Chapter Note Matthew Henry Commentary (Complete)
L E V I T C U S
CHAP. XXV.
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, Leviticus 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, Leviticus 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, Leviticus 25:8 - 17 . Particular directions are given, (1.) Concerning the sale and redemption of lands, Leviticus 25:23 - 28 . (2.) Of houses in cities and villages, with a proviso for Levite-cities, Leviticus 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, Leviticus 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, Leviticus 25:39 - 46 . And, [2.] If sold to proselytes, Leviticus 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.
Book Note Matthew Henry Commentary (Complete)
AN
EXPOSITION,
W I T H P R A C T I C A L O B S E R V A T I O N S,
OF THE THIRD BOOK OF MOSES, CALLED
L E V I T I C U S.
T HERE is nothing historical in all this book of Leviticus except the account which it gives us of the consecration of the priesthood Leviticus 8:1 - 9Leviticus 8:1 - 9 ), of the punishment of Nadab and Abihu, by the hand of God, for offering strange fire Leviticus 10:1 - 20Leviticus 10:1 - 20 ), and of Shelomith's son, by the hand of the magistrate, for blasphemy Leviticus 24:1 - 23Leviticus 24:1 - 23 ). All the rest of the book is taken up with the laws, chiefly the ecclesiastical laws, which God gave to Israel by Moses, concerning their sacrifices and offerings, their meats and drinks, and divers washings, and the other peculiarities by which God set that people apart for himself, and distinguished them from other nations, all which were shadows of good things to come, which are realized and superseded by the gospel of Christ. We call the book Leviticus, from the Septuagint, because it contains the laws and ordinances of the levitical priesthood (as it is called, Hebrews 7:11 ), and the ministrations of it. The Levites were principally charged with these institutions, both to do their part and to teach the people theirs. We read, in the close of the foregoing book, of the setting up of the tabernacle, which was to be the place of worship; and, as that was framed according to the pattern, so must the ordinances of worship be, which were there to be administered. In these the divine appointment was as particular as in the former, and must be as punctually observed. The remaining record of these abrogated laws is of use to us, for the strengthening of our faith in Jesus Christ, as the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world, and for the increase of our thankfulness to God, that by him we are freed from the yoke of the ceremonial law, and live in the times of reformation.
