Lev_25:1-55; Lev_26:1-46; Lev_27:1-34

beast shall make it good; but he whokilleth a man shall be put to death. One judgment shall you have, for thestranger as for the native born shall it be; for I am the Lord your God. And Mosheh spake withthe sons of Israel, and they brought out the blasphemer without the camp, andstoned him with stones; and the sons of Israel did as the Lord commandedMosheh.

SECTIONXXXII.

BEHARSINAI.

XXV. AND the Lordspake with Mosheh in the mountain of Sinai, saying: Speak with the children ofIsrael, and say to them: When you have entered into the land that I will giveyou, the land shall have rest by an intermission (shemet shemittha) before the Lord. Six years thoushalt sow thy field, and six years prune thy vineyard, and gather in its fruit;but in the seventh year the land shall have a respite of rest (neachshemittha), arespite before the Lord; thou shalt not sow thy field nor prune thy vineyard.The after crop of thy harvest thou shalt not reap, neither make vintage of thegrapes which thou mayest have left, it shall be a year of remission to theland. Yet the remission of the land^{[1] <l >} shall be to thee for food, to thee,and to thy servant, and to thy handmaid, and to thy hireling, and to thesojourner who dwelleth with thee. And for thy cattle, and for the beasts thatare in thy land, shall all the produce of it be for meat. And number to thee seven (such)years of Release, which are seven times seven years; and the days of the sevenyears of release shall be to thee (in all) forty and nine years. And thou shaltmake the sound of the trumpet to pass forth, in the seventh month on the tenthof the month, on the day of the expiations shall you make (the sound of) thetrumpet to pass through all your land. And you shall sanctify the year of thefifty years, and proclaim liberty in all the land to all its inhabitants; it isand it shall be a jubilee to you; and each man shall return to his inheritance,and each to his family shall return. A jubilee shall that year of fifty yearsbe to you. Ye shall not sow nor reap the after crop, nor make vintage of theremainder, for it is a jubilee; it shall be sacred to you; of the growth of thefield you may eat. In the year of this jubilee a man shall return to hisinheritance.

Andwhen thou sellest a sale to thy neighbour, or buyest of thy neighbour’s hand,you shall not impose, a man upon his brother. For the number of the years afterthe (last) jubilee thou shalt buy of thy neighbour; for the number of the yearsof the produce he shall sell to thee: according to the multitude of the yearsthou shalt increase the price, and according to the fewness of the years thoushalt diminish the price; for he selleth thee the amount of the fruits. And youshall not impose, a man upon his neighbour; but thou shalt fear thy God, for I amthe Lord your God. And you shall perform My statutes, and keep My judgments,and do them, and dwell in the land in security. And the land shall yield herfruitage, and you shall eat unto the full, and dwell upon it in security. Andif you say, What shall we eat in the seventh year; behold, we are not to sow,nor to gather in our fruit? I will command My benediction upon you in the sixthyear, and it shall produce for three years. And you shall sow in the eighthyear, and eat of the old produce unto the ninth year: until the fruit come in,you shall eat of the old. But you may not sellthe ground absolutely: for the land is Mine, for you are guests and sojournersbefore Me; and in all the land of your inheritance you shall let the groundhave redemption. When thy brother hathbecome poor, and shall have sold his possession, his redeemer who is of kin tohim may come and release that which his kinsman has sold. And if he have no oneto release it, and it pertaineth to his hand to find sufficient means for itsredemption; then let him reckon the years of its sale, and restore the fullamount to the man who bought it, that he may return to his possession. But ifhis hand find not sufficiency to give him, the (property) sold shall be in thehand of the buyer until the year of Jubilee, and shall go out in the Jubilee,and return to his possession. And if a man sell adwelling house in a town surrounded with a wall, he may redeem it within thefull year of the sale of it; within that time shall be its redemption. But ifit be not repurchased when the whole year is completed, the house that is inthe walled town shall belong absolutely to him who bought it for hisgenerations; it shall not go out at the Jubilee. But the houses of the villageswhich have no wall round about them shall be accounted as the field of theland; they may be redeemed, or shall go out at the Jubilee. And the cities of theLevites, the houses of the cities of their inheritance, may be always redeemedby the Levites (or, be a perpetual redemption for the Levites). And (so of him)who purchaseth of the Levites, the purchased house in the city of theirpossession shall go out at the Jubilee; for the houses of the cities of theLevites are their inheritance among the sons of Israel. But a field in thesuburbs of their cities may not be sold; for it is an everlasting possessionfor them. And if thy brotherhath become poor, and his band waver with thee, then thou shalt strengthen him,and he shall be a guest and a sojourner with thee. Thou shalt not take from himany usuries,^{[2] <l >} nor interest (increase), but shaltfear thy God, and let thy brother live with thee. Thou shalt not give him thymoney for usury,¹ nor thy food forincrease. I am the Lord your God, who brought you out from the land of Mizraim,to give you the land of Kenaan, and to be your God.

