Exposition of the Laws of Moses, Exegesis 1 · Part 23
EXERCITAT. XXIII. Of the ſeventh yeares rest, and the Jubile. A ceremoniall appendix of Command. 4.
Levit. 25.4. But in the ſeventh yeere ſhall be a Sabbath of reſt unto the Land, &c. verſ. 8. and thou ſhalt number ſeven Sabbaths of yeeres, &c.
GOD commanded his people to reſt the ſeventh day from their labours; then he commanded them to keepe many feaſts in the ſeventh monethmonth; upon the firſt day of the ſeventh monethmonth they were to keepe the feaſt of Trumpets called Roſh Haſhanah, foreign primus dies anni.the firſt day of the new yeere; upon the tenth day of this monethmonth they were to keepe the feaſt of expiation; upon the fifteenth day of this monethmonth, the feaſt of Tabernacles, which continued for ſeven dayes, and in the ſeventh day of the feaſt of Tabernacles, they kept feſtum ſalicis, and caried branches, as they uſed in the Paſcha to carry palmes, which was a ſigne of victory; then they carried branches before CHRIST and cryed Hoſanna filio David. The feaſt of collections added to the feaſt of Tabernacles and Paſſeover.In the laſt day of the feaſt of Tabernacles, was the feaſt of collection added both to the Paſcha, and to the feaſt of the Tabernacles, and Ioh. 2.37. it is called the laſt and the great day of the feaſt.
Beſides theſe legall feaſts in this monethmonth, they had likewiſe on the fourth day, the faſt of Godaliah, and upon the twenty third day was festum latitiae legis, et benedictio.
They had but one feaſt in the MonethMonth Niſan, and one in Iair, the Pentecoſt.
So the Lord commanded that the Land ſhould reſt in the ſeventh yeere, and every ſeventh ſeventh in the Iubile, The lan… was laboured ſix yeeres, and theſe yeeres were called Anni georgici.
The land was to reſt the ſeventh yeere,foreign this was called annus ſhemittah from Shamat, liberum demittere, and not to ſeeke any due of it; for thoſe who laboured the ground to ſeek fruit of it every yeere was too much, and gave no time of reſt to the ground.
The Lord taught the Iewes ſundry things by the reſting of the Land;What things the Iewes were taught by the reſt of the ſeventh yeere. for as the Sabbath day taught them that as they were the Lords they behoved to ceaſe from their owne workes, to doe his worke: So the Sabbath of the ſeventh yeere taught them, that both they and their land was the Lords, and therefore it was to reſt.
Secondly, this yeere taught them to depend upon the Lords providence, for the Lord promiſed his bleſſing upon the ſixt yeere, that the Land ſhould bring out for three yeeres, Levi. 25.20.
Thirdly, this yeere was a ſigne to them of their eternall reſt.
Laſtly, he inſtituted this yeere, to teach them to be pitifull to the poore; for thoſe things which grew of their owne accord that yeere, were alloted to the poore and to the ſtrangers.
Queſt. How could they live, ſeeing the land reſted the ſeventh yeare?
Anſw. The Lord anſwered, Levit. 25.21.How God bleſſed the ſixt yeere, that it ſerved for three yeeres. Thar he ſhould ſo bleſſe the ſixt yeere, that it ſhould ſerve for three yeares, and here we may ſee how the promiſes were fulfilled, which were made, Levit. 26, 10. Ye ſhall bring out the old, becauſe of the new, that is, there ſhall be ſuch plenty of new, that yee muſt bring forth the old to make roome for it, and that is that which Amos ſpeaketh, cap. 9.13.Haebraice foreign a ſpecie in ſpeciem et chaldaice foreign ab anno in annum, Arator apprehendet meſſorem, the plowman ſhall ever take the reaper, that is, the old and the new ſhall meete together. So Pſal. 144.13. That our garners may be full affording all manner of ſtore, but the Chaldee Paraphraſt paraphraſeth it, Affording corne from one yeere to another.
The fertility of the ſeventh yeare, was not meerely naturall.Here we may obſerve that this fertility of the ſeventh yeare was not merely naturall, but proceeded from the bleſſing of God. Secondly▪ all thoſe who reſted the ſeventh yere from their labours, yet they wanted nothing but it was ſupplied by the bleſſing of God. Mal. 3.10 Effundam vobis vſque ad non ſufficientiam, that is, that yee ſhall not have veſſells to containe the oyle, and the wine, nor garners to containe the corne, which I ſhall beſtow upon you.
