A verse by verse commentary on DEUTERONOMY 15 dealing with the duty of cancelling all debts after seven years. God demands that they give to the poor and be willing to give them a loan to succeed on their own.

1. DEUTERONOMY 15 COMMENTARY
EDITED BY GLENN PEASE
The Year for Canceling Debts
1 At the end of every seven years you must
cancel debts.
BARNES, "The year of release is no doubt identical with the sabbatical year of the
earlier legislation (Exo_23:10 ff, and Lev_25:2 ff), the command of the older
legislation being here amplified. The release was probably for the year, not total and
final, and had reference only to loans lent because of poverty (compare Deu_15:4,
Deu_15:7). Yet even so the law was found to be too stringent for the avarice of the
people, because it was one of those which the rabbis “made of none effect by their
traditions.”
CLARKE, "At the end of every seven years thou shalt make a release -
For an explanation of many things in this chapter, see the notes on Exodus 21 (note),
Exodus 23 (note), and Leviticus 25 (note).
GILL, "At the end of every seven years thou shalt make a release. Not of
servants, for they were not to be dismissed from their service until they had served
six years, as is directed to in a following law; for if they were to be set free whenever a
sabbatical year came, they might be discharged when they had not served more than
a year, or than half a year, or than a month or two. Indeed when the year of jubilee
intervened, they were released be it at what time it would; but not in a sabbatical
year, which was a year of release of debts, as the following verses show, as well as
there was, then a rest of the land from tillage, Lev_25:2. Now this was done at the
end or extremity of every seventh year; not at the latter end or extremity of it, for if
the debt of a poor man might be exacted of him in the year, and until the end of it, it
would not in this respect have been a sabbatical year, or a year of rest and quiet; but
this was done at the first extremity of it, at the beginning of it, as Aben Ezra and Ben
Melech observe; though Maimonides (b) asserts it to be after the seven years were
ended; for he says,"the seventh year releaseth not monies but at the end of
it,''according to Deu_15:1 that as in Deu_31:10 after seven years is meant, so the
release of monies is after seven years.
HEBRY 1-3, "Here is, I. A law for the relief of poor debtors, such (we may suppose)
as were insolvent. Every seventh year was a year of release, in which the ground
1

2. rested from being tilled and servants were discharged from their services; and,
among other acts of grace, this was one, that those who had borrowed money, and
had not been able to pay it before, should this year be released from it; and though, if
they were able, they were afterwards bound in conscience to repay it, yet thenceforth
the creditor should never recover it by law. Many good expositors think it only
forbids the exacting of the debt in the year of release, because, no harvest being
gathered in that year, it could not be expected that men should pay their debts then,
but that afterwards it might be sued for and recovered: so that the release did not
extinguish the debt, but only stayed the process for a time. But others think it was a
release of the debt for ever, and this seems more probable, yet under certain
limitations expressed or implied. It is supposed (Deu_15:3) that the debtor was an
Israelite (an alien could not take the benefit of this law) and that he was poor (Deu_
15:4), that he did not borrow for trade or purchase, but for the subsistence of his
family, and that now he could not pay it without reducing himself to poverty and
coming under a necessity of seeking relief in other countries, which might be his
temptation to revolt from God. The law is not that the creditor shall not receive the
debt if the debtor, or his friends for him, can pay it; but he shall not exact it by a legal
process. The reasons of this law are, 1. To put an honour upon the sabbatical year:
Because it is called the Lord's release, Deu_15:2. That was Gods year for their land,
as the weekly sabbath was God's day for themselves, their servants, and cattle; and,
as by the resting of their ground, so by the release of their debts, God would teach
them to depend upon his providence. This year of release typified the grace of the
gospel, in which is proclaimed the acceptable year of the Lord, and by which we
obtain the release of our debts, that is, the pardon of our sins, and we are taught to
forgive injuries, as we are and hope to be forgiven of God.
JAMISON, "(Deu 15:1) At the end of every seven years thou shalt make a release.
CALVIN, "1.At the end of every seven years. A special act of humanity towards each
other is here prescribed to the Jews, that every seven years, brother should remit to
brother whatever was owed him. But, although we are not bound by this law at present,
and it would not be even expedient that it should be in use, still the object to which it
tended ought still to be maintained, i e. , that we should not be too rigid in exacting our
debts, especially if we have to do with the needy, who are bowed down by the burden of
poverty. The condition of the ancient people, as I have said, was different. They derived
their origin from a single race; the land of Canaan was their common inheritance;
fraternal association was to be mutually sustained among them, just as if they were one
family: and, inasmuch as God had once enfranchised them, the best plan for preserving’
their liberty for ever was to maintain a condition of mediocrity, lest a few persons of
immense wealth should oppress the general body. Since, therefore, the rich, if they had
been permitted constantly to increase in wealth, would have tyrannized over the rest,
God put by this law a restraint on immoderate power. Moreover, when rest was given
to the land, and men reposed from its cultivation, it was just that the whole people, for
whose sake the Sabbath was instituted, should enjoy some relaxation. Still the remission
here spoken of was, in my opinion, merely temporary. Some, indeed, suppose that all
debts were then entirely cancelled; (144) as if the Sabbatical year destroyed all debtor
2

3. and creditor accounts; but this is refuted by the context, for when the Sabbatical year is
at hand, God commands them to lend freely, whereas the contract would have been
ridiculous, unless it had been lawful to seek repayment in due time. Surely, if no
payment had ever followed, it would have been required simply to give: for what would
the empty form of lending have availed if the money advanced was never to be returned
to its owner? But God required all suits to cease for that year, so that no one should
trouble his debtor: and, because in that year of freedom and immunity there was no
hope of receiving back the money, God provides against the objection, and forbids them
to be niggardly, although the delay might produce some inconvenience. First of all,
therefore, He commands them to make a remission in the seventh year, i e. , to abstain
from exacting their debts, and to concede to the poor, as well as to the land, a truce, or
vacation. On which ground Isaiah reproves the Jews for observing the Sabbath amiss,
when they exact (145) their debts, and “fast for strife and debate.” (Isaiah 58:3.) The
form of remission is added, That no one should vex his neighbor in the year in which
the release of God is proclaimed.
COFFMAN, "The plain meaning of this is that all debts shall be cancelled and forgiven
in the Sabbatical Year, all debts to fellow Israelites. However, this is one of the laws of
God that the Jews "made void by their tradition" (Matthew 15:6). It is regrettable that
a scholar like Keil would have fallen into the devious "reasoning" by which the Jews
nullified this commandment, assuming that, Philo and the Talmudists were correct in
the affirmation that, "This simply meant lengthening the term for repayment!"[1] If
this paragraph in God's Word means simply "declaring a moratorium on debts for one
year," it was in no sense whatever a "release."[2] We are thankful that a number of
discerning scholars came up with the correct answer here:
"The actual wording here favors the view that the actual release of the loan itself is
meant. The early Jewish rabbis so understood it; and we should show that what is in
view is the complete remission of debt.[3] This prescribes a release of debts.[4] The
remission of the loan was absolute, thereby becoming a gift.[5] This law applies to
charitable loans; and their whole remission is intended, not merely the interest, because
this type of loan did not bear interest."[6]
A number of other scholars consulted were of the same opinion as these just cited, but
these are sufficient to show what the true meaning is generally considered to be. One
further point of interest is that this "release" also applied to Hebrew slaves who were to
be freed in the Sabbatical Year. It was a genuine freedom that they received, and their
former masters' were expected to endow them richly at the same time of their release.
That "release" meant such a thing to slaves indicates that nothing less than full
remission of debts could fulfil the "release" of debtors.
Deuteronomy 15:4 has the promise that, "There shall be no poor with thee!" This, of
course, is the will of God for His people, and actually for all people; it was never the
intention of God that people should be stricken with poverty and the suffering
associated with it, but it should be noted that there is a qualifier on this promise: "IF
ONLY THOU DILIGENTLY HEARKEN TO DO GOD'S COMMANDMENTS"
(Deuteronomy 15:5). Deuteronomy 15:4 therefore states God's ideal for His people, an
ideal that cannot ever be achieved apart from universal obedience to the
3

4. commandments of God. Deuteronomy 15:7, below, indicates that the rule of God in the
O.T. was exactly the same as it is in the N.T., "The poor ye have with you always"
(Matthew 26:11).
There is nothing really strange about the fact of there always being those who are poor.
There are many causes of poverty, some of course, being beyond the perimeter of
anything that anyone can do to prevent it. Wars, famines, floods, and all kinds of
natural disasters, etc., can issue in poverty for millions, but there are other causes of
poverty, many of such causes being within people themselves. Immorality, drunkenness,
wastefulness, irresponsibility, laziness, gambling, etc., - when such things are within
people, poverty is inevitable. All of these things (and others like them) are poverty!
We have already noted that the Jewish rabbis and Talmudists quickly moved to get rid
of this law about the remission of debts, and, as Ackland said, "There is reason to
believe that this law was never fully implemented!"[7]
"Thou shalt lend to many nations, but thou shalt not borrow ..." (Deuteronomy 15:6) In
the long history of the Jewish people, they have tended to fulfill the role of money-
lender to mankind. "Both borrowing and lending are precarious practices! `Neither a
borrower or a lender be; for loan oft loses both itself and friend, and borrowing dulls
the edge of husbandry.'"
BENSON, "Deuteronomy 15:1. At the end of every seven years — When the seventh
year comes, which is the end or last of the seven, Deuteronomy 15:9; Deuteronomy
15:12. This termed here the year of release, was the sabbatical year spoken of Exodus
23:11;
Leviticus 25:4. The wisdom of the Hebrew constitution provided for a release of all
debts and servitudes every seventh year, that the Jewish nation might not moulder
away from so great a number of free subjects into the condition of slaves: see on
Leviticus 25.
PETT, "Introduction
The Covenant Stipulations, Covenant Making at Shechem, Blessings and Cursings
(Deuteronomy 12:1 to Deuteronomy 29:1).
In this section of Deuteronomy we first have a description of specific requirements that
Yahweh laid down for His people. These make up the second part of the covenant
stipulations for the covenant expressed in Deuteronomy 4:45 to Deuteronomy 29:1 and
also for the covenant which makes up the whole book. They are found in chapters
12-26. As we have seen Deuteronomy 1:1 to Deuteronomy 4:44 provide the preamble
and historical prologue for the overall covenant, followed by the general stipulations in
chapters 5-11. There now, therefore, in 12-26 follow the detailed stipulations which
complete the main body of the covenant. These also continue the second speech of
Moses which began in Deuteronomy 5:1.
Overall in this speech Moses is concerned to connect with the people. It is to the people
that his words are spoken rather than the priests so that much of the priestly legislation
4

