8-13

Calvin's Commentaries, Vol. 4: Harmony of the Law, Part II, tr. by John King, [1847-50], at sacred-texts.com

Leviticus 25

Leviticus 25:8-13

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.

8. Numerabis quoque tibi septem hebdomadas armorum, id est septem annos septem vicibus; qui quidem dies septem Sabbathorum annorum efficient tibi quadraginta novem annos.

9. Then shalt thou cause the trumpet of the jubile 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.

9. Tunc transire facies tubam jubilationis mense septimo die mensis, id est die expiationum: transire inquam, facietis tubam per universam terrain vestram.

10. And ye shall hallow the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof: it shall be a jubile unto you; and ye shall return every man unto his possession, and ye shall return every man unto his family.

10. Sanctificabitisque annum quinquagesimum, et proclamabitis libertatem in terra cunctis habitatoribus ejus: Jobel ipse erit vobis: et revertemini quisque ad possessionem suam, et quisque ad familiam suam revertemini.

11. A jubile 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.

11. Jobel ipse annus quinquaginta annorum erit vobis: non seretis, neque metetis quae sponte produxerit terra: neque vindemiabitis separationes ejus.

12. For it is the jubile; it shall be holy unto you: ye shall eat the increase thereof out of the field.

12. Quia Jobel est, sanctus erit vobis, agri comedetis fructum.

13. In the year of this jubile ye shall return every man unto his possession.

13. Anno Jobel isto revertemini singuli ad possessionem suam.

8. And thou shalt number seven. The third kind of Sabbath follows, which was composed of forty-nine, or seven times seven years. This was the most illustrious Sabbath, since the state of the people, both as to their persons and their houses and property, was renewed; and although in this way God had regard to the public good, gave relief to the poor, so that their liberty should not be destroyed, and preserved also the order laid down by Himself; still there is no question but that He thus added an additional stimulus to incite the Jews to honor the Sabbath. For it was a kind of imposing memorial of the sacred rest, to see slaves emancipated and become suddenly free; houses and lands returning to their former possessors who had sold them; and in fine all things assuming a new face. They called this year Jobel, from the sound of the ram’s horn, whereby liberty and the restitution of property were proclaimed; but as I have said, its main feature was the solemnity which shewed them to be separated from other nations to be a peculiar and holy nation to God; nay, the renewal of all things had reference to this, that being redeemed anew in the great Sabbath, they might entirely devote themselves to God their Deliverer.