Never man ſuffered any loſſe in Gods ſervice.So thoſe who abſtaine from their labours upon the Sabbath, it ſhall never impoveriſh them; for the bleſſing of God upon the weeke dayes ſhall ſupply all their wants; ſo the Lord promiſed, when they ſhall goe up to Ieruſalem to ſerve him at their feaſts, that he would keepe their land from the incurſion of the enemies, Exo. 34.24. and we ſee, Ioſh. 5.2. When they were circumciſed, the Lord ſtrooke ſuch a feare and terror in the hearts of the Canaanites, that they durſt not touch them, as Simeon, & Levi killed the Sichemites when they were newly circumciſed; never man yet got hurt in the ſervice of God: He ſhall ſtill find the Lords protecting Hand and bleſſing in his ſervice. When hee ſent out the ſeventy Diſciples without purſe, ſcrip, and ſhooes, he ſaid, Lacked ye any thing? and they ſaid, Nothing. Luc. 22.35. Nebuchadnezzer ſhall not want a reward for his ſervice which he did to the Lord, albeit he was an heathen, for hee got the Land of Egypt for his wages. Ezek. 29.20.
The next priviledge of the Sabbaticke yeare was this, Deut. 14.1.Debts were payed in the ſeventh yeare. that mens debts were pardoned to them, if they became poore and had nothing to ſatisfie, but not if they had ſufficient to pay, then they were bound to ſatisfie; and if they were poore, the Lord commanded to lend unto them, Deut. 15.19. although the ſeventh yeare was at hand; but that which was borrowed for neceſſitie onelyonly, was not to be reſtored; and the naturall Iewes had onelyonly this priviledge, but not the Proſelytes.
The third priviledge of this yeare was this,Servants were ſet a liberty this yeare. Exod. 21.2. He ſhall goe out free in the ſeventh yeere, paying nothing, to wit, if he was an Hebrew ſervant; but if hee was not an Hebrew ſervant, but a ſtranger, then he was to ſerve untill the yeare of the Iubile, Levit. 25.4.
The fourth thing which was done in the ſeventh yeare,The Law was publikely read this yeare. the Law was publikely read, Deut. 31.10.
Queſt. Whether or not, kept they alwayes theſe ſabbaticall yeares?
Anſw. Not, Ier. 34.14, therefore the Lord plagued them with divers plagues, and eſpecially with barrenneſſe of the ſixt yeare, 2 Mach. 6.43.49.
Queſt. When began this yeare of the reſt?
Anſw. Some hold that it began after the land was divided by Lot;At what yeare the firſt Reſt began. but ſeeing the Land was twiſe divided by Lot, firſt in Gilgal, Ioh. 14. Secondly, in Siloh a few yeares after, becauſe the firſt diviſion was not perfected, this account of the ſeventh yeare ſeemeth to begin at the latter diviſion of the Land, Ioſ. 18 2.
Queſt. What time of the yeare began this reſt of the ſeventh yeare?
Anſw. From Tiſhri, and not from Niſan; At what time of the were this Reſt began.for if it had begun in Niſan, then they ſhould have loſt two Harveſts, firſt, they might not cut downe the Corne which was growing upon the ground in Niſan; and then ſecondly, they might not ſow in Tiſhri, and ſo they ſhould have loſt both the Harveſts, Exod. 23.16. and 34.22. but the Lord ſaith, Levit. 25.27. Yee ſhall ſow the eighth yeare, therefore they wanted but one ſowing, and one Harveſt.
Of the Jubile.
foreign Produxit, eduxit.Their great Sabbaticall yeare was the yeare of the Iubile: It was called the Iubile from Iobhel or hobhel, deduxit or produxit; becauſe it brought men backe againe to their firſt eſtate; the Seventy tranſlate it foreign, becauſe they were brought backe to their firſt eſtate, and Philo Iudaeus calleth it, foreign, reſtitutio, and Ioſephus foreign, libertatem, and from the word Iubile, the Latines made their word Iubilo, to take up a merry ſong. So it might be called buccina reductionis.
foreignThey blew with Rammes hornes at this feaſt, dekeran dikraia, as the Chaldee paraphraſt paraphraſeth it. And they blew with theſe Rammes hornes in remembrance of their deliverance out of Egypt.
Maſius holdeth, that they were Neat hornes; they blew with Rammes hornes in the forty ninth yeare, and in the fiftieth yeare, the yeare of the Iubile, with Oxens hornes; but when they gathered the people to the Congregation,Elevare cornu prophetiae quid. they blew with ſilver Trumpets; this blowing of Trumpets ſignified, that Miniſters ſhould lift up their voyce like a Trumpet, Eſay 58.1. and proclaime ſalvation to the people. The Prophets were ſaid to lift up the horne, 1 Chro. 25.5. becauſe the Prophets were to lift up their voyce, and to blow, as if it were with a horne.The Prieſts proclaimed the Iubile with Rammes hornes. None might blow with thoſe hornes but onelyonly the Prieſts, for the hornes were appointed for a holy uſe, and no man might blow thoſe hornes, but he who was conſecrated for a holy uſe, as the Prieſt was, for the Prieſt went out to battell and blew the Trumpet, it was he that blew, the trumpet to convocate the people; it was he that blew, when the wals of Iericho fell downe; it was he that proclaimed the yeare of Remiſſion; and it was he that proclaimed the yeare of the Iubile.