5. is simply assumed. Indeed it is remarkably absent in Deuteronomy except where it
directly touches on the people. Anyone who read Deuteronomy on its own would
wonder at the lack of cultic material it contained, and at how much the people were
involved. It concentrates on their interests, and not those of the priests and Levites,
while acknowledging the responsibility that they had towards both priests and Levites.
And even where the cultic legislation more specifically connects with the people,
necessary detail is not given, simply because he was aware that they already had it in
writing elsewhere. Their knowledge of it is assumed. Deuteronomy is building on a
foundation already laid. In it Moses was more concerned to get over special aspects of
the legislation as it was specifically affected by entry into the land, with the interests of
the people especially in mind. The suggestion that it was later written in order to bring
home a new law connected with the Temple does not fit in with the facts. Without the
remainder of the covenant legislation in Exodus/Leviticus/Numbers to back it up, its
presentation often does not make sense from a cultic point of view.
This is especially brought home by the fact that when he refers to their approach to
God he speaks of it in terms of where they themselves stood or will stand when they do
approach Him. They stand not on Sinai but in Horeb. They stand not in the Sanctuary
but in ‘the place’, the site of the Sanctuary. That is why he emphasises Horeb, which
included the area before the Mount, and not just Sinai itself (which he does not
mention). And why he speaks of ‘the place’ which Yahweh chose, which includes where
the Tabernacle is sited and where they gather together around the Tabernacle, and not
of the Sanctuary itself. He wants them to feel that they have their full part in the whole.
These detailed stipulations in chapters 12-26 will then be followed by the details of the
covenant ceremony to take place at the place which Yahweh has chosen at Shechem
(Deuteronomy 27), followed by blessings and cursings to do with the observance or
breach of the covenant (Deuteronomy 28).
I. INSTRUCTION WITH REGARD TO WORSHIP AND RIGHTNESS BEFORE
YAHWEH (Deuteronomy 12:1 to Deuteronomy 16:17).
In this first group of regulations in Deuteronomy 12:1 to Deuteronomy 16:7 emphasis is
laid on proper worship and rightness before Yahweh, looked at from the people’s point
of view. They include:
· Regulations with regard to the Central Sanctuary as the one place where
Yahweh is to be officially worshipped with emphasis on the people’s side of things and
their participation. They are to worship there joyfully (Deuteronomy 12).
· Regulations with regard to avoidance of idolatry as it affects the people lest they
lose their cause for joy (Deuteronomy 13).
· Regulations for the people with regard to ritual wholeness and cleanness so that
they might reveal themselves as suited to worship joyfully in the place which Yahweh
5

6. would choose (Deuteronomy 14:1-21).
· Regulations for the people with regard to tithing mainly ignoring levitical
aspects (Deuteronomy 14:22-27). Here they were to share their joy with others who
would thus be able to rejoice with them.
· Regulations with regard to poverty as a slur on Yahweh (Deuteronomy 14:28 to
Deuteronomy 15:11). This was to be allayed by a special use of the tithe every third year
and a release from debt every seventh year. To allow unrelieved poverty in the land
would prevent their being able to approach Yahweh with joy and to enjoy His
prosperity.
· Regulations with regard to Israelite Habiru bondsmen and bondswomen and
how they were to be their treated (Deuteronomy 15:12-18). Again the emphasis is on
generosity towards those whose need was greatest.
· Regulations with regard to firstlings, who represented their own relief from
bondage, with the emphasis on their being Yahweh’s and thus to be royally treated, and
to be eaten joyfully in the place which Yahweh would choose. The emphasis is on the
people’s participation (Deuteronomy 15:19-23).
· Regulations with regard to the three main feasts, with emphasis on the fact that
they must be eaten at the place which Yahweh will choose and that the last two of them
must be celebrated joyfully, again with the emphasis on the people’s participation
throughout (Deuteronomy 16:1-17).
But central to it all is the Central Sanctuary, the place where Yahweh sets His name.
The place where He meets with His people, and they with Him, and the need for them to
be in the right spirit so as to do so joyfully.
Chapter 15 The Generosity Required To Those In Extreme Poverty and to Bondsmen
Being Released, and The Requirement For Compassion In All Relationships.
Moses would expect that his reference to this three year cycle in Deuteronomy 14:28
would bring to mind the Israelite way of considering the passage of time and therefore
the provisions of the sabbath of rest for the land in the seventh year (Leviticus 25:1-7),
and with this in mind he continues with the theme of helping the poorest in the land
(Deuteronomy 14:28). In Deuteronomy 14:28 he had declared that in the third year and
the sixth year provision would be made through the tithe for the poor and needy, as
symbolised by the fatherless, the widow and the resident alien (the last of whom would
often be a refugee and in poverty, compare Deuteronomy 23:15). Here he declares that
in the seventh year, in the general year of release when the land was released from
needing to be economically productive so that the poor may benefit from it (Exodus
23:11), there was also to be a ‘year of release’ for those who were in debt. The two go
together. We must not read this reference to debt in the light of modern conditions. The
expectation would be that when the people had entered the land and had been given
land by Yahweh they would only need to borrow long term in cases of extreme need.
Such borrowing would thus indicate real poverty. It is not thinking of someone
6

7. borrowing in a commercial world.
And the main aim behind the provision was the relief of poverty, not in order to be a
means of avoiding what was in honour due. It would be expected that most creditors
would, in honour, honour their debts. It was those who could not do so who are in mind
here. Thus not only was the seventh year to be a year in which the land could rest, and
in which all could enjoy the fruits of the land because it was Yahweh’s land and
Yahweh’s dispensation, but it was also to be a year of release for all in extreme poverty
who were burdened with debt.
There is, in fact, a dispute as to whether the ‘release’ (‘a letting go’) mentioned here is a
permanent release or simply a postponement, covering the seventh year. Some argue
that during the seventh year, due to the rest given to the land (Exodus 23:10-11;
Leviticus 25:2-7) there would be no produce from the land and no wages for working on
other people’s land. They therefore suggest that the point here is that to have to repay a
loan in that year would be difficult. Therefore postponement would be required. They
point out that it would be different for a foreigner (in contrast with the resident alien)
for he was not affected by the year of rest for the land. Thus a postponement was to be
allowed to fellow-Israelites.
However in our view that is to miss the whole point of the passage which is to deal with
extreme poverty. The mention of such a delay would have made sense in the midst of a
general discussion of the seven year rest, or in a context dealing specifically with debt
and how to deal with it, but not as such a forthright statement, standing on its own, as
we have here in a context where poverty is stressed. The major point being dealt with
here is the incompatibility of poverty with Yahweh’s giving of the land. A slight delay in
repayment would hardly have much impact on that. But either way it is provided that
lenders must not allow it to affect their attitude to needy borrowers (Deuteronomy
15:7).
He next goes on to deal with the special need for generosity to ‘Hebrew bondsmen and
women’ when they come to the end of their seven year contracts. There is the twofold
connection here with what has gone before in the chapter, of generosity to the needy
and a period of seven years in the seventh year of which would come release, although
the seven year period is on a different basis. And he then finishes the chapter dealing
with the question of the firstlings. This helps to bring his previous points home by
reminding them how they themselves had been delivered from such poverty and
bondage in Egypt, for their firstlings were Yahweh’s precisely because He had
delivered them from bondage and spared their firstborn sons - Exodus 13:11-16). At the
same time it puts all in the context of chapter 12 where their rejoicing before Yahweh in
the place where he had chosen to dwell, because all was going well with them, included
the consumption of the firstlings.
Thus it was because of their own deliverance from poverty and bondage that they were
to consider those more unfortunate than themselves, and treat them well. Reference is
also made to the fact that the firstlings too must be well treated and not put to labour
prior to their being dedicated to Yahweh and passed over to the priests, although the
major reason for that was really so that nothing could be taken from them prior to
7

8. their presentation to Yahweh.
So the chapter reveals that the Israelite must show compassion to the needy debtor, to
the Hebrew bondsman and woman, and to the firstlings, although as we have said the
latter provision possibly more has in mind that the firstling shall be at its best for
Yahweh, with nothing taken from it.
This reference to firstlings connects back to the reference to tithes in Deuteronomy 14,
which with the firstlings are connected with the feasting before Yahweh at the place
which He has chosen for Himself in Deuteronomy 12, thus connecting all in
Deuteronomy 14-15 to Deuteronomy 12 and the worship at the sanctuary. These
provisions are thus to be seen as sacred and necessary of fulfilment so that they can
feast before Yahweh in His presence with a clear conscience.
Verse 1
Chapter 15 The Generosity Required To Those In Extreme Poverty and to Bondsmen
Being Released, and The Requirement For Compassion In All Relationships.
Moses would expect that his reference to this three year cycle in Deuteronomy 14:28
would bring to mind the Israelite way of considering the passage of time and therefore
the provisions of the sabbath of rest for the land in the seventh year (Leviticus 25:1-7),
and with this in mind he continues with the theme of helping the poorest in the land
(Deuteronomy 14:28). In Deuteronomy 14:28 he had declared that in the third year and
the sixth year provision would be made through the tithe for the poor and needy, as
symbolised by the fatherless, the widow and the resident alien (the last of whom would
often be a refugee and in poverty, compare Deuteronomy 23:15). Here he declares that
in the seventh year, in the general year of release when the land was released from
needing to be economically productive so that the poor may benefit from it (Exodus
23:11), there was also to be a ‘year of release’ for those who were in debt. The two go
together. We must not read this reference to debt in the light of modern conditions. The
expectation would be that when the people had entered the land and had been given
land by Yahweh they would only need to borrow long term in cases of extreme need.
Such borrowing would thus indicate real poverty. It is not thinking of someone
borrowing in a commercial world.
And the main aim behind the provision was the relief of poverty, not in order to be a
means of avoiding what was in honour due. It would be expected that most creditors
would, in honour, honour their debts. It was those who could not do so who are in mind
here. Thus not only was the seventh year to be a year in which the land could rest, and
in which all could enjoy the fruits of the land because it was Yahweh’s land and
Yahweh’s dispensation, but it was also to be a year of release for all in extreme poverty
who were burdened with debt.
There is, in fact, a dispute as to whether the ‘release’ (‘a letting go’) mentioned here is a
permanent release or simply a postponement, covering the seventh year. Some argue
that during the seventh year, due to the rest given to the land (Exodus 23:10-11;
Leviticus 25:2-7) there would be no produce from the land and no wages for working on
other people’s land. They therefore suggest that the point here is that to have to repay a
8