Andif thy brother hath become poor with thee, and hath sold himself to thee, thoushalt not make him do the works of slaves, but as a hired man and an inmateshall he be with thee; until the year of Jubilee shall he serve with thee: thenshall he go out from being with thee, he and his children with him, and returnto his family and to the inheritance of his fathers. For they are My servants,whom I brought out from the land of Mizraim; they shall not be sold as theselling of bond­ men. Thou shalt not make him serve with rigour, but shaltfear thy God. Thy bondmen and thy handmaids thou shalt have from the Gentileswho are about thee; from them thou mayest obtain bondmen and handmaids. Andalso from the sons of the uncircumcised strangers who sojourn with you, of themand of their children who are with you which are born in the land, you may ob­taina possession, and may make them an inheritance for your children after you toinherit them for a possession to serve them perpetually; but among yourbrethren the sons of Israel no man shall make his brother labour with hardness.And if the hand of an uncircumcised sojourner with thee wax strong, and thybrother with thee become poor and sell himself to the uncircumcised sojournerwith thee, or to an Aramite of the race of the stranger, after that he is soldhe may have redemption; one of his brethren may redeem him. Either his father’sbrother, or the son of his father’s brother, may redeem him; or any one of kinto the flesh of his family may redeem him; or if his hand be able, he mayredeem himself. And he shall reckon with his purchaser from the year that hesold himself, unto the year of Jubilee, and the money of his payment shall beaccording to the number of the years, according to the days of an hirelingshall it be with him. If the years be yet many, according to them shall he givethe price of his redemption; or if but few years remain unto the year ofJubilee, he shall compute with him, and according to the years shall give forhis redemption. As a hireling year by year shall he be with him; he shall notwork him with rigour before thine eyes. But if he be not redeemed within thoseyears, he shall go out at the year of Jubilee, he and his children with him.For the sons of Israel are My servants; they are servants whom I brought out ofthe land of Mizraim: I am the Lord your God.

XXVI. You shall maketo you no idols, nor image, nor set up for you a statue; nor a stone forworship shall you make on your land to worship upon it, for I am the Lord yourGod. The days of my Sabbaths you shall keep, and reverence the house of mysanctuary: I am the Lord.

SECTIONXXXIII.

BECHUKKOTHAI.

