Leviticus 25:35 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Leviticus 25:35
And if thy brother be waxen poor, and fallen in decay with thee; then thou shalt relieve him: yea, though he be a stranger, or a sojourner; that he may live with thee.
a brother (used in the widest sense of literal relation… · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine singular
poor
יָמ֣וּךְya.Mukh
H4134
to become thin · verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
decay
וּמָ֥טָהu.Ma.tah
H4131
to waver · conjunction + verb, qal sequential perfect, 3rd person feminine singular
thee
יָד֖וֹya.Do
H3027
a hand (the open one (indicating power · noun, common both genders singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
relieve
וְהֶֽחֱזַ֣קְתָּve.he.che.Zak.ta
H2388
to fasten upon · conjunction + verb, hiphil sequential perfect, 2nd person masculine singular
stranger
גֵּ֧רger
H1616
properly · noun, common masculine singular absolute
sojourner
וְתוֹשָׁ֛בve.to.Shav
H8453
resident alien · conjunction + noun, common masculine singular absolute
live
חַיchay
H2416
alive
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Deuteronomy 15:7-8 If there be among you a poor man of one of thy brethren within any of thy gates in thy land which the LORD thy God giveth thee, thou shalt n…
Acts 11:29 Then the disciples, every man according to his ability, determined to send relief unto the brethren which dwelt in Judæa:
Exodus 23:9 Also thou shalt not oppress a stranger: for ye know the heart of a stranger, seeing ye were strangers in the land of Egypt.
Leviticus 19:34 But the stranger that dwelleth with you shall be unto you as one born among you, and thou shalt love him as thyself; for ye were strangers i…
Leviticus 25:25 If thy brother be waxen poor, and hath sold away some of his possession, and if any of his kin come to redeem it, then shall he redeem that…
Deuteronomy 10:18-19 He doth execute the judgment of the fatherless and widow, and loveth the stranger, in giving him food and raiment.
Luke 6:35 But love ye your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again; and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the children of t…
Deuteronomy 24:14-15 Thou shalt not oppress an hired servant that is poor and needy, whether he be of thy brethren, or of thy strangers that are in thy land with…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Leviticus 25:23-38
Here is, I. A law concerning the real estates of the Israelites in the land of Canaan, and the transferring of them. 1. No land should be sold for ever from the family to whose lot it fell in the division of the land. And the reason given is, The land is mine, and you are strangers and sojourners with me, Lev 25:23. (1.) God having a particular propriety in this land, he would by this restraint keep them sensible of it. The possessions of good people, who, having given up themselves to God, have therewith given up all they have to him, are in a particular manner at his disposal, and his disposal of them must be submitted to. (2.) They being strangers and sojourners with him in that land, and…
if thy brother be waxen poor, . . . relieve him--This was a most benevolent provision for the poor and unfortunate, designed to aid them or alleviate the evils of their condition. Whether a native Israelite or a mere sojourner, his richer neighbor was required to give him food, lodging, and a supply of money without usury. Usury was severely condemned (Psa 15:5; Eze 18:8, Eze 18:17), but the prohibition cannot be considered as applicable to the modern practice of men in business, borrowing and lending at legal rates of interest.