9. loan in that year would be difficult. Therefore postponement would be required. They
point out that it would be different for a foreigner (in contrast with the resident alien)
for he was not affected by the year of rest for the land. Thus a postponement was to be
allowed to fellow-Israelites.
However in our view that is to miss the whole point of the passage which is to deal with
extreme poverty. The mention of such a delay would have made sense in the midst of a
general discussion of the seven year rest, or in a context dealing specifically with debt
and how to deal with it, but not as such a forthright statement, standing on its own, as
we have here in a context where poverty is stressed. The major point being dealt with
here is the incompatibility of poverty with Yahweh’s giving of the land. A slight delay in
repayment would hardly have much impact on that. But either way it is provided that
lenders must not allow it to affect their attitude to needy borrowers (Deuteronomy
15:7).
He next goes on to deal with the special need for generosity to ‘Hebrew bondsmen and
women’ when they come to the end of their seven year contracts. There is the twofold
connection here with what has gone before in the chapter, of generosity to the needy
and a period of seven years in the seventh year of which would come release, although
the seven year period is on a different basis. And he then finishes the chapter dealing
with the question of the firstlings. This helps to bring his previous points home by
reminding them how they themselves had been delivered from such poverty and
bondage in Egypt, for their firstlings were Yahweh’s precisely because He had
delivered them from bondage and spared their firstborn sons - Exodus 13:11-16). At the
same time it puts all in the context of chapter 12 where their rejoicing before Yahweh in
the place where he had chosen to dwell, because all was going well with them, included
the consumption of the firstlings.
Thus it was because of their own deliverance from poverty and bondage that they were
to consider those more unfortunate than themselves, and treat them well. Reference is
also made to the fact that the firstlings too must be well treated and not put to labour
prior to their being dedicated to Yahweh and passed over to the priests, although the
major reason for that was really so that nothing could be taken from them prior to
their presentation to Yahweh.
So the chapter reveals that the Israelite must show compassion to the needy debtor, to
the Hebrew bondsman and woman, and to the firstlings, although as we have said the
latter provision possibly more has in mind that the firstling shall be at its best for
Yahweh, with nothing taken from it.
This reference to firstlings connects back to the reference to tithes in Deuteronomy 14,
which with the firstlings are connected with the feasting before Yahweh at the place
which He has chosen for Himself in Deuteronomy 12, thus connecting all in
Deuteronomy 14-15 to Deuteronomy 12 and the worship at the sanctuary. These
provisions are thus to be seen as sacred and necessary of fulfilment so that they can
feast before Yahweh in His presence with a clear conscience.
Release From Debt For The Poor Of The Land (Deuteronomy 15:1-11).
9

10. (This whole chapter is ‘thou’).
Deuteronomy 15:1
‘At the end of every seven years you (thou) shall make a release (literally ‘a letting go’;
some translate ‘a postponement’).’
It is unfortunate that our chapter divisions hide the full sequence in which this verse
comes. It is not the opening sentence to a new concept, but a continuation from
Deuteronomy 14:28. ‘At the end of every three years you shall --- at the end of every
seven years you shall ---.’
So the provision for the poor and needy every three years is now added to. It should be
noted that this verse is not primarily an attempt to refer to the legislation about the
seven year sabbath, as though this was some new announcement of something
previously unheard of. The stress is not on the seventh year as such, but on relief
available to the poor in that seventh year, which is on top of the provision available to
the poor in the third and sixth year. That is why the detail of the seven year sabbath is
not gone into, it is assumed. As we have pointed out already, the problem with
commencing a new chapter here is that we tend to see it as commencing a new subject.
But Deuteronomy 14:28 to Deuteronomy 15:1 should be read together. It should be seen
as reading, ‘at the end of three years you shall -- at the end of every seven years you
shall --.’ (And the chiasmus confirms it). It is the idea of looking after the poor and
needy which is being spoken of and continued.
It was not even intended to deal with general debt. Rather it was seeking to deal with
the problem of debt for the poorest in the land. As with the three years it was a new
announcement made on the verge of entering the land, making provision for the poor to
be released from debt, for it was only when they had entered the land that men might
find themselves in real hardship through debt. In the wilderness it was probably not
such a problem.
But Moses recognised that the ownership of land, and the obligations and necessities
connected with it, could bring problems with them, especially in times of shortage,
which could put people into debt simply in trying to deal with them. So in the seventh
year there was to be a ‘release’ (a ‘letting go’) from debt for those who were finding it
hard to cope. Such freeing from debt and from debt-slavery at the behest of a king was
known elsewhere and Hammurabi for one appears to have sought to legalise such
freedom after three years service.
“At the end of seven years.” That is in the seventh year of the seven year cycle into
which time for Israel was divided (as with the seven day cycle ending in the Sabbath, all
was in sevens).
(It is clear that each ‘third year’ has to take the seventh year into account or there could
have come a seventh year which coincided with a third year resulting in no tithes of
grain for the poor. It is unlikely that that was intended. Thus ‘at the end of the third
year’ probably signifies that the third and sixth year in each seven year cycle is in
10

11. mind).
“You shall make a release.” There are a number of arguments for seeing this as
indicating a permanent release.
1) In Deuteronomy 31:10 ‘the year of release’ is considered to be a sufficiently
distinctive occasion to be referred to, whereas postponement of a debt for one year was
hardly that, however much it might seem so to the debtor. It was simply a minor
disadvantage to the creditor.
2) In Deuteronomy 15:9 it is seen as a disincentive to lending. But a year’s
postponement could be taken into the reckoning from the start, and would surely not be
seen to be quite such a disincentive to lending as the impression given here.
3) Consider also the words of Jesus, ‘if you lend hoping to receive, what desert have
you?’ (Luke 6:34). It is quite likely that there He has this year of release in mind,
especially as His statement was intended to distinguish those who were true sons of the
Most High. For in this context in Deuteronomy reference has been made to Israel as the
sons of Yahweh in Deuteronomy 14:1.
4) Further support may be seen in the total release of land without cost back to its
original owner in the year of Yubile. There the position in mind was of an irreversible
situation. The same principle may be seen as occurring here. It was permanent release.
The situation would be taken into account in agreements.
5) In the example that follows here in Deuteronomy 15:12-18 the Hebrew bondsman
was being completely set free in the seventh year. That would parallel a seven year full
release here.
6) The fact that the statement stands starkly on its own would point to a significant
release, rather than a temporary one. Had it been in a context of the seven year rest for
the land, as an added feature, it might have been different. But the context here is one
of extreme poverty and the need for relief.
It must be recognised at once that this coming release did not signify that no loans need
ever be repaid. Most honest borrowers would in honour wish to repay their loan
regardless of this Law. No doubt the poor man would wish he could repay it. It was
more a provision for the extreme hardship of someone who through misfortune could
not possibly repay it, whom Yahweh did not want burdened with it until it destroyed
him.
In support of a reference to ‘postponement only’ is the significance of the seventh year
elsewhere. There it was a year of rest from something (Leviticus 25:3-7; Exodus
23:10-11) which would recommence again in the following year. But that is a very
different thing from the situation of a man in poverty. There the land would be
properly rested and start again afresh. The debtor would not start again afresh, he
would simply dread the end of the seventh year. Against the idea of postponement is the
better parallel of the year of Yubile where the land was completely released back to its
original owner.
11

12. It could be argued that reference to a mere postponement would also make more
commercial sense. However the latter is no strong argument for in Israel borrowing
and lending was not to be seen as commercial. No interest was to be charged. It was to
be a goodwill gesture to those in need. And the attitude of commercialism is specifically
guarded against (Deuteronomy 15:9).
The unwillingness of people to lend if they knew that they would not receive it back
might be a better argument, but that is actually what Deuteronomy 15:9 is all about. It
declares that Israelites must be willing to lend even in spite of this release and the
danger of losing their silver, because of what Yahweh would otherwise think about a
man in destitution, left unaided, a position that would be a major slight on Him. It is
difficult to see how a mere year’s delay could cause such unwillingness to lend.
(Someone who felt such reluctance about a mere delay would be doing their best not to
have to lend it anyway).
Nor was the release necessarily of the full debt. It could well be that the borrower had
already provided some service to the lender for the privilege of borrowing, such as free
part time labour or a portion of produce or some other service. That would be at least
some recompense. And the idea is then that the remainder was to be cancelled out of
charitable considerations and because Yahweh would be pleased. They were to be
satisfied with receiving but a part rather than the whole.
However, the context clearly does suggest that this is a major concession, and is made
because of unexpected poverty in the land, which should not be there, and that the
lender therefore has the assurance that God will recompense him as the debtor cannot.
This points beyond a mere postponement. It would seem to point to full release. The
stress is really on the eradication of poverty rather than mere release from debt.
HAWKER, "I call upon the Reader in a very particular manner in the opening of this
chapter, to remember the motto which I have so often endeavored to bring to his
recollection, that Moses wrote of CHRIST for here JESUS is evidently preached; and if
the HOLY GHOST shall be mercifully pleased to reveal him to the Reader's view, he
may and will discover, so much of the LORD CHRIST in this chapter, as will prove to
him, that the law is our schoolmaster unto CHRIST. Let the Reader observe, in the
account of this year of release, that it is called the LORD'S release. And what is the
release of poor insolvent debtors to the laws of GOD, when by sin they are rendered
totally incapable of paying what they owe both to the law and justice of GOD, and they
are through the infinite mercy of GOD'S covenant love in JESUS, justified from all
things, and though bond sinners, are set at happy liberty in CHRIST JESUS what is
such a deliverance and freedom, but the LORD'S release - GOD'S acceptable year of
salvation? Oh! thou dear and precious Redeemer! who doth not, or who will not see
thee in thy gracious character, when thou didst declare that the year of thy redeemed
was come, when thou camest to set at liberty them that were bruised, and to let the
oppressed go free? Luke 4:18-19.
LANGE, "The Fourth Command
Deuteronomy 15:1 to Deuteronomy 16:17
12