If you walk in My statutes, andobserve My commandments and perform them, then will I give you rains in theirseason, and your land shall yield her produce, and the tree of the field itsfruit. And for you the threshing shall reach unto the vintage, and the vintageshall reach unto the shooting forth of the seed; and you shall eat your breadwith sufficiency, and dwell safely in your land. And I will give peace in theland, and you shall inhabit, and no one (be among you) who disturbeth. And Iwill make the evil beast to cease from the land, neither shall they who destroywith the sword pass through on your land. And you shall chase your adversaries,and they shall fall before you by the sword. And five of you shall chase ahundred, and a hundred of you put a myriad to flight, and your adversariesshall fall before you by the sword. For I will have regard to you² in my Word, to do you good, and will add to you, andmultiply you, and establish My covenant with you. And you shall eat the old ofthe old, and shall turn out the old before the new. And I will set MyTabernacle among you, and My Word shall not reject you. And I will make MyShekinah to dwell among you, and I will be to you Eloha, and you shall be apeople before Me. I am the Lord your God who brought you out from the land ofMizraim, that you should not be bondmen to them; and I brake off the yoke ofthe Gentiles from you, and brought you into liberty.^{[3] <l >} But if you will not beobedient to My Word, nor perform all these commandments; and if you despise Mystatutes, and your soul abhor My judgments, so as not to do all Mycommandments, by your making My covenant of no effect, (or, by your changing Mycovenant,) I also will do this unto you: I will visit you with trouble, wastingand burning with darkness of eyes, and exhaustion of soul; and ye shall sowyour seed in vain for your enemies shall eat it. And I will reveal My anger againstyou, and you shall be broken before your enemies; they that hate you shallreign over you, and ye shall flee when no one pursueth you. And if yet withthese ye will not obey My Word, I will add sevenfold chastisement upon yoursins. And I will break the glory of your power, and will make the heavens aboveyou obdurate as iron, to give no rain, and the ground beneath you hard as brassin yielding no fruit; and your strength shall be put forth in vain, for yourground will not yield its produce, nor the tree of the earth its fruit. And ifyou will walk on forwardly before Me, and will not turn again to obey My Word,I will add to bring upon you a stroke sevenfold (heavier) according to your sins.And I will send the beast of the wilderness against you, and it shall devouryou, and consume your cattle, and diminish you, and make your ways desolate.And if through these (calamities) ye will not be corrected by My Word, but willwalk before Me with hardness (of heart), I also will proceed with you inhardness,^{[4] <l >} and will smite you, even I, sevenfoldfor your sins. And I will bring upon you those who kill with the sword, whoshall take vengeance upon you in punishment for your transgressions against thewords of the law. And you will congregate in your cities; but I will send forththe pestilence among you, and you shall be delivered into the hands of yourenemies. When I shall have broken for you the support of food, ten women willprepare your bread in one oven, and return your bread by weight, and you willeat, but will not be satisfied. And if with this you will not be obedient to MyWord, but will walk before me with obstinacy, I will proceed with you withstrengthened anger, and will chastise you, even I, sevenfold for your sins. Andye shall eat the flesh of your sons, and the flesh of your daughters will youeat. And I will destroy your high places, and cut down your images, and will throw yourcarcases upon the carcases of your idols, and My Word shall abhor you. And Iwill make your cities a waste, and lay waste your sanctuary, and accept no morethe offering of your congregation. And I will make your country a wilderness,and your enemies who will dwell in it shall spread desolation upon it. And Iwill disperse you among the nations, and draw out after you them who kill withthe sword, and your country shall be a desert and your cities a waste. Thenshall the land enjoy her repose all the days in which it shall be a desert, andyou be in the land of your enemies: so shall the land repose, and enjoy herremission: all the days of its desolateness it shall rest; because it did notrest in your times of intermission, when you were inhabitants upon it. And tothe heart of those of you who are left in the land of their enemies will I sendbrokenness, and they shall flee at the sound of a falling leaf; they shall fleeas flying from before those who kill with the sword, and fall, while no manpursueth. They shall thrust, one man against his brother, as (fugitives) frombefore them who destroy with the sword, while no one is pursuing and ye shallhave no power against your adversaries; and ye shall perish among the nations,and the land of your enemies shall consume you. And they who are left of shallpine away in your sins, in their adversariesÕ land, and for their sins, also,the evil deeds of their fathers which their own hands hold fast, shall theypine away.^{[5] <l >}

But, if they willconfess their sins, and the sins of their fathers, and their falseness with whichthey have acted falselybefore My Word, and that they have walked before me in obduracy, (while) I alsohave dealt against them with sharpness, and brought them into the land of theirenemies; when then their stout heart shall be broken, and they concur with (thepunishment of) their sins, I will remember my covenant with Jacob, and mycovenant with Izhak, and also my covenant with Abraham will I remember, and Iwill remember the land. But the land shall be left by them, and shall enjoy herrepose while made desolate for them, and they shall receive (the punishment of)their sins; curses instead of blessings will I have brought upon them who hadcast away My judgments, and whose soul had abhorred My statutes. Yet, even inthe land of their enemies I will not strike them down, nor cast them away toconsume them utterly, and to make My covenant with them to change; for I am theLord their God. But I will remember the former covenant with them whom Ibrought out of the land of Mizraim in the eyes of the nations, that I might betheir God. I am the Lord.

These are the statutesand judgments and laws which the Lord appointed between His Word and the sonsof Israel, in the mountain of Sinai, by the hand of Mosheh.