Adam Clarke on Leviticus 25:32
The cities of the Levites - The law in this and the following verses was also a very wise one. A Levite could not ultimately sell his house: if sold he could redeem it at any time in the interim between the two jubilees; but if not redeemed, it must go out at the following jubilee. And why? "Because Moses framed his laws so much in favor of the priesthood, that they had peculiar privileges?" etc. Just the reverse: they were so far from being peculiarly favored that they had no inheritance in Israel, only their cities, to dwell in: and because their houses in these cities were the whole that they could call their own, therefore these houses could not be ultimately alienated. All that they had…
Alms — Not found in the Old Testament, but repeatedly in the New. The Mosaic legislation (Lev. 25:35; Deut. 15:7) tended to promote a spirit of charity, and to prevent the occurrence of destitution among…
Loan — The Mosaic law required that when an Israelite needed to borrow, what he asked was to be freely lent to him, and no interest was to be charged, although interest might be taken of a foreigner (Ex.…
Alms · COMMANDMENTS AND PRACTICES CONCERNING — COMMANDMENTS AND PRACTICES CONCERNING
Beneficence · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Creditor · LAWS CONCERNING — LAWS CONCERNING
Debtor · LAWS CONCERNING — LAWS CONCERNING
Jubilee · LAWS CONCERNING — LAWS CONCERNING
Lending · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Liberality · Should be exercised: Toward strangers — Should be exercised: Toward strangers
Love To Man · Should be exhibited, in: Relieving strangers — Should be exhibited, in: Relieving strangers
Missionaries, All Christians Should Be As · In visiting and relieving the poor, the sick, &c — In visiting and relieving the poor, the sick, &c
Poor · DUTY TO — DUTY TO
John Gill on Leviticus 25:35
And if thy brother be waxen poor,.... An Israelite, as Aben Ezra, be reduced to a low estate, through afflictions in body, or in family, or through losses in trade, or want of business, or through one providence or another:
and fallen in decay with thee; in his worldly substance: or "his hand wavers", or "fails" (p); so that he cannot support himself and his family, has not a sufficiency, or it is not in the power of his hands to do it; and it is not owing to sloth and negligence, but to unavoidable want and necessity:
then thou shalt relieve him; not merely by sympathizing with him, but by communicating to him, and distributing to his necessities; holding him up that he may not utterly fa…
Leviticus 25:35-38
35. And if thy brother be waxen poor, and fallen in decay with thee, then thou shalt relieve him; yea, though he be a stranger, or a sojourner: that he may live with thee.
35. Si attenuatus fuerit frater tuus, et vacillaverit manus ejus apud te, fulcies illum (vel, apprehendes ut sustineas): peregrinum et advenam: et vivet tecum.
36. Take thou no usury of him, or increase: but fear thy God; that thy brother may live with thee.
36. Non accipies usuram ab eo et augmentum: sed timebis Deum tuum: vivetque frater apud te.
37. Thou shalt not give him thy money upon usury, nor lend him thy victuals for increase.
37. Pecuniam tuam non dabis ei ad usuram, nec cum augmento da…
The law for the Year of Jubilee refers first of all to its observance (Lev 25:8-12), and secondly to its effects (a) upon the possession of property (vv. 13-34), and (b) upon the personal freedom of the Israelites (vv. 35-55).
Lev 25:8-9
Keeping the year of jubilee. Lev 25:8, Lev 25:9. Seven Sabbaths of years - i.e., year-Sabbaths or sabbatical years, or seven times seven years, the time of seven year-Sabbaths, that is to say, 49 years - they were to count, and then at the expiration of that time to cause the trumpet of jubilee to go (sound) through the whole land on the tenth of the seventh month, i.e., the day of atonement, to proclaim the entrance of the year of jubilee. This mode of anno…
Impoverished Israelites first looked to family for help (see study note on 25:25). Second, they relied on the community, which was commanded to help them rather than exploit their vulnerability.
Rashi on Leviticus 25:35
והחזקת בו THOU SHALT RELIEVE HIM — Do not leave him by himself so that he comes down in the world until he finally falls altogether when it will be difficult to give him a lift, but uphold him from the very moment of the failure of his means. To what may this (the differences between whether you assist him at once or whether you wait with your help till he has come down in the world) be compared? To an excessive load on the back of an ass. So long as it is still on the ass’s back, one person is enough to take hold of it (the load) and to keep it (the ass) up, as soon as it has fallen to the ground not even five persons are able to set it on its legs (Sifra, Behar, Section 5 1).
גר ותושב mea…
Servant · .Laws of Moses concerning — .Laws of Moses concerning
Strangers · Kindness to the poor of, required — Kindness to the poor of, required
Strangers In Israel · Laws respecting: To be relieved in distress — Laws respecting: To be relieved in distress
Usury · Forbid — Forbid
Usury Or Interest · The Jews: Forbidden to take, from brethren specially when poor — The Jews: Forbidden to take, from brethren specially when poor
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
