SUMMARY
Every seventh year was to be a time of canceling of debts and freedom for Hebrew indentured servants and slaves.
ANALYSIS
Every seventh year, the Israelites were to forgive any remaining debts owed by fellow Israelites. After an initial introduction in which the Israelites were told that they would not be poor, and only ever be creditors and never borrowers, if they obeyed the Lord, the passage goes on to assume that some Israelites will sometimes find themselves in positions of destitution and borrowing.
Israelites were instructed that if they found an Israelite in a position of poverty, they should generously loan whatever that person needed without regard to length of time until the Sabbatical year. Thus, they should loan in the sixth year, just as they might have in the first year, otherwise the poor person might cry out to God against them. If the person only repaid part of their debt before the Sabbatical year, the rest of the debt was to be erased.
In the same way, Hebrew slaves were to be set free after [at the most] six years’ service. They were to be sent away with ample provisions of animals, food, and drink for their free life, to make sure that they did not fallThe Fall refers specifically to the disobedience of Adam and Eve when they listened to Satan rather than adhering to God's command not to eat the fruit from the tree. When people act contrary to God's will, they are said to fall from from grace... into debt-bondage again. God reminds the people how God freed them from slavery in Egypt and provided reparations for them (Exodus 12:35-36).
The Israelite slave who does not wish to be freed is to have his or her ear pierced by an awl against a doorway. This was a symbolic act to put the blood of an Israelite in place of the blood of a PassoverPassover commemorates the deliverance of the Hebrew people from Egypt as described in the book of Exodus. It is celebrated with worship and a meal on the fourteenth day of the month called Nisan, which is the first month of the Jewish year. The time... lamb. In essence, the Israelite slave, in choosing to reject freedom and remain as a slave, was rejecting the implications of God’s Passover redemption. The ear that heard the announcement of freedom and rejected it was to be pierced publicly.
The rabbis held that even intentional slaves were to be liberated, even against their will, at the JubileeJubilee is a time of celebration and rejoicing. Hebrew law, as prescribed in Leviticus 25 and 27, declared every fiftieth year to be a jubilee year during which time slaves would be emancipated, debts would be forgiven, and even the land would be allowed to rest., and everyone was to be returned (not merely allowed to return) to their family (Leviticus 25:10).
Here we have the passage that JesusJesus is the Messiah whose life, death, and resurrection are God's saving act for humanity. quotes in MatthewA tax collector who became one of Jesus' 12 disciples. 26:11, after receiving the expensive gift of perfume “The poor will always be with you” (Deuteronomy 15:11). A contextualized reading of this verse indicates that Jesus was not simply dismissing the needs of the poor, but reaffirming God’s commandment that God’s people should fully open their hands to the needy and the poor of the land.