13. Deuteronomy 15:1-23
1, 2At the end of every seven years thou shalt make a release. And this is the manner
[word] of the release [what is said therein]: Every creditor that lendeth aught unto his
neighbour[FN1] shall release it; he shall not exact [press his, sq.] it of his neighbour, or
of his brother; because it is called [for called is] the Lord’s release 3 Of a foreigner thou
mayest exact [urge, press] it again: but that which Isaiah 4thine with thy brother thine
hand shall release: Save when [Only that][FN2] there shall be no poor among you; for
the Lord shall greatly bless thee in the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee for an
inheritance to possess it: 5Only if thou carefully hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy
God, to observe to do all these commandments [this commandment] which I command
thee this day 6 For the Lord thy God blesseth thee, as he promised thee: and thou shalt
lend unto many nations, but thou shalt not borrow; and thou shalt reign over many
nations, but they shall not reign over thee 7 If there be among you a poor man of one of
thy brethren within any [one] of thy gates in thy land which the Lord thy God giveth
thee, thou shalt not harden thy heart, nor shut thine hand from thy poor brother 8 But
thou shalt open thine hand wide [cheerfully][FN3] unto him, and shalt surely [richly]
lend him sufficient for his need, in that which he wanteth 9 Beware that there be not a
thought in thy wicked heart [a word in thy heart, worthlessness] saying, The seventh
year, the year of release, is at hand; and thine eye be evil against thy poor brother, and
thou givest him nought; and he cry unto the Lord against [over concerning] thee, and it
be sin unto thee 10 Thou shalt surely[FN4] give him, and thine heart shall not be
grieved [and not evil shall thine heart be] when thou givest unto him: because that for
this thing the Lord thy God shall bless thee in all thy works, and in all that thou puttest
thine hand unto [the reaching forth of thine hand]. 11For the poor shall never cease out
of the land: therefore I command thee, saying, Thou shalt open thine hand wide [ever
again] unto 12 thy brother, to thy poor [bowed, distressed] and to thy needy, in thy
land. And if thy brother, an Hebrew Prayer of Manasseh, or an Hebrew woman, be sold
unto thee, and serve thee six years; then in the seventh year thou shalt let him go free
from thee 13 And when thou sendest him out free from thee, thou shalt not let him go
away empty: 14Thou shalt furnish him liberally [Thou shalt load him, lay upon his neck
richly] out of thy flock, and out of thy floor, and out of thy wine-press: of that
wherewith the Lord thy God hath blessed thee thou shalt give unto him 15 And thou
shalt remember that thou wast a bond-man in the land of Egypt, and the Lord thy God
redeemed thee: therefore I command thee this thing [word] to-day 16 And it shall be, if
he say unto thee, I will not go away from thee; because he loveth thee and thine house,
because he is well with thee: 17Then thou shalt take an awl and thrust [give, it in] it
through his ear unto the door, and he shall be thy servant forever. And also unto thy
maid-servant thou shalt do likewise 18 It shall not seem hard unto thee, when thou
sendest him away free from thee: for he hath been worth a double hired servant to thee
[double of the wages of the hireling has he served thee six years], in serving thee six
years: and the Lord thy God shall bless thee in all that thou doest 19 All the firstling
males that come [are born] of thy herd and of thy flock thou shalt sanctify unto the
Lord thy God: thou shalt do no work with the firstling of thy bullock, nor shear the
firstling of thy sheep 20 Thou shalt eat it before the Lord thy God year by year in the
place which the Lord shall choose, thou and thy household 21 And if there be any
blemish therein, as if it be lame, or blind, or have any ill blemish, thou shalt not
13

14. sacrifice it unto the Lord thy God 22 Thou shalt eat it within thy gates: the unclean and
the clean person shall eat it alike, as the roebuck, and as the hart 23 Only thou shalt not
eat the blood thereof; thou shalt pour it upon the ground as water.
Deuteronomy 16:1 to Deuteronomy 17:1 Observe [Keep] the month of Abib, and keep
[make, celebrate] the passover unto the Lord thy God: for in the month of Abib the
Lord thy God brought thee forth out of Egypt by night 2 Thou shalt therefore sacrifice
[kill] the passover unto the Lord thy God, of the flock and the herd, in the place which
the Lord shall choose to place [cause his name to dwell] his name there 3 Thou shalt eat
no leavened bread with it; seven days shalt thou eat unleavened bread therewith, even
the bread of affliction; (for thou earnest forth out of the land of Egypt in haste): that
thou mayest remember the day when thou earnest forth out of the land of Egypt, all the
days of thy life 4 And there shall be no leavened bread seen with thee in all thy coasts
seven days; neither shall there any thing of the flesh, which thou sacrificedst [didst kill]
the first day at even, remain all night until the morning 5 Thou mayest not sacrifice
[kill, as margin] the passover within 6 any of thy gates, which the Lord thy God giveth
thee: But at [to] the place which the Lord thy God shall choose to place his name in,
there thou shalt sacrifice [kill] the passover at even, at the going down of the sun, at the
season [time] that thou earnest forth out of Egypt 7 And thou shalt roast [cook] and eat
it in the place which the Lord thy God shall choose: and thou shalt turn in the morning,
and go unto thy tents 8 Six days thou shalt eat unleavened bread;[FN5] and on the
seventh day shall be a solemn assembly to the Lord thy God: thou shalt do no work
therein. 9Seven weeks shalt thou number unto thee: begin to number the seven weeks
from such time as thou beginnest to put the sickle to the corn 10 And thou shalt keep
[make] the feast of weeks unto the Lord thy God with a tribute [measure] of a free-will-
offering of thine hand, which thou shalt give unto the LORD thy God,[FN6] according
as the Lord thy God hath blessed thee: 11And thou shalt rejoice before the Lord thy
God, thou, and thy Song of Solomon, and thy daughter, and thy Prayer of Manasseh -
servant, and thy maid-servant, and the Levite that is within thy gates, and the stranger,
and the fatherless, and the widow, that are among you, in the place which the Lord thy
God hath chosen to place his name 12 And thou shalt remember that thou wast a bond-
man in Egypt: and 13 thou shalt observe and do these statutes. Thou shalt observe
[make to thee] the feast of tabernacles seven days, after that thou hast gathered in thy
corn, and thy wine.[FN7] 14And thou shalt rejoice in thy feast, thou and thy Song of
Solomon, and thy daughter, and thy Prayer of Manasseh -servant, and thy maid-
servant, and the Levite, the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow, that are within
thy gates: 15Seven days shalt thou keep a solemn feast unto the Lord thy God in the
place which the Lord shall choose: because [for] the Lord thy God shall bless thee in all
thine increase [inbringing, produce] and in all the works of thine hands, therefore thou
shalt surely rejoice 16 Three times in a year shall all thy males appear [be seen] before
the Lord thy God in the place which he shall choose; in the feast of unleavened bread,
and in the feast of weeks, and in the feast of tabernacles; and they 17 shall not appear
before the Lord empty: Every man shall give as he is able [according to the gift of his
hand] according to the blessing of the Lord thy God which he hath given thee.
K&D, "On the Year of Release. - The first two regulations in this chapter, viz.,
14

15. Deu_15:1-11 and Deu_15:12-18, follow simply upon the law concerning the poor tithe
in Deu_14:28-29. The Israelites were not only to cause those who had no possessions
(Levites, strangers, widows, and orphans) to refresh themselves with the produce of
their inheritance, but they were not to force and oppress the poor. Debtors especially
were not to be deprived of the blessings of the sabbatical year (Deu_15:1-6). “At the
end of seven years thou shalt make a release.” The expression, “at the end of seven
years,” is to be understood in the same way as the corresponding phrase, “at the end
of three years,” in Deu_14:28. The end of seven years, i.e., of the seven years' cycle
formed by the sabbatical year, is mentioned as the time when debts that had been
contracted were usually wiped off or demanded, after the year's harvest had been
gathered in (cf. Deu_31:10, according to which the feast of Tabernacles occurred at
the end of the year). ‫ה‬ ָ ִ‫מ‬ ְ‫,שׁ‬ from ‫ט‬ ַ‫מ‬ ָ‫שׁ‬ morf ,, to let lie, to let go (cf. Exo_23:11), does
not signify a remission of the debt, the relinquishing of all claim for payment, as
Philo and the Talmudists affirm, but simply lengthening the term, not pressing for
payment. This is the explanation in Deu_15:2 : “This is the manner of the release”
(shemittah): cf. Deu_19:4; 1Ki_9:15. “Every owner of a loan of his hand shall release
(leave) what he has lent to his neighbour; he shall not press his neighbour, and
indeed his brother; for they have proclaimed release for Jehovah.” As ‫ּוט‬‫מ‬ ָ‫שׁ‬ (release)
points unmistakeably back to Exo_23:11, it must be interpreted in the same manner
here as there. And as it is not used there to denote the entire renunciation of a field or
possession, so here it cannot mean the entire renunciation of what had been lent, but
simply leaving it, i.e., not pressing for it during the seventh year. This is favoured by
what follows, “thou shalt not press thy neighbour,” which simply forbids an
unreserved demand, but does not require that the debt should be remitted or
presented to the debtor (see also Bähr, Symbolik, ii. pp. 570-1). “The loan of the
hand:” what the hand has lent to another. “The master of the loan of the hand:” i.e.,
the owner of a loan, the lender. “His brother” defines with greater precision the idea
of “a neighbour.” Calling a release, presupposes that the sabbatical year was publicly
proclaimed, like the year of jubilee (Lev_25:9). ‫א‬ ָ‫ר‬ ָ‫ק‬ is impersonal (“they call”), as in
Gen_11:9 and Gen_16:14. “For Jehovah:” i.e., in honour of Jehovah, sanctified to
Him, as in Exo_12:42. - This law points back to the institution of the sabbatical year
in Exo_23:10; Lev_25:2-7, though it is not to be regarded as an appendix to the law
of the sabbatical year, or an expansion of it, but simply as an exposition of what was
already implied in the main provision of that law, viz., that the cultivation of the land
should be suspended in the sabbatical year. If no harvest was gathered in, and even
such produce as had grown without sowing was to be left to the poor and the beasts
of the field, the landowner could have no income from which to pay his debts. The
fact that the “sabbatical year” is not expressly mentioned, may be accounted for on
the ground, that even in the principal law itself this name does not occur; and it is
simply commanded that every seventh year there was to be a sabbath of rest to the
land (Lev_25:4). In the subsequent passages in which it is referred to (Deu_15:9 and
Deu_31:10), it is still not called a sabbatical year, but simply the “year of release,”
and that not merely with reference to debtors, but also with reference to the release
(Shemittah) to be allowed to the field (Exo_23:11).
BI 1-8, "Keep the Passover.
The yearly festivals
The darker side of the Jewish religion was more than relieved by its outlets for joy. It
identified in a marvelous manner the holy day and the holiday (see the, two words
translated “feast” in Lev_23:1-44, meaning, the one “holy convocation,” the other
15

