Leviticus 25:4

But in the seventh year there shall be a Sabbath of complete rest for the land—a Sabbath to the LORD. You are not to sow your field or prune your vineyard.

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — The text addresses the people immediately after permitting six years of sowing and pruning. The instruction interrupts the agricultural cycle to mandate a fallow period.

The words — The phrase שַׁבָּתוֹן שַׁבָּת (sha.batOn sha.Bat) translates literally to sabbath observance sabbath. This doublet emphasizes a complete cessation of cultivation for the land.

The thread — The command mirrors the six-year sowing pattern in Exodus 23:10 and anticipates Israel’s later concern about sustenance in Leviticus 25:20. It also prefigures the land’s extended rest during the desolation described in 2 Chronicles 36:21.

Why it lands — The text commands a complete halt to sowing and pruning during the seventh year. This requirement places agricultural output under a fixed limit rather than human control.

Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.

The Hebrew words

וּבַשָּׁנָ֣הu./va./sha.Nahand/ in the/ year הַשְּׁבִיעִ֗תha./she.vi.'It<the>/ seventh שַׁבַּ֤תsha.Bata sabbath of שַׁבָּתוֹן֙sha.ba.tOnsabbath observance יִהְיֶ֣הyih.Yehit will belong לָאָ֔רֶץla./'A.retzto the/ land שַׁבָּ֖תsha.Bata sabbath לַיהוָ֑הla./Yah.wehto/ Yahweh שָֽׂדְךָ֙sa.de./Khafield/ your לֹ֣אlo'not תִזְרָ֔עtiz.Ra'you will sow וְכַרְמְךָ֖ve./khar.me./Khaand/ vineyard/ your לֹ֥אlo'not תִזְמֹֽר׃tiz.Moryou will prune

King James Version

But in the seventh year shall be a sabbath of rest unto the land, a sabbath for the Lord: thou shalt neither sow thy field, nor prune thy vineyard.

Cross-references

Leviticus 25:20 Now you may wonder, ‘What will we eat in the seventh year if we do not sow or gather our produce?’
2 Chronicles 36:21 So the land enjoyed its Sabbath rest all the days of the desolation, until seventy years were completed, in fulfillment of the word of the LORD spoken through Jeremiah.
Exodus 23:10 For six years you are to sow your land and gather its produce,
Leviticus 26:34 Then the land shall enjoy its Sabbaths all the days it lies desolate, while you are in the land of your enemies. At that time the land will rest and enjoy its Sabbaths.
Leviticus 26:43 For the land will be abandoned by them, and it will enjoy its Sabbaths by lying desolate without them. And they will pay the penalty for their iniquity, because they rejected My ordinances and abhorred My statutes.