When they proclaimed this Iubile upon the forty ninth yeare, they proclaimed it upon the day of expiation; the day of expiation was dies luctus to them, a day of mourning; and yet the intimation of great joy of the yeare of the Iubile was proclaimed that day, to teach thē in the midſt of their griefe to remember joy.
Although the Iubile was proclaimed the fortie ninth yere, yet the forty ninth yeare of the reſt and Iubile,The forty ninth yere of the Reſt, and the ubile could not ever fall together. fell not alwayes together; for if the Iubile, and the yeere of the reſt had fallen alwayes in one yeare (as ſome would reckon, beginning the Iubile in Niſan, and the yeare of the reſt in Tiſhri) then there ſhould be wanting either a halfe yeare, or a whole yeare to the yeare of the reſt; the Iubile hath fifty, and the ſeven reſts forty nine, it wanting halfe a yeare in the firſt Iubile, in the ſecond Iubile there ſhould be a whole yeare of the reſt wanting. And ſo the whole order of their reckoning ſhould be perverted; the Text ſaith expreſly, that the fiftieth yeare ſhall be the Iubile, and not the forty ninth yeare; neither is it enough to ſay that the Iubile is the fiftieth yeare, becauſe the former Iubile is reckoned for one of the fifty, becauſe this wayes, one Iubile ſhould be twiſe numbred, being the laſt of the one Iubile, and the beginning of the next Iubile; and as no man will ſay, that the Iewes were to reſt from their labours after the ſeventh day, but upon the ſeventh day; ſo no man can ſay, that the land was to reſt after the ſeventh yeare, but upon the ſeventh; and as the ſeventh day of the weeke is to be reckoned, excluding the former Sabbath (for when the former Sabbath is included, then it is called eight dayes) ſo the ſeventh yeare is to be reckoned excluding the former ſeventh; and the fiftieth yeare, ſecluding the former Iubile.
The yeare of the Reſt and the Iubile fall together every ſeventh Iubile.Then to make up the right reckoning, is to give to the yeare of the reſt fortynine yeares, and to the Iubile fifty, and ſo they ſhall fall together at every ſeventh Iubile, in threehundreth and fifty yeares. Seven times forty nine, maketh but three hundreth and forty three yeares.
Three ſorts of reckoning amongſt the Iewes. The three yeeres are not three full yeares.When the land is ſaid to reſt for three yeares, it is not meant here of three compleat yeares; the Hebrewes have three ſorts of reckonings, the firſt reckoning is, excluſo utroque termino; their ſecond reckoning was incluſo utroque termino; their third ſort of reckoning was, excluſo uno termino & incluſo altero. Example of the firſt, when they are both excluded, Matthew ſaith, cap. 17.1. ſixe dayes after, the other Evangeliſts ſay, eight dayes after, Marc. 9.2. Luc. 9.4. including both the termes. And thus the Evangeliſts are reconciled. The 3 ſort of reckning is, including one of the termes, and excluding the other; as they were to Circumciſe their children the eight day, if the child had lived ſeven dayes, and a part of the eight, he was to be circumciſed, as if he had lived compleat eight dayes; therefore the Iewes ſay, that dies legis non eſt à tempore ad tempus, that is, it is not to be underſtood, de completo tempore, of the full time; ſo the three yeares wherein the Lord promiſed to bleſſe their land, are not to be reckoned for three whole yeares, but excluſo utroque termino, two halfe yeares and a whole yeare, Deut. 5.1. At the end of every ſeventh yeare thou ſhalt make a releaſe, mikketz ſhould not bee tranſlated,foreign a fine, מ pro ב A fine, but in fine, Deut. 31.30. putting beth for mem.
The land reſted three yeares,How the land reſted three yeares together. but not three compleat yeares, but one whole yeare and two halfe yeares, excluſo utroque termino; they did ſow their Corne in Shebhat, anſwering to our Ianuary; and they reaped their Barley in Niſan, anſwering to our March; and they reaped their Wheat at the Pentecoſt, the yeare before the Iubile; when the reſt and the Iubile fell together, they reaped their Corne in Niſan, which ſerved them till Tiſhri; Annus cempletus. currens.and this halfe yeare was called the firſt yeare of the three yeares reſt; then the yeare of the Iubile began in Tiſhri, which was a compleat or a full yeare, and this was the ſecond yeare of the Reſt; and after the Iubile, the Cornes were ſowen in Shebhat againe, and reaped in Niſan, and this halfe yeare was counted the third yeare; and this was annus currens, but not completus.