16. “festival”), showing that the people with deepest religious feelings are, after all, the
happiest people. The three great yearly feasts were—
1. The Passover, in the middle of Abib (nearly our April);
2. Seven weeks after, Pentecost, or the Feast of Weeks; and
3. The Feast of Tabernacles, or of Ingathering, in the end of autumn (October).
Notice of all three—
I. Their origin. They have their root in the weekly Sabbath. The Sabbath itself is the
first of the feasts (Lev_23:2-3), in which respect it also is a joyful day (Psa_18:24;
Isa_56:7; Isa_58:14). And the great feasts are framed upon its model. They are ruled
by the sabbatical number, seven. They begin and generally end on the seventh day.
Two of them last for seven days each, and there are seven days of “holy convocation”
in the year. Pentecost takes place seven weeks—a sabbath of weeks—after the
Passover. The seventh month is specially distinguished (verses 23-36). Moreover,
every seventh year is of the nature of a Sabbath, and seven times seven years bring
the Jubilee. Smaller festivals formed connecting links between the Sabbath and the
yearly feasts. There was the Feast of Months, distinguishing the first Sabbath of each
month with special sacrifices (Num_28:11), and with blowing of trumpets (Num_
10:10), which trumpets were used again on the first day of the seventh month—the
“Feast of Trumpets” (Lev_23:24-25). Our Sabbaths, like those of the Jews, form the
backbone and safeguard of our own national festivities.
II. Their purpose. They accomplished on a larger scale what was already aimed at by
the weekly Sabbath.
1. They called away from the round of yearly duty to the public recognition of
God. In spring and summer and autumn they presented anew to the people’s
consciousness, through the most impressive vehicle of national festivals, their
covenant relation to Jehovah.
2. They had a most important educational function. They were a compendium in
dramatic form of early Israelitish history, “What mean ye by this service?” (Exo_
12:26.) Moreover, they gave opportunity for special religious instruction.
(Josiah’s Passover, 2Ch_34:29 ff.; and Ezra’s Feast of Tabernacles, Neh_8:1-18.)
3. They subserved important ends not directly religious. They promoted the
national unity of the Israelites, stimulating their patriotism. (See the action of
Jeroboam, 1Ki_12:26.)
III. Their regulations.
1. The males from all parts of the country must assemble to the three feasts
(Deu_16:16); for which purpose all ordinary labour ceases.
2. The worshippers are to bring contributions (Deu_16:16-17), both for the
necessary sacrifices of themselves and others, and for hospitality (Neh_8:10).
3. The people are to rejoice in their feasts. So Lev_23:40 commands for the Feast
of Tabernacles, and Deu_16:11; Deu_16:15 for the Feasts of Pentecost and
Tabernacles. Ezra tells of the joy at the Feast of the Passover (Ezr_6:22); and
Nehemiah of the “very great gladness” at the Feast of Tabernacles (Neh_8:17).
But where is happiness to be found if not in the recognition of God’s relation to
us? Special protection was promised during the celebration of the feasts. There
are frequent promises that the fruits of the earth will not suffer, as Deu_16:15.
And it was specially promised that the absence of its defenders would not expose
the country to invasion (Exo_34:24). In short, Israel’s compliance with God’s will
here as everywhere was to be to the advantage even of his worldly prosperity. A
16

17. truth for all times and all peoples (Psa_1:3; Psa_92:13-15). (W. Roberts, M. A.)
The yearly festivals
Looking to these festivals separately, we find that a three-fold meaning attaches to
each of them—
1. A present meaning in nature;
2. A retrospective meaning in history; and
3. A prospective meaning in grace.
Moreover, in each of these three respects the three feasts stand in progressive order:
the Passover, the first at once in nature, history, and grace; the Pentecost, in all three
respects the second or intermediate; and the Tabernacles, in all three respects the
consummation of what has gone before.
I. The feast of the passover, occurring about the beginning of April.
1. Its natural meaning was necessarily an afterthought or addition of the
wilderness legislation. Looking forward to the settlement in Canaan, and placed
at early harvest, it marked the beginning of a people’s enrichment in the fruits of
the earth, and recognised in that the gift of a covenant God. Its place was “when
thou beginnest to put the sickle to the corn” (Deu_16:9). And hence the special
provisions of Lev_23:10-14.
2. What was first in nature was also first in history. The Passover night marked
the beginning of Israel’s national life. The month in which it occurred was
henceforth to be the first of the year (Exo_12:2), and to be permanently observed
(Exo_12:14; Deu_16:1). Some modifications necessarily arose in the permanent
observance of the Passover; the blood was now to be sprinkled on the altar; and
the lamb was to be slain in the one place of sacrifice (Deu_16:5-7; 2Ch_30:15-16).
The eating with unleavened bread and bitter herbs remained, as pointing to—
3. The prospective and spiritual reference of the Passover. The observance of the
Passover touched closely the spiritual welfare of the Israelites. It distinguished
the reigns of Josiah and Hezekiah and the return of the Jews from captivity. And
here we have the third and greatest beginning, the beginning of the kingdom of
God, in the world’s deliverance from sin. And we must deal with Christ as the
Jews with the Paschal Lamb, taking Him—“eating” Him, as He Himself puts it—
in His entireness as a Saviour, with the bitter herbs of contrition and the
unleavened bread of a sincere obedience.
II. The feast of pentecost—called also the Feast of Weeks, inasmuch as seven weeks
were to be reckoned between Passover and Pentecost. And this distance of a Sabbath
of weeks rules in all three meanings of this feast.
1. Its natural reference was to the completion of the harvest. It was the “Feast of
harvest.” Now, two loaves baked of the first-fruits are to be waved before the
Lord, with accompanying offerings (Lev_23:17-20). In addition to which, a free-
will offering, in recognition of God’s blessing, is to be brought, and the people are
called on specially to rejoice (Deu_16:10-11).
2. Its historical reference is a matter of inference. The seven weeks between
Passover and Pentecost are paralleled by the seven weeks actually occurring
between the deliverance from Egypt and the giving of the law from Sinai; and as
the Passover commemorates the first, it is reasonable to infer that Pentecost
17

18. commemorates the second. Moreover, the fulfilment which in nature Pentecost
gives to the promise of the Passover is paralleled by the fulfilment which the
Sinaitic law actually gave to the promise of the Exodus. For God’s first object and
promise was to meet His people and reveal Himself to them in the wilderness.
And this connection becomes greatly more remarkable when we notice—
3. The prospective meaning of this feast in the realm of grace. Under the
Christian dispensation Pentecost has become even more illustrious than the
Passover. Again God numbered to Himself seven weeks, and signalised Pentecost
by the gift of the Spirit. And what the Pentecost was to the Passover, that the gilt
of the Spirit is to the atonement of Christ. Look at the natural meaning of the two
feasts. In the sheaf of corn the Passover furnished the material for food; in the
wave loaves Pentecost presented God’s gift in the shape in which it could be used
for food. So the Passover atonement furnishes a material for salvation which
becomes available only through the gift of the Spirit. Or look at the historical
meaning of the feasts: the Passover atonement came to effect spiritually and for
the world what the Paschal Lamb effected for the Jewish nation. And the Holy
Spirit came to do for the dead law what Christ in His atonement did for the
Paschal Lamb. He came to write universally on men’s hearts what of old had been
written for the Israelites on stone (Heb_8:8; Heb_8:10; 2Co_3:3). As the end of
harvest was the fruition of its beginning, and the law the fruition of the exodus, so
the pentecostal Spirit was the fruition of the atonement. Should not we who live
under the dispensation of the Spirit maintain our pentecostal joy?
III. The feast of tabernacles, in the seventh month, or our October—called also the
Feast of Ingathering.
1. Its natural meaning. It came after the harvest of the vineyards and olive yards.
It marked the close of the year’s labours and their cumulative results, and was
therefore the most joyous of the feasts (Lev_23:40; Deu_16:14); but—
2. The historical meaning of the feast gives us deeper insight into its joy. There is
a special provision made in view of the coming settlement in Canaan, and made
in order that the hardships of the wilderness may be kept fresh in the people’s
memory (Lev_23:40; Lev_23:42-43). That memorial was to emphasise God’s
goodness in the protection of the fathers and in the settlement of their posterity.
The Feast of Tabernacles therefore marked the consummation of God’s covenant,
and called for highest gratitude and joy. Specially interesting is the celebration of
this feast by the Jews on their return from Babylon, where God’s goodness in
bringing their forefathers through the wilderness had been a second time, and no
less wondrously, manifested to them (Neh_8:13-17; Psa_126:1-6.) But—
3. The fullest meaning of the Feast of Tabernacles is in the kingdom of grace. The
wonder of God’s goodness finds last and highest manifestation in the final home-
bringing of His universal Church. The anti-type is the ingathering of God’s good
grain into the heavenly garner. Canaan after the wilderness, Jerusalem after
Babylon, are paralleled and fulfilled in the multitude that have come out of great
tribulation. (Walter Roberts, M. A.)
Jewish commemorative feasts
The Scriptures record two chief outbursts of miraculous power: one at the
foundation of the Hebrew commonwealth at the exodus from Egypt, and one at the
time of Christ’s appearing and the foundation of Christianity. It is a matter of infinite
importance to every man to ascertain whether these great miracles of the exodus and
18

