If you said, “What shall we eat the seventh year? Behold, we shall not sow, nor gather in our increase;” then I will command my blessing on you in the sixth year, and it shall bear fruit for the three years. You shall sow the eighth year, and eat of the fruits from the old store until the ninth year. Until its fruits come in, you shall eat the old store.
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Leviticus 25:20-22 sits inside this longer paragraph.
“ ‘Therefore you shall do my statutes, and keep my ordinances and do them; and you shall dwell in the land in safety. The land shall yield its fruit, and you shall eat your fill, and dwell therein in safety. If you said, “What shall we eat the seventh year? Behold, we shall not sow, nor gather in our increase;” then I will command my blessing on you in the sixth year, and it shall bear fruit for the three years. You shall sow the eighth year, and eat of the fruits from the old store until the ninth year. Until its fruits come in, you shall eat the old store.
Parallel Translations
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If you said, “What shall we eat the seventh year? Behold, we shall not sow, nor gather in our increase;”
then I will command my blessing on you in the sixth year, and it shall bear fruit for the three years.
You shall sow the eighth year, and eat of the fruits from the old store until the ninth year. Until its fruits come in, you shall eat the old store.
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And if ye shall say, What shall we eat the seventh year? behold, we shall not sow, nor gather in our increase:
Then I will command my blessing upon you in the sixth year, and it shall bring forth fruit for three years.
And ye shall sow the eighth year, and eat yet of old fruit until the ninth year; until her fruits come in ye shall eat of the old store.
Show all 3 translations
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And if ye shall say: 'What shall we eat the seventh year? behold, we may not sow, nor gather in our increase';
then I will command My blessing upon you in the sixth year, and it shall bring forth produce for the three years.
And ye shall sow the eighth year, and eat of the produce, the old store; until the ninth year, until her produce come in, ye shall eat the old store.
Cross-references (27)
- Deuteronomy 28:8 (v21) Yahweh will command the blessing on you in your barns, and in all that you put your hand to. He will bless you in the land which Yahweh…
- Proverbs 10:22 (v21) Yahweh’s blessing brings wealth, and he adds no trouble to it.
- 2 Corinthians 9:10 (v21) Now may he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food, supply and multiply your seed for sowing, and increase the fruits of your…
- Psalms 133:3 (v21) like the dew of Hermon, that comes down on the hills of Zion; for there Yahweh gives the blessing, even life forever more.
- Deuteronomy 28:3 (v21) You shall be blessed in the city, and you shall be blessed in the field.
Show all 26 cross-references
- Genesis 26:12 (v21) Isaac sowed in that land, and reaped in the same year one hundred times what he planted. Yahweh blessed him.
- Genesis 41:47 (v21) In the seven plenteous years the earth produced abundantly.
- Exodus 16:29 (v21) Behold, because Yahweh has given you the Sabbath, therefore he gives you on the sixth day the bread of two days. Everyone stay in his…
- Leviticus 25:4 (vv20–21) but in the seventh year there shall be a Sabbath of solemn rest for the land, a Sabbath to Yahweh. You shall not sow your field or prune…
- Leviticus 25:8-11 (v21) “ ‘You shall count off seven Sabbaths of years, seven times seven years; and there shall be to you the days of seven Sabbaths of years,…
- Luke 12:29 (v20) Don’t seek what you will eat or what you will drink; neither be anxious.
- Leviticus 26:10 (v22) You shall eat old supplies long kept, and you shall move out the old because of the new.
- Numbers 11:4 (v20) The mixed multitude that was among them lusted exceedingly; and the children of Israel also wept again, and said, “Who will give us meat to…
- Numbers 11:13 (v20) Where could I get meat to give all these people? For they weep before me, saying, ‘Give us meat, that we may eat.’
- 2 Kings 6:15-17 (v20) When the servant of the man of God had risen early, and gone out, behold, an army with horses and chariots was around the city. His servant…
- 2 Kings 19:29 (v22) “This will be the sign to you: This year, you will eat that which grows of itself, and in the second year that which springs from that; and…
- 2 Chronicles 25:9 (v20) Amaziah said to the man of God, “But what shall we do for the hundred talents which I have given to the army of Israel?” The man of God…
- Psalms 78:19-20 (v20) Yes, they spoke against God. They said, “Can God prepare a table in the wilderness? Behold, he struck the rock, so that waters gushed out,…
- Isaiah 1:2 (v20) Hear, heavens, and listen, earth; for Yahweh has spoken: “I have nourished and brought up children and they have rebelled against me.
- Matthew 6:25-34 (v20) Therefore I tell you, don’t be anxious for your life: what you will eat, or what you will drink; nor yet for your body, what you will wear.…
- Matthew 8:26 (v20) He said to them, “Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?” Then he got up, rebuked the wind and the sea, and there was a great calm.
- Philippians 4:6 (v20) In nothing be anxious, but in everything, by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.