In the fiftieth Iubile from the Creation of the world, the ſeventh Sabbath of the Land and the firſt Iubile began both in one yeare.
After Ioſhua had fought againſt the Canaanites for ſixe yeares, the Lord commanded the land to reſt the ſeventh yeare, reckoning the ſeventh yeare and Iubile from Tiſhri.
How the Iubile and the ſeventh yeare of the reſt, fell both together, ſee this Figure following.
A figure to ſhew when the ſeventh yeare of the Reſt and the Jubile fell both in one yeare.
Alſo there were no Iubilees reckoned untill Ioſhua had conquered the land, yet if ye will reckon from the Creation of the world, till the dayes of Ioſhua, 3500 yeares, which will make up juſt fifty Iubilies, we may reckon this way, per tempus prolepticum, which is neither poſtulatitium nor hiſtoricum; tempus poſtulatitium they call this, when the Kings of Egypt deduced their genealogies thirteene thouſand yeares, before the Creation this is a falſe reckoning; but tempus prolepticum, is this, when they reckoned ſeven hundred yeeres before the Creation, to make the Sunne, the Moone, and the yeare of the Indiction to fall in one yeare; and ſo doth Scaliger reckon; and thus wee may reckon the Iubilees aſcending up to the Creation,Tempus poſtulatitium prolepticum hiſtoricum. not per tempus hiſtoricum, nor tempus poſtulatitium, but per tempus prolepticum; but when we reckon from Ioſhua's dayes deſcending to the time of Chriſts death, this is per tempus hiſtoricum, the Scripture ſheweth us juſt twenty nine Iubilees from Ioſhua to Chriſt, then was the acceptable time, and the day of great deliverance, Luc. 4.18. and then all the Iubilees ceaſed.
The difference betwixt the ſeventh yeere of releaſe,The difference betwixt the priviledges of the ſeventh yeare and the Iubile. and the yeare of the Iubile was this, in the ſeventh yeere the Hebrew ſervant was releaſed, and if he had maried a ſtranger, his wife and his children were not releaſed; but in the yeare of the Iubile they were releaſed. Secondly, the morgaged lands in the ſeventh yeare were reſtored, to the laſt Morgager; but in the yeare of the Iubile the Land was reſtored to the proper inheritor.
The Lord appointed theſe Iubiles, Firſt,Why the Iubile was appointed. that the poore might not be excluded from their inheritance; Secondly, he inſtituted them that they might keepe a right chronology and reckoning of times; for as the Greekes did reckon by their Olympiades, and the Latines by their Luſtra; So did the Hebrewes by their Iubiles. Thirdly, he inſtituted theſe Iubiles, that they might be a type to them of their full deliverance by Chriſt. Eſay. 61.2. Luc. 4.10.
The extent of the remiſſion under the Goſpell, above the remiſsion under the Goſpell, above the remiſsion under the Law.The Remiſſion of the Iubile exceeded the remiſſion of the ſeventh yeare ſeven times, and Chriſt extended the remiſſion under the Goſpell as farre above the Iubile, as the Iubile is above the ſeventh yeare to ſeventy times ſeaven times: Peter would have reſtrained this remiſſion to ſeven onelyonly, Mat. 18.21. but Chriſt extendeth it farre above ſeven times or ſeventy times, but he ſaith that wee ſhould forgive our brother ſeventy times ſeven.
Concluſion. The concluſion of this is; the ſeventh day they reſted from their labours, in the ſeventh monethmonth the moſt of their feaſts fell; and in the ſeventh yeare their Land reſted, and in the ſeventh ſeventh their Iubile fell, then all their debts were payed, then they were reſtored to their inheritance, but when our eternall Sabbath ſhall come, Eſay. 66.22. then we ſhall reſt from our labours and our ſinnes, and the puniſhment of them; then the earth ſhall reſt from the burdens under which it groneth now, Rom. 8.22. and the ſunne, qui jam anhelat ad locum ſuum, foreign anhelavit.Eccleſ. 1.5. Who now is weary in running of his courſe, ſhall reſt, and there ſhall be no more need of his light, Revel. 22.5. Then all our debts ſhall be fully pardoned, and we ſhall be fully reſtored to our inheritance which we have morgaged: when the Prieſts went about the fortyninth yeare, and proclaimed that the fiftieth yeare was at hand, were not theſe glad newes to the poore, and to thoſe who were in debt; ſo when the Miniſters of the Goſpell, Lift up their voyce like a Trumpet, Eſay. 58.2. and proclaime to us, that the yeare of the Iubile is at hand; ſhould not poore and miſerable ſinners rejoyce, and lift up their heads becauſe their redemption draweth neere, Luc. 21.28.