Sabbatical Year

(Deuteronomy 15:1 - 15:23)
"At the end of every seventh year, you are required to forgive all debts.   The manner in which this is to be done is this: every creditor must cancel any loan they have made to a fellow Israelite.  They must not demand payment from their neighbors and relations, because a cancellation of debts has been proclaimed by Jehovah.  You may demand payment from a foreigner, but you must excuse whatever is owed to you by your fellow Israelites.  Indeed, there need be no poor among you, for in the land Jehovah your god is giving you as an inheritance, he will bless you, provided you obey Jehovah your god and follow the commandments I am giving you today.  Jehovah will bless you as he has promised.  You will lend to many nations, but you will borrow from none.  You will rule over other nations, but you will not be ruled over by them.

"If there are any of your fellow Israelites who live in the towns of the land Jehovah your god is giving you and are poor, do not be hard-hearted or tight-fisted toward them.  Treat your poor brother with an open hand, lending him whatever he might need, regardless of what it might be.  Take care not to entertain the selfish thought, "The 7th year, the year of debt relief is near," and regard your poor brother stingily, denying him a loan, so that he complains to Jehovah about you.  If so, you will be guilty of a sin.  Give to him generously and do so without a grudging heart, for which Jehovah your god will reward you by blessing all your work and all you may undertake.  Since there will always be poor in the land, I therefore command you to be openhanded to your brother who lives in the land and is poor and needy.

"If any of your people, a Hebrew man (or woman), is indentured to you, he will serve you for six years, but in the seventh year you must grant him his freedom.  And when you release him, you must not send him away empty-handed, but generously supply him from your flock, your threshing floor, and your winepress, giving to him as Jehovah your god has given to you.  And you should keep in mind that your were once slaves in Egypt and Jehovah freed you.  That is the reason I give you this command today.  However, your servant may tell you he doesn't want to leave, because he loves you and your household and is satisfied in your service.  In such a case, you should push an awl through his earlobe into the door, marking him as your slave for life.  The same should be done for a female slave as for a male.  Do not consider it a hardship to free a slave, for his six-year service to you is worth twice the labor of a hired hand -- and, if you do so, Jehovah will bless you in all you undertake.

"Set aside the firstborn of your flocks and herds for Jehovah your god.  Do not use the firstborn of your herds to work in the fields; do not shear the firstborn of your flocks.  Each year you and your household are to eat the meat of the firstborn before altar of Jehovah your god in the place of worship he has chosen.  Although, if an animal has a blemish, if it is lame or blind, or has some other serious defect, you must not sacrifice it to Jehovah your god.  You should then eat it within your towns instead.  Those who are ritually pure and impure may partake of it, as if it were a gazelle or deer.  But you must not consume its blood, which you should pour out on the ground like water."

Notes
1. Introduced here is the concept of the Sabbatical Year, the 7th year when debts are forgiven and slaves are freed.  In regard to debts, one wonders whether this was anything more than an utopian idea, like many presented in the Books of Moses.  Could this have worked in practice?  Would a Hebrew, or anyone else for that matter, really offer a loan to someone in the 6th year just to be a good guy, knowing that in the 7th year he would be unable to collect it?  Are loans regularly tendered when there is a near certainty of a loss?  Basing an economy on ignoring self-serving financial incentives and relying upon altruism, charity and compassion, still a characteristic of the political philosophy of many on the social justice left, has, in the long run, never worked and doubtless never will, unless human nature, which is instinctually selfish, is somehow altered.  It is interesting that in the case of money lending, the Israelite is treated differently from the foreigner, who is not offered any debt relief.

2. It is first asserted that in Jehovah's utopian paradise there would be no necessity for anyone to be poor, but then, more realistically, it is acknowledged that poor will always be with us.  Generous loans and gifts are offered as the only solution to Israelite poverty.

3. Israel is urged to be a creditor but never a debtor -- nice, if things work out perfectly, as, of course, they will with Jehovah's favor.

4. Slavery in ancient times was quite different than slavery in the Old South, where there was instituted a permanent slave class based on race.  Some ancient slaves were captives of war or abducted and pressed into service (a practice condemned by Jehovah.)  However, most slaves were what we would call indentured servants.  The slave himself or his family sold him into service for a limited period of time, after which he would be freed, usually with some payment made to him, as is described here. This practice was not uncommon in 17th and 18th Century America.

5. Israelites are to eat their firstborn livestock before the altar of Jehovah.  Wouldn't all the firstborn livestock furnish a great deal more meat than one's household could consume?  How could a small family eat even one steer at a sitting?  That every family would bring all their firstborn livestock to the altar to be slaughtered, cooked, and consumed would surely present insuperable practical and logistical problems.  Indeed, it would present a ludicrous spectacle.  Does one picnic at the slaughterhouse?  Wouldn't it make more sense to save the firstborn for breeding purposes, to improve the stock.