19. of Christ’s first advent were really wrought.
I. The facts of the case are these:
(1) The Hebrew people and the ancient Hebrew books now exist, and they
throw light on one another.
(2) Wherever the Jewish people exist they celebrate in the spring the festival
of the Passover, which they universally regard as a historical memorial of the
deliverance of their forefathers from Egypt, about fourteen hundred years
before Christ, by the supernatural intervention of God the Almighty.
II. In the same manner, the feast of Pentecost, or the festival of the wheat harvest,
fifty days after the Passover, came to be regarded as a memorial of the giving of the
law on Mount Sinai on the fiftieth day after the Exodus. In like manner, the autumnal
festival of Succoth, or Booths, called “The Feast of Tabernacles,” is now celebrated
just as universally as the Passover in the spring, as a memorial of the children of
Israel dwelling in huts or booths. These festivals and commemorations have been
celebrated now for more than three thousand years.
III. The rule is that national celebrations and public monuments maintain the
remembrance of real events in past ages. It may be objected that if Athens, with all its
wisdom, could celebrate the fictitious history of Minerva why may we not believe that
the Jews were capable of commemorating things that happened only in the
imagination of later writers and poets? To this we answer:
(1) that even in the festivals of mythology there has been a strange
interweaving of historical truth and a constant tendency to give this element
prominence in the lapse of time;
(2) that the Jews were utterly destitute of the dramatic imagination of the
Greeks: to them the origination of a myth like that of the Exodus, if it were a
myth, would be an uncongenial exercise, its adoption as history an
impossibility. (E. White.)
Conditions of worship
The time is specified, and the reason is given. Every month has a memory, every day
has a story, every night has a star all its own. Selected instances help us to ascertain
general principles. Acting upon these instances, we become familiar with their spirit
and moral genius, so much so that we begin to ask, are there not other memorable
events? Are there not other times of deliverance? Have we been brought out of Egypt
only? Are not all the days storied with providential love? If God is so careful about
time, has He any regard for place? (Verses 5, 6.) This is morally consistent with God’s
claim for gracious recollection of definite times. May we not slay the Passover where
we please? Certainly not. May we not insulate ourselves, and upon little church
appointments of Our own creation carry out the ceremony of our worship? Certainly
not. We should strive to move in the direction at least of unity, commonwealth,
fellowship, solidarity. The sacrifice is the same, the man who offers it is the same; but
because it is not offered at the place which God has chosen the sacrifice and the
sacrificer go for nothing. That is in harmony with all the social arrangements which
experience has approved. There are fit places for all things, as well as fit times. The
time having been fixed and the place determined, what remains? (Verse 10.) Here is
the beginning of another kind of liberty. A wonderful word occurs in this verse: “a
free-will offering.” How wonderfully God educates the human race: He will insist
upon definite claims and obligations being answered, and yet He will also give
19

20. opportunity for freewill action, as if He had said,—Now we shall see what you will do
when left to yourselves; the law no longer presses you: the great hand is lifted, and
for the time being you shall do in this matter as it may please your own mind and
heart. That is an element in the Divine education of the human race. God gives us
opportunities of showing ourselves to ourselves. He only would count the gift: no one
should know what had been done: the sweet transaction should lie between the one
soul and the living Lord. Another singular word occurs in this tenth verse:—“a
tribute.” The literal meaning is that the gift is to be proportional. It would have been
easy to throw a dole to the Lord that had no reference whatever to what was left
behind: that would be a broad, easily-opened gate to heaven; but such is not the
condition stated in the bond. Even the freewill offering is to be tributary: it is to be
based upon the original substance, the actual property, whatever is in the hand as
momentary possession. Thus, sacrifice is to be calculated; worship is to be the result
of forethought; nothing is to be done of mere constraint or as consultative of ease
and indulgence. A word of taxation touches the very poetry and pathos of oblation.
“And thou shalt rejoice before the Lord thy God,” etc. (Deu_23:11). This gives us the
joyous aspect of religion. An ancient Jewish annotator has made a beautiful remark
upon this verse, to the effect that “thy four, O Israel, and My four shall rejoice
together.” “Thy son, and thy daughter, and thy manservant, and thy maidservant”—
let them rejoice, let them be glad in response to music, and let them call for more
music to express their ever-increasing joy; but God’s four must be there also—the
Levite, the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow; they represent the Divine name as
authority for admission to the feast. The religious servant, the poor stranger, the
orphan, and the widow—they sit down, in seats divinely claimed for them, at the
festive board. So the company shall be representative:—son, daughter, manservant,
maidservant; priest, stranger, orphan, widow;—this is the typical company sitting
down at the symbolical feast. God will not have our small house parties, made up of
people of one class, equally well-dressed and accosting one another in the language of
equality; He will have a large feast. (J. Parker, D. D.)
Unleavened bread
What does this unleavened bread mean? Two things, I think.
1. First, Christ; for He is the believer’s food. The unleavened bread sets forth
Christ in one aspect, as much as the lamb sets Him forth in another. In the
Israelite feeding upon unleavened bread, we have presented to us the believer
drawing his strength from Jesus, the spotless and Holy One—the unleavened
bread. “I am the bread of life.”
2. But there is another meaning of the unleavened bread, and that is holiness,
uprightness, singleness of eye. Just as the bread was not the main staple of the
Passover feast, but the lamb, so holiness is the accompaniment rather than the
principal portion of the Christian feast. In the case of every believer the
unleavened bread must accompany feeding upon Christ as the lamb. God has
joined these two things together, let us not put them asunder. If we are redeemed
by the blood of the lamb, let us live upon the unleavened bread; let us show forth
the sincerity and truth which God requires in our life. “For even Christ our
passover was sacrificed for us; therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven,
neither with leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of
sincerity and truth” (1Co_5:7). (S. A. Blackwood.)
20

21. 2 This is how it is to be done: Every creditor
shall cancel any loan they have made to a fellow
Israelite. They shall not require payment from
anyone among their own people, because the
Lord’s time for canceling debts has been
proclaimed.
BARNES, "Because it is called the Lord’s release - Render, because
proclamation has been made of the Lord’s release. The verb is impersonal, and
implies (compare Deu_31:10) that “the solemnity of the year of release” has been
publicly announced.
GILL, "And this is the manner of the release,.... Or the rules to be observed in
making it:
every creditor that lendeth ought unto his neighbour shall release it; that
is, forgive the debt, or free the debtor from any obligation to payment. Some think
this was only a release of debts for this year, in which there was no ploughing nor
sowing, and so a poor man could not be in any circumstances to pay his debts, but
might be exacted afterwards; but it rather seems to be a full release, so as the
payment of them might not be demanded, neither this year nor afterwards; indeed, if
a person afterwards should be in a capacity to pay his debts, he would be obliged, in
conscience, duty, and honour, to pay them, though no reserve was made in this law,
which nowhere appears:
he shall not exact it of his neighbour, or of his brother: he might receive it, if
payment was offered, but he might not demand it, or sue for it; or give his neighbour
or brother, whether in a natural or religious sense, any trouble about it: the Targum
of Jonathan paraphrases it,"his brother, an Israelite;''one of the same nation and
religion with him, though he might not be related in the bonds of consanguinity:
because it is called the Lord's release; appointed and commanded by him, and
was for his honour and glory, as a God gracious and merciful to the poor, and
beneficent to those creditors; and which was proclaimed in his name, by the civil
magistrate, according to his order; so the Targum of Jonathan,"because the house of
judgment, or the sanhedrim, proclaimed it a release before the Lord.''Now this was
typical of a release of debts, or of forgiveness of sins, which is an act of God's grace
through Christ, and for his sake. Sins are called debts, not what men owe to God, for
21

22. then it would be right to commit them, and they might be committed with impunity,
yea, with praise, since it would be doing what is fit and right, and well pleasing to
God; but men are debtors to fulfil the law, and in case of failure, or a breach of it, are
bound to the debt of punishment; and these debts are very numerous, and men are
incapable of paying them: and by a release of these is meant not a liberty of sinning,
nor a freedom from the being or bondage of sin, but from the guilt of it, and from
obligation to punishment for it; and is properly the forgiveness of sin, which is
expressed by various phrases, as a non-imputation, a non-remembrance, a covering,
blotting out, and removing of sin, and here typically a release of debts; see Mat_6:12,
and God only can make it; he is the creditor, sin is committed against him, and he
only can forgive it, which he does freely, fully, and at once, see Luk_7:41.
HEBRY, " To put an honour upon the sabbatical year: Because it is called the Lord's
release, Deu_15:2. That was Gods year for their land, as the weekly sabbath was
God's day for themselves, their servants, and cattle; and, as by the resting of their
ground, so by the release of their debts, God would teach them to depend upon his
providence. This year of release typified the grace of the gospel, in which is
proclaimed the acceptable year of the Lord, and by which we obtain the release of our
debts, that is, the pardon of our sins, and we are taught to forgive injuries, as we are
and hope to be forgiven of God.
JAMISON, "Every creditor that lendeth ought unto his neighbour shall
release it — not by an absolute discharge of the debt, but by passing over that year
without exacting payment. The relief was temporary and peculiar to that year during
which there was a total suspension of agricultural labor.
he shall not exact it ... of his brother — that is, an Israelite, so called in
opposition to a stranger or foreigner.
because it is called the Lord’s release — The reason for acquitting a debtor at
that particular period proceeded from obedience to the command, and a regard for
the honor, of God; an acknowledgment of holding their property of Him, and
gratitude for His kindness.
COKE, "Ver. 2. Every creditor that lendeth—shall release— This cannot well be
meant of money lent to those who were well able to pay; for nothing could have
been more absurd than to have extinguished debts whereby the borrower was
enriched: but it must be meant of money lent to an Israelite who was in poor
circumstances, as appears from ver. 4. Le Clerc, with others, seems to
understand the precept thus: that they were only to forbear to demand it this
year; for, as there was no sowing or produce of the land every seventh year,
Hebrew debtors, unless they were very rich, could not have paid their debts that
year without great inconvenience: and indeed the Hebrew word does not import
an absolute remission, but an intermission only. However, with respect to the
indigent and necessitous, more seems to be designed, namely, that they should
have an entire acquittance of their debts; though, if afterwards they grew rich,
they were bound in good conscience to pay. Accordingly, most of the rabbis hold
the release to be perpetual, though they have their limitations for some debts and
22