- Hebrews 13:5-6 (v20) Be free from the love of money, content with such things as you have, for he has said, “I will in no way leave you, neither will I in any…
- Joshua 5:11-12 (v22) They ate unleavened cakes and parched grain of the produce of the land on the next day after the Passover, in the same day. The manna…
- Isaiah 37:30 (v22) “ ‘This shall be the sign to you. You will eat this year that which grows of itself, and in the second year that which springs from it; and…
- 2 Kings 7:2 (v20) Then the captain on whose hand the king leaned answered the man of God, and said, “Behold, if Yahweh made windows in heaven, could this…
26 distinct cross-references across this passage (27 total citations).
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this passage (12 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
Private notes
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On v21 Hebrew, I will command.
Hebrew, I will command.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv20–22 Lev 25:20 And if ye shall say, What shall…
Lev 25:20 And if ye shall say, What shall we eat the seventh year? behold, we shall not sow, nor gather in our increase:
Ver. 20. And if ye shall say.] A clear answer to a carnal objection. Usually God conceals the objection in Scripture, and meets it with an answer, which is an act of grace.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv20–22 A like objection, see Exo 34:23,24.
A like objection, see Exo 34:23,24.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv20–22 And ye shall say, what shall ye eat the…
And ye shall say, what shall ye eat the seventh year?.... Such as are of little faith, disbelieve the promise, and distrust the providence of God, and take thought for tomorrow, and indulge an anxiety of mind how they shall be provided with food in the sabbatical year ordered to be observed, in which there were to be no tillage of land, nor pruning of trees:
behold, we shall not sow; that being forbidden:
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nor gather in our increase; neither the barley, nor the wheat, nor the grapes, nor olives, nor figs, into their houses and barns, to lay up for stores, as in other years; though they might go out and gather in for present use in common with others: now if any should put the above question, as it was very likely some would, in such a view of things, the answer to it follows.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv21–22 For three years - Not compleatly, but in great…
For three years - Not compleatly, but in great part, namely, for that part of the 6th year which was between the beginning of harvest and the beginning of the 7th year, for the whole 7th year, and for that part of the 8th year which was before the harvest, which reached almost until the beginning of the ninth year. This is added to shew the equity of this command. As God would hereby try their faith and obedience, so he gave them an eminent proof of his own exact providence and tender care over them in making provisions suitable to their necessities.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On v20 Verse 20. What shall we eat the seventh year?]…
Verse 20. What shall we eat the seventh year?] A very natural question, which could only be laid at rest by the sovereign promise in the next verse: I will COMMAND my BLESSING upon you in the sixth year, and it shall bring forth fruit for THREE YEARS. See Clarke on Le 25:2.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On v21 Lev 25:21. For three years — Not completely, but…
Lev 25:21. For three years — Not completely, but in great part; namely, for that part of the sixth year which was between the beginning of the harvest and the beginning of the seventh year, for the whole seventh year, and for that part of the eighth year which was before the harvest, which reached almost until the beginning of the ninth year. This is added to show the equity of this command. As God would hereby try their faith and obedience, so he gave them an evident proof of his own exact providence and tender care over them in making provisions suitable to their necessities.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv21–22 Three years. After the harvest of the sixth year…
Three years. After the harvest of the sixth year was gotten in, the land rested from September to September, the beginning of the 8th year, when it was tilled again. Nothing would be ripe till about March; yet the harvest of the 6th year would suffice to furnish food till that time, or even for a year longer, as it would be requisite, when the year of jubilee succeeded that of rest, ver. 8. (Haydock)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On v21 I will command my blessing upon you in the…
I will command my blessing upon you in the sixth year, and it shall bring forth fruit for three years, &c.--A provision was made, by the special interposition of God, to supply the deficiency of food which would otherwise have resulted from the suspension of all labor during the sabbatic year. The sixth year was to yield a miraculous supply for three continuous years. And the remark is applicable to the year of Jubilee as well as the sabbatic year. (See allusions to this extraordinary provision in Kg2 19:29; Isa 37:30). None but a legislator who was conscious of acting under divine authority would have staked his character on so singular an enactment as that of the sabbatic year; and none but a people who had witnessed the fulfilment of the divine promise would have been induced to suspend their agricultural preparations on a recurrence of a periodical Jubilee.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv20–21 20. What shall we eat the seventh year —…
20. What shall we eat the seventh year — This question is kindly anticipated and answered by God, lest the strain upon their faith might be too great if the people were left with no special promise. He knoweth our frame.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv20–22 (20) What shall we eat the seventh year ?—The…
(20) What shall we eat the seventh year ?—The Lawgiver here anticipates an objection on the part of those who are called upon to abstain from cultivating the land in the sabbatical year, and who are overanxious about the provisions of their families.
Behold, we shall not sow.—That is, are forbidden to sow. (See Lev_25:4.)
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Nor gather in our increase.—That is, we are even prohibited to gather the spontaneous growths and store them up, and are commanded to leave “the increase” in the field. (See Lev_25:7.)
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On v20 You might say
You might say
Here "You" refers to the people of Israel. (See: Forms of You)
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I will command my blessing to come upon you
God speaks of his blessing as if it were a person that could obey him. AT: "I will send my blessing on you" or "I will bless you" (See: Personification)
from the provisions stored
This can be stated in active form. AT: "from the food you store" (See: Active or Passive)
translationWords
command
bless
harvest
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.