim
[are] their possession among the benai Yisrael.
25:34 But the field of the suburbs of their cities may not be sold; for it [is] their perpetual possession.
Preventing Poverty Those Who Have Means Are to Extend Charity to Those In Need
25:35 And if thy brother be waxen poor, and fallen in decay with thee; then thou shalt relieve him: [yea, though he be] a ger, or a toshav (temporary resident); that he may live with thee.
25:36 Take thou no usury of him, or increase: but fear Eloheicha; that thy brother may live with thee.
25:37 Thou shalt not give him thy money upon usury, nor lend him thy victuals for increase.
25:38 ANI YHWH (יהוה) Eloheichem, which brought you forth out of ha eretz Mitzrayim, to give you ha eretz Kenaan, [and] to be Eloheichem.
25:39(RY:iv, LY:vi)
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 avodat eved:
25:40 [But] as an sakhir (employee, hired servant), [and] as a sojourner, he shall be with thee, [and] shall serve thee unto the Shnat (year) ha Yovel :
25:41 And [then] shall he depart from thee, [both] he and his children with him, and shall return unto his own mishpochah (family), and unto the possession of his avot shall he return.
25:42 For they [are] My avadim, which I brought forth out of the eretz Mitzrayim: they shall not be sold as bondmen.
25:43 Thou shalt not rule over him with rigour; but shalt fear Eloheicha.
25:44 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.
25:45 Moreover of the benai ha toshavim (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.
25:46 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 benai Yisrael, ye shall not rule one over another with rigour.
25:47(LY:vii)
And if a stranger or toshav (sojourner) 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 mishpochah (family):
25:48 After that he is sold he may be ge'ulah (redeemed) again; one of his brethren may redeem him:
25:49 Either his uncle, or his uncle's son, may redeem him, or [any] that is nigh of kin unto him of his mishpochah (family) may redeem him; or if he be able, he may redeem himself.
ve khishav im-kone hu mi'shnat hi'makhro lo ad shenat ha Yovel ve hayah kesef mimkaro be'mispar shanim b'yom sakhir ve hayah imo:
25:50 And he shall reckon with him that bought him from the year that he was sold to him unto the shenat (year) ha Yovel : and the kesef (price) of his sale shall be according unto the number of shanim (years), according to the b'yom (day) sakhir (employee, hired servant) shall it be with him.
25:51 If [there be] yet many shanim [behind], he shall refund part of his purchase price in proportion to them for his own redemption.
25:52 And if there remain but few shanim unto the Shnat (year) ha Yovel , then he shall count with him, [and] according unto his shanim shall he give him again the price of his redemption.
25:53 [And] as a yearly sakhir (employee, hired servant) shall he be with him: [and the other] shall not rule with rigour over him in thy sight.
25:54 And if he be not redeemed in these [years], then he shall go out in the Shnat (year) ha Yovel , [both] he, and his children with him.
25:55 (LY:Maftir)
For unto Me benai Yisrael [are] avadim; they [are] My avadim whom I brought forth out of the eretz Mitzrayim:
ANI YHWH (יהוה) Eloheichem.
Each Shemittah we remember that Hashem is the ownership of the land, Master of the land, giver of the land and provider crops yielding thus the land not us, we are just stewards, it is a parallel significant understand between shemittah and shabbat is that a double portion of manna fell to feed us through Shabbat, just as the sixth year will yield enough produce to see us through Shemittah.
The Torah calls Shemittah a form of Shabbat Shemittah is mentioned several times in the Tenakh:
Shevi'it produce has sanctity requiring special rules for its use:
Aftergrowth -plants that spring up on their own without deliberate sowing. Let nature take its place. Let Hashem take care of the nature.
How does HaShem's ownership of the Land (Vayikra 25:23; Ex. 15:17; Yeshayahu 14:2, 25; Jer. 2:7; Ez 36:5; 38:16; Hos. 9:3; Ps. 10:15(16), 85:1(2), transform your understanding of the parable of the wicked vinedressers (Matt 21:33-46)
Read Romaios 11:25-27. Notice that HaShem sent Moshiach only after Yisra'el had descended into spiritual bondage to an idolatrous empire. What does Moshiach do, as kinsman redeemer, when he comes to take away Yisra'el's sins?
Study Acts 2:42-47. Explain how the redeemed believers first treated those in their midst who were indebted or homeless.
Explain how the Ruach rewarded
kinsmen redeemers for setting free the impoverished brethern.