23. debtors; for instance, if a man lent his neighbour money, setting him an
appointed time to repay, as of ten years, he was not released from the debt in the
seventh: if he conditioned with him not to release that particular debt in the
seventh year, the obligation remained. The words, because it is called the Lord's
release, are rendered by Dr. Waterland, because the Lord's release hath been or
is proclaimed, with which Houbigant agrees: postquam remissio domini fuerit
promulgata.
BENSON, "Deuteronomy 15:2. Every creditor that lendeth aught shall release
it — This cannot be meant of money lent to those who had borrowed it for the
purchase of lands, trade, or other improvements, and who were able to pay; for
nothing could have been more absurd than to have extinguished such debts,
whereby the borrower was enriched. But it must be understood of money lent to
an Israelite who was in poor circumstances, as appears from verse
4. According to this law, every poor Israelite who had borrowed money, and had
not been able to pay it before, should this year be released from it. And though, if
he were able, he was bound in conscience to pay it afterward, yet it could not be
recovered by law. His brother — This is added to limit the word neighbour,
which is more general, unto a brother, in nation and religion, an Israelite. The
Lord’s release — Or, a release for the Lord, in obedience to his command, for his
honour, and as an acknowledgment of his right in your estates, and of his
kindness in giving and continuing them to you.
PETT, "Verse 2-3
‘And this is the manner of the release. Every creditor shall release that which he
has lent to his neighbour; he shall not exact it of his neighbour and his brother,
because Yahweh’s release has been proclaimed. Of a foreigner you may exact it,
but whatever of yours is with your brother your hand shall release.’
The release is to be granted to neighbours and brothers, not to foreigners. Again
we must recognise that such borrowing between Israelites would only take place
under circumstances of real need. It was not in that sense a ‘borrowing’ society.
Thus the probability is that if the person had been unable to pay it back by the
seventh year it would indicate deep poverty. That is why Yahweh in His
goodness proclaims freedom from the debt. It was not a rogue’s charter, and the
creditor, who was presumably himself doing well, was to willingly forego the
debt, recognising the great need of the debtor, because he was grateful for what
Yahweh had given to him.
23

24. 3 You may require payment from a foreigner,
but you must cancel any debt your fellow
Israelite owes you.
BARNES, "The foreigner would not be bound by the restriction of the sabbatical
year, and therefore would have no claim to its special remissions and privileges. He
could earn his usual income in the seventh as in other years, and therefore is not
exonerated from liability to discharge a debt anymore in the one than the others.
GILL, "Of a foreigner thou mayest exact it again,.... Either on the seventh
year, or after it:
but that which is thine with thy brother, thine hand shall release; a debt
that lies between them, where the one is the creditor, and the other debtor, the
creditor shall freely and fully forgive the debtor. So those only are released or
forgiven by the Lord who are his own, whom he has reserved for himself, or chosen
to everlasting life; who are interested in the covenant of his grace, one article in
which is the forgiveness of sins; and who are redeemed by the blood of Christ, a
branch of which redemption is remission of sin; and who are called by grace, and
believe in Christ, to whom pardon of sins is promised; but those who are foreigners
and strangers, and are not the Lord's chosen, redeemed, and called people, have no
share in this blessing of grace; nor such who are rich in their own esteem, and need
nothing; but those who are poor and unable to pay their debts, and are sensible of
their spiritual poverty, and apply to the Lord for the forgiveness of their sins.
JAMISON, "Of a foreigner thou mayest exact it again — Admission to all the
religious privileges of the Israelites was freely granted to heathen proselytes, though
this spiritual incorporation did not always imply an equal participation of civil rights
and privileges (Lev_25:44; Jer_34:14; compare 1Ch_22:2; 2Ch_2:17).
K&D, "The foreigner thou mayest press, but what thou hast with thy brother shall
thy hand let go. ‫י‬ ִ‫ר‬ ְ‫כ‬ָ‫נ‬ is a stranger of another nation, standing in no inward relation to
Israel at all, and is to be distinguished from ‫ר‬ֵ, the foreigner who lived among the
Israelites, who had a claim upon their protection and pity. This rule breathes no
hatred of foreigners, but simply allows the Israelites the right of every creditor to
demand his debts, and enforce the demand upon foreigners, even in the sabbatical
year. There was no severity in this, because foreigners could get their ordinary
income in the seventh year as well as in any other.
CALVIN, "3.Of a foreigner thou mayest exact it. An exception follows, that it should be
24

25. lawful to sue foreigners, and to compel them to pay; and this for a very good reason,
because it was by no means just that despisers of the Law should enjoy the Sabbatical
benefit, especially when God had conferred the privilege on His elect people alone.
What follows in the next verse, “Unless because there shall be no beggar,” interpreters
twist into various senses. Some translate it, Nevertheless ( veruntamen,) let there be no
beggar among thee; as if it were a prohibition, that they should not suffer their poor
brethren to be overwhelmed with poverty, without assisting them; and, lest they should
object that, if they should be so liberal in giving, they would soon exhaust themselves,
God anticipates them, and bids them rely upon his blessing. Others, however,
understand it as a promise, and connect it thus, That there should be no beggar among
them, if only they keep the Law, since then God would bless them. Nor would this
meaning be very unsuitable. What they mean who expound it, Insomuch that there
should be no beggar with thee, I know not. Let my readers, however, consider whether
(146) ‫כי‬ ‫,אפס‬ ephes ci, is not better rendered “unless because,unless because,unless because,unless because,” ( nisi quod:) and then this( nisi quod:) and then this( nisi quod:) and then this( nisi quod:) and then this
clause would be read parenthetically, as if it were said, Whenever there shall be any poorclause would be read parenthetically, as if it were said, Whenever there shall be any poorclause would be read parenthetically, as if it were said, Whenever there shall be any poorclause would be read parenthetically, as if it were said, Whenever there shall be any poor
among your brethren, an opportunity of doing them good is presented to you. Thereforeamong your brethren, an opportunity of doing them good is presented to you. Thereforeamong your brethren, an opportunity of doing them good is presented to you. Thereforeamong your brethren, an opportunity of doing them good is presented to you. Therefore
the poverty of your brethren is to be relieved by you, in order that God may bless you. But,the poverty of your brethren is to be relieved by you, in order that God may bless you. But,the poverty of your brethren is to be relieved by you, in order that God may bless you. But,the poverty of your brethren is to be relieved by you, in order that God may bless you. But,
that the sentence may be clearer, I take the two words,that the sentence may be clearer, I take the two words,that the sentence may be clearer, I take the two words,that the sentence may be clearer, I take the two words, ‫כי‬ ‫,אפס‬ ephes ci, exclusively, as if it
were, On no account let there be a beggar: or, howsoever it. may be, suffer not that by
your fault there should be any beggar amongst you; for He would put an end to all vain
excuses, and, as necessity arose, would have them disposed to give assistance, lest the
poor should sink under the pressure of want and distress, tie does not, therefore, mean
generally all poor persons, but only those in extreme indigence; such as the Prophet
Amos complains are “sold for a pair of shoes.sold for a pair of shoes.sold for a pair of shoes.sold for a pair of shoes.” ( Amos( Amos( Amos( Amos 2:62:62:62:6.) In order, then, that they may.) In order, then, that they may.) In order, then, that they may.) In order, then, that they may
more cheerfully assist their distresses, He promises that His blessing shall be productive ofmore cheerfully assist their distresses, He promises that His blessing shall be productive ofmore cheerfully assist their distresses, He promises that His blessing shall be productive ofmore cheerfully assist their distresses, He promises that His blessing shall be productive of
greater abundance. And from hence Paul seems to have derived his exhortation to thegreater abundance. And from hence Paul seems to have derived his exhortation to thegreater abundance. And from hence Paul seems to have derived his exhortation to thegreater abundance. And from hence Paul seems to have derived his exhortation to the
Corinthians:Corinthians:Corinthians:Corinthians:
“He which soweth bountifully, shall reap also bountifully. God is able to make all graceHe which soweth bountifully, shall reap also bountifully. God is able to make all graceHe which soweth bountifully, shall reap also bountifully. God is able to make all graceHe which soweth bountifully, shall reap also bountifully. God is able to make all grace
abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to everyabound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to everyabound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to everyabound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every
good work.: Now he that ministereth seed to the sower, shall both minister bread for yourgood work.: Now he that ministereth seed to the sower, shall both minister bread for yourgood work.: Now he that ministereth seed to the sower, shall both minister bread for yourgood work.: Now he that ministereth seed to the sower, shall both minister bread for your
food, and multiply your seed sown, and increase the fruits of your righteousness, that,food, and multiply your seed sown, and increase the fruits of your righteousness, that,food, and multiply your seed sown, and increase the fruits of your righteousness, that,food, and multiply your seed sown, and increase the fruits of your righteousness, that,
being enriched in every thing, you may abound unto all bountifulness.being enriched in every thing, you may abound unto all bountifulness.being enriched in every thing, you may abound unto all bountifulness.being enriched in every thing, you may abound unto all bountifulness.” )2 Corinthians
9:6.)
In short, God would have them without carefulness, since He will abundantly
recompense them with His blessing, if they have diminished their own stores by
liberality to the poor.
COKE, "Ver. 3. Of a foreigner thou mayest exact it again— Of an alien, that is, one
25

26. who was neither a native Israelite, nor proselyted to the Jewish religion, but a mere
Gentile: for this was one of the privileges of the Jewish community, and not one of the
common rights of mankind; and therefore it is restricted wholly to Jews or Gentile
proselytes: besides, there was not the same reason for releasing the principal or interest
to a foreigner as to a Hebrew; for the Hebrews observed the sabbatical year, whereas
the other sowed and reaped and traded in that year, as well as in others. See Grotius
and Le Clerc.
HAWKER, "What is a foreigner? Paul hath told us, Ephesians 2:12. Reader! do you
not see from hence, that covenant blessings, and covenant mercies, are peculiar
blessings and mercies. LORD! give me grace to be very earnest in searching for the
tokens of being interested in the covenant; and then, grace to prize them in proportion
to their infinite importance, . Reader! examine yourself by that mark, Romans 8:14.
Read also with it, Romans 9:4-8.
4 However, there need be no poor people among
you, for in the land the Lord your God is giving
you to possess as your inheritance, he will richly
bless you,
BARNES, "There is no inconsistency between this and Deu_15:11. The meaning
seems simply to be, “Thou must release the debt for the year, except when there be
no poor person concerned, a contingency which may happen, for the Lord shall
greatly bless thee.” The general object of these precepts, as also of the year of Jubilee
and the laws respecting inheritance, is to prevent the total ruin of a needy person,
and his disappearance from the families of Israel by the sale of his patrimony.
CLARKE, "There shall be no poor - That is, comparatively; see Deu_15:11.
GILL, "Save when there shall be no poor among you,.... Then such a law
could not take place, there would be no debts to be released; for this was never
designed to screen rich persons from the payment of their just debts, or whoever
were in a capacity of so doing, only such as were really poor, and unable to pay; and it
supposes that this might sometimes be the case, that there were none poor in Israel,
or needed the benefit of such a law; and, according to the Targum of Jonathan, it is
suggested there would be none, if they were observant of the commands of God: and
some take it for a promise, rendering the words "nevertheless" (c), notwithstanding
26