XXVII. And the Lordspake with Mosheh, saying: Speak with the sons of Israel, and say to them: Whena man setteth apart a votive offering, (it shall be) by estimation of the lifebefore the Lord. If it be the valuation for a male from twenty years to sixtyyears old, the valuation shall be fifty shekels of silver, in the shekel of thesanctuary. And if a female, the valuation shall be thirty shekels. And if theage be from five years to twenty years, the valuation for a male shall betwenty shekels, and for a female ten shekels. And if the age be from a monthunto five years, the valuation for a male shall be twenty shekels, and for afemale ten shekels. And if the age be from a month unto five years, thevaluation for a male shall be five shekels of silver, and for a female threeshekels of silver shall be the valuation. But if (the age) be sixty years andupwards, for a male the valuation shall be fifteen shekels, and for a femaleten shekels. But if he be too poor (for the sum of) his valuation, then heshall stand before the priest, and the priest shall make valuation for him uponthe word of that which the hand of him who maketh the vow may possess; so shallthe priest make his estimate. And if it be an animalof which (some portion) will be offered an oblation before the Lord, all thathe giveth of it before the Lord shall be sacred; he shall not alter it orchange it, good for bad, or bad for good; and if he will indeed change animalfor animal, both it and that for which it is changed shall be sacred. And if itbe any unclean animal, of which none may be offered an oblation before theLord, he shall present the animal before the priest, and the priest shall valueit, whether good or bad; according to the estimate of the priest so shall itbe. Arid if he will redeem it, then he shall add the fifth upon its value. And when a man shallsanctify his house, to be consecrated before the Lord, the priest shall valueit, whether good or bad; as the priest shall value it, so shall it stand. Andif he who had consecrated it will redeem his house, then let him add the fifthof the price of its value upon it, and it shall be his. And if a manconsecrate a field of his possession before the Lord, its valuation shall beaccording to (the quantity of) its seed; if sown with barley, a measure^{[6] <l >}shall be (valued at) fifty shekels of silver. If he consecrate his field fromthe year of Jubilee, it shall stand according to its value. But if he consecrate hisfield after the year of Jubilee, the priest shall reckon the money with himaccording to the years which remain until the (next) year of Jubilee, and itshall be abated from the valuation. But if he will redeem the field that he hadconsecrated, let him add to it a fifth of its valuated price, and it shall beconfirmed to him. But if he will not redeem the field, or if he have sold thefield to another man, it shall not be redeemed any more: but the field, when itwould have gone out at the Jubilee, shall be consecrated before the Lord as afield devoted (hekel cherema); the possession of it shall be to the priest. And if a manwill consecrate before the Lord a field which he hath bought, and which is notof the fields of his inheritance, then the priest shall reckon the sum(receipt) of its value until the year of Jubilee, and he shall give the priceof it in that day, a holy thing before the Lord. In the year of Jubilee thefield shall return unto him who sold it, to whom the possession of the land hadbelonged. And every valuation shall be in the shekel of the sanctuary, twentymaheen before the Lord.

Moreover, the first-bornamong cattle which is to be a firstling, before the Lord, no man mayconsecrate, whether ox or sheep; it is the Lord’s already. And if it be anunclean animal, then he shall redeem it according to its valuation, and add onefifth thereto: or if it be not redeemed, then it shall be sold according to itsvaluation. Nevertheless, no devoted thing which a man shall have devoted beforethe Lord of all that he hath of man or of beast and of the field of his pos­sessionmay be sold or redeemed; every devoted thing is most sacred before the Lord. Nodevoted one who is devoted (or accursed) of men, (as the criminal doomed todeath,) shall be redeemed; being slain, he shall be killed. And all the tythe ofthe land, whether of the seed of the land or of the fruit of the tree, is theLord’s; it is sacred before the Lord. But if a man will redeem any of histythe, a fifth shall be add upon it. And every tything of oxen or sheep,whatever passeth under the tything rod, shall be sacred before the Lord. He shallnot choose between the good and bad, neither shall he change it. But if he willcommute it, both it and that for which it was exchanged shall be consecrate,and not be redeemed.

These are thecommandments which the Lord commanded Mosheh for the children of Israel, in themountain of Sinai.

END OFTHE TARGUM OF ONKELOS ON THE BOOK

VAIYIKRA.

^{[1] <l >} The produce of the land during thetime of remission. Ð RASHI, EBEN EZRA. For the whole year it was commonproperty, and not the ownerÕs exclusively.

^{[2] <l >} Sam. Vers., ÒFrom him thou shalt nottake double.Ó

2 Sam. Vers., ÒI will be propitious.Ó

^{[3] <l >} Sam. Vers., Òbrought you intocovenant with Me.Ó

^{[4] <l >} Sam. Vers., Òrelentlessly.Ó

^{[5] <l >} Sam. Vers., Òthey shall becrucified.Ó

^{[6] <l >}Kor. Heb., Chomer =seventy-five gallons.