27. such a law:
there shall be no poor among you; but then it must be understood
conditionally: others interpret this as the end to be answered by this law, "to the end
(d) there may be no poor among you"; by observing this law, all debts being released
once in seven years, it would prevent persons falling into distress and poverty, to
such a degree as to be in want, and become beggars; and Julian the emperor
observes, that none of the Jews begged (e), which he attributes to the care that was
taken of their poor:
for the Lord shall greatly bless thee in the land which the Lord thy God
giveth thee for an inheritance to possess it; which is either a reason why there
would be no poor, should they observe the commandments of the Lord; or a reason
why they should release the debts of the poor because they were so greatly blessed
with a fruitful land, which brought them such an increase, as enabled them to free
their poor debtors, when in circumstances unable to pay them.
HEBRY 4-6, "It was to prevent the falling of any Israelite into extreme poverty: so
the margin reads (Deu_15:4), To the end there shall be no poor among you, none
miserably and scandalously poor, to the reproach of their nation and religion, the
reputation of which they ought to preserve. 3. God's security is here given by a divine
promise that, whatever they lost by their poor debtors, it should be made up to them
in the blessing of God upon all they had and did, Deu_15:4-6. Let them take care to
do their duty, and then God would bless them with such great increase that what they
might lose by bad debts, if they generously remitted them, should not be missed out
of their stock at the year's end. Not only, the Lord shall bless thee (Deu_15:4), but he
doth bless thee, Deu_15:6. It is altogether inexcusable if, though God had given us
abundance, so that we have not only enough but to spare, yet we are rigorous and
server in our demands from our poor brethren; for our abundance should be the
supply of their wants, that at least there may not be such an inequality as is between
two extremes, 2Co_8:14. They must also consider that their land was God's gift to
them, that all their increase was the fruit of God's blessing upon them, and therefore
they were bound in duty to him to use and dispose of their estates as he should order
and direct them. And, lastly, If they would remit what little sums they had lent to
their poor brethren, it is promised that they should be able to lend great sums to
their rich neighbours, even to many nations (Deu_15:6), and should be enriched by
those loans. Thus the nations should become subject to them, and dependent on
them, as the borrower is servant to the lender, Pro_22:7. To be able to lend, and not
to have need to borrow, we must look upon as a great mercy, and a good reason why
we should do good with what we have, lest we provoke God to turn the scales.
JAMISON, "Save when there shall be no poor man among you —
Apparently a qualifying clause added to limit the application of the foregoing
statement [Deu_15:3]; so that “the brother” to be released pointed to a poor
borrower, whereas it is implied that if he were rich, the restoration of the loan might
be demanded even during that year. But the words may properly be rendered (as on
the Margin) to the end, in order that there may be no poor among you - that is, that
none be reduced to inconvenient straits and poverty by unseasonable exaction of
debts at a time when there was no labor and no produce, and that all may enjoy
comfort and prosperity, which will be the case through the special blessing of God on
the land, provided they are obedient.
27

28. COKE, "Ver. 4, 5. Save when, &c.— Houbigant follows the marginal reading of
our Bibles, joining the first clause of the 4th verse to the end of the 3rd, as
explanatory, he observes, of the law: as if it had been said, "Thou shalt not exact
thy debt from thy brother; for this reason, that there may not be a poor man
among you through your severity." He asserts, that the words ‫אפסאּכי‬ epes-ki, can
signify here no other than to the end that: asin que, in the French/
ELLICOTT, "(4) Save when there shall be no poor (man) among you.—This
clause is the source of a very interesting passage in the Acts of the Apostles,
Deuteronomy 4:34, “Great grace was upon them all, for neither was there among
them any (one) that lacked” The words at the beginning of the verse in Hebrew,
“save when” may also be rendered (as in the Margin) “to the end that,” or “to
such an extent that there shall be no poor man among you.” Those who can well
afford to pay need not be excused from their obligations.
For the Lord thy God shall greatly bless thee.—So in Acts 4:33, “Great grace
was upon them all.” The blessing need not be equal and universal prosperity, if
those who have the good things of this world will always remember the poor to
such an extent that no member of the community shall be left in want.
BENSON, "Deuteronomy 15:4. Save when there shall be no poor — The words
may be rendered thus, as in the margin of our Bibles: To the end that there be no
poor among you. And so they contain a reason of this law; namely, that none be
empoverished and ruined by a rigid exaction of debts. For the Lord shall greatly
bless thee — If in this and other things you be obedient, God will so abundantly
bless you that you shall be well able to forbear the requiring of your debts on the
sabbatic year.
PETT, "Verse 4-5
‘Howbeit there shall be no poor with you, (for Yahweh will surely bless you in
the land which Yahweh your God is giving to you for an inheritance to possess
it), if only you diligently listen to the voice of Yahweh your God, to observe to do
all this commandment which I command you this day.’
A further reason for the release is that the need for it would only arise if Israel
had been disobedient to Yahweh. For if they listened diligently to His voice, to
observe all the commandments given by Moses, there would be no poor, and
therefore no borrowers, among them, for Yahweh would then bless the land,
which He had given them as an inheritance that they could possess, to such an
extent that poverty would be ruled out. Thus the fact that there was a debtor
would indicate Israel’s failure, and release of the debtor would be a kind of
partial atonement for that failure.
28

29. However, the chiasmus clearly brings out that the reason that there will be no
poor will be because of God’s blessing of the land so that the third year tithe will
be of such munificence that there will be sufficient for all, and none will be poor.
But this will only be so if they are faithful to the covenant so that God blesses the
land.
K&D, "“Only that there shall be no poor with thee.” ‫ה‬ֶ‫י‬ ְ‫ה‬ִ‫י‬ is jussive, like the
foregoing imperfects. The meaning in this connection is, “Thou needest not to remit a
debt to foreigners in the seventh year; thou hast only to take care that there is no
poor man with or among thee, that thou dost not cause or increase their poverty, by
oppressing the brethren who have borrowed of thee.” Understood in this way, the
sentence is not at all at variance with Deu_15:11, where it is stated that the poor
would never cease out of the land. The following clause, “for Jehovah will bless thee,”
etc., gives a reason for the main thought, that they were not to press the Israelitish
debtor. The creditor, therefore, had no need to fear that he would suffer want, if he
refrained from exacting his debt from his brother in the seventh year.
BI 4-11, "Save when there shall be no poor among you.
Rural poverty
These two sentences (Deu_15:4; Deu_11:1-32) seem, at first sight, to contradict one
another. There are three ways of reading the fourth verse. “Save when there shall be
no poor among you,” says the text. “To the end that there be no poor,” reads the
margin. Howbeit, there shall be no poor with thee, runs the Revised Version. The
explanation may be briefly put thus: There would always be poor people among
them; “howbeit, they must not let them be poor, i.e. not let them sink down in
poverty.
I. The existence of poverty. My own experience has been that those who are most
hurt cry out least. The most deserving, and generally the most pitiful, cases of
distress have to be looked for. But, say some, is it not their own fault that they are so
badly off? No doubt it often is so. Idleness, drink, waste, folly, incapableness may all
cause poverty; but what of that? We cannot stand by and see people starve. It would
be easier to die by hanging than hunger; but we do not even hang people except for
high treason or murder. Much more must we not by any sin of omission condemn the
innocent to suffer with the guilty—the hardworking wife or the helpless children for
the sake of the worthless husband or father. The fact is that poverty is largely the
consequence of an unequal struggle between the strong and the weak.
II. The duty of relieving poverty. Look at what Moses taught the Israelites.
1. That prevention is better than cure. There was never to be a “bitter cry of
outcast” Canaan.
(1) We may use our influence to encourage better education. With the next
generation more intelligent, temperate, and capable, pauperism will be less.
(2) We may exert our influence towards giving the labourer a heartier interest
in the land he tills.
(3) We may inculcate a love of independence. Poverty is no sin, but
pauperism is a reproach, and should be felt as such.
2. That each nation, or community, or church, should care for its own poor.
3. That charity should be systematic. The time was precise—every third year; the
29

30. quantity was precise—one tenth; the object was precise—“thy poor brother.”
Contrast with these laws of Moses the teaching of Christ.
1. The law of Moses aimed at preventing poverty. Christ came and found men
poor. He did more than prevent; He cured. To heal sickness is a harder task than
to maintain health. To deliver the needy when he crieth is often more difficult
than to preserve him before he has had occasion to cry. Moses provided for
keeping people up who were not overthrown; Christ actually went down to the
low dark depths, and raised those who were sunk there.
2. Moses taught that each nation, or community, or church, should care for its
own. To go beyond that was permitted, but not enjoined. Christ taught a much
broader truth than that—charity without distinction. Our neighbour is not the
person who lives next door to us, or who has most affinity with us; but the person
who is nearest to our helping hand, even though he be a Jew and we are
Samaritans. Our first duty is to our own, but not our last. Charity begins at home,
but does not end there.
3. Moses was systematic, but Christ was above systems. There was no fixed
standard with Him, except this. “Sell all that thou hast and distribute unto the
poor.” There was no stint in His giving. It was not certain objects of His kindness
whom He blessed: “Whosoever will, let him come.” It was not every few years
merely that He was benevolent; but “yesterday, today, and forever.” (Charles T.
Price.)
The poor laws of the Bible; or, rules and reasons for the relief of the
distressed
I. The rules that are here suggested for the relief of the poor.
1. Contiguity. It is the poor “in thy land.” Those living nearest us, other things
being equal, have the first claim on our charity. Let it bless as it goes; work as the
leaven in the meal, from particle to particle, until it gives its spirit to the mass.
2. Heartiness. “Thou shalt not harden,” etc. The heart must go with the deed.
3. Liberality. “Open thine hand wide unto him.” The liberality of men is not to be
judged by the sums they subscribe, but by the means they possess.
II. The reasons that are here suggested for the relief of the poor.
1. Your relationship to the poor. “He is thy brother.” He has the same origin, the
same nature, the same great Father, the same moral relationships, as thyself.
2. The imprecation of the poor. “And he cry,” etc.
3. The blessedness insured to the friend of the poor.
4. The Divine plan as to the permanent existence of the poor. (Homilist.)
General Gordon’s benevolence
A poor dragoman told me that General Gordon used to come often to his house in
Jerusalem when he and his wife lay ill, and that he would take any cushion or mat
and put it on the floor as a seat, there being no chairs or furniture, and sit down with
his Testament to read and speak to them about Christ. But his zeal did not end with
such easy philanthropy. Ascertaining that a doctor’s account had been incurred to the
30