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<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "//www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="//www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" /><meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1" /><title>Exodus 23:10 For six years you are to sow your land and gather its produce,</title><link rel="canonical" href="https://biblehub.com/exodus/23-10.htm" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="/new9.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><meta property="og:image" content="https://biblehub.com/visuals/15/02_Exo_23_10.jpg" /><meta property="og:title" content="Exodus 23:10 - Sabbath Laws" /><meta property="og:site_name" content="Bible Hub" /><meta property="og:description" content="For six years you are to sow your land and gather its produce," /><script type="application/javascript" 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id="movebox2"><table border="0" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td><div id="topheading"><a href="/exodus/23-9.htm" title="Exodus 23:9">◄</a> Exodus 23:10 <a href="/exodus/23-11.htm" title="Exodus 23:11">►</a></div></tr></table></div><div align="center" class="maintable2"><table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><div id="topverse"> <a href="#study" class="clickchap2" title="Context and Study Bible"> Audio </a> <a href="#crossref" class="clickchap2" title="Cross References"> Crossref </a> <a href="#commentary" class="clickchap2" title="Commentary"> Comm </a> <a href="#lexicon" class="clickchap2" title="Lexicon"> Hebrew </a> </div><div id="leftbox"><div class="padleft"><div class="vheadingv"><b>Verse</b><a href="/bsb/exodus/23.htm" class="clickchap" style="color:#001320" title="Click any translation name for full chapter">  (Click for Chapter)</a></div><div id="par"><span class="versiontext"><a href="/niv/exodus/23.htm">New International Version</a></span><br />&#8220For six years you are to sow your fields and harvest the crops,<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="versiontext"><a href="/nlt/exodus/23.htm">New Living Translation</a></span><br />“Plant and harvest your crops for six years,<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="versiontext"><a href="/esv/exodus/23.htm">English Standard Version</a></span><br />“For six years you shall sow your land and gather in its yield,<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="versiontext"><a href="/bsb/exodus/23.htm">Berean Standard Bible</a></span><br />For six years you are to sow your land and gather its produce,<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="versiontext"><a href="/kjv/exodus/23.htm">King James Bible</a></span><br />And six years thou shalt sow thy land, and shalt gather in the fruits thereof:<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="versiontext"><a href="/nkjv/exodus/23.htm">New King James Version</a></span><br />“Six years you shall sow your land and gather in its produce,<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="versiontext"><a href="/nasb_/exodus/23.htm">New American Standard Bible</a></span><br />“Now you shall sow your land for six years and gather in its yield,<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="versiontext"><a href="/nasb/exodus/23.htm">NASB 1995</a></span><br />&#8220You shall sow your land for six years and gather in its yield,<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="versiontext"><a href="/nasb77/exodus/23.htm">NASB 1977 </a></span><br />“And you shall sow your land for six years and gather in its yield,<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="versiontext"><a href="/lsb/exodus/23.htm">Legacy Standard Bible </a></span><br />“Now you shall sow your land for six years and gather in its produce,<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="versiontext"><a href="/amp/exodus/23.htm">Amplified Bible</a></span><br />“You shall sow your land six years and harvest its yield,<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="versiontext"><a href="/csb/exodus/23.htm">Christian Standard Bible</a></span><br />“Sow your land for six years and gather its produce.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="versiontext"><a href="/hcsb/exodus/23.htm">Holman Christian Standard Bible</a></span><br />Sow your land for six years and gather its produce.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="versiontext"><a href="/asv/exodus/23.htm">American Standard Version</a></span><br />And six years thou shalt sow thy land, and shalt gather in the increase thereof:<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="versiontext"><a href="/cev/exodus/23.htm">Contemporary English Version</a></span><br />Plant and harvest your crops for six years, <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="versiontext"><a href="/erv/exodus/23.htm">English Revised Version</a></span><br />And six years thou shalt sow thy land, and shalt gather in the increase thereof:<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="versiontext"><a href="/gwt/exodus/23.htm">GOD'S WORD® Translation</a></span><br />"For six years you may plant crops in your fields and harvest them,<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="versiontext"><a href="/gnt/exodus/23.htm">Good News Translation</a></span><br />"For six years plant your land and gather in what it produces. <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="versiontext"><a href="/isv/exodus/23.htm">International Standard Version</a></span><br />"You are to sow your land and gather its crops for six years, <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="versiontext"><a href="/msb/exodus/23.htm">Majority Standard Bible</a></span><br />For six years you are to sow your land and gather its produce,<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="versiontext"><a href="/net/exodus/23.htm">NET Bible</a></span><br />"For six years you are to sow your land and gather in its produce.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="versiontext"><a href="/nheb/exodus/23.htm">New Heart English Bible</a></span><br />"For six years you shall sow your land, and shall gather in its increase,<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="versiontext"><a href="/wbt/exodus/23.htm">Webster's Bible Translation</a></span><br />And six years thou shalt sow thy land, and shalt gather in the fruits thereof:<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="versiontext"><a href="/web/exodus/23.htm">World English Bible</a></span><br />“For six years you shall sow your land, and shall gather in its increase, <div class="vheading2"><b>Literal Translations</b></div><span class="versiontext"><a href="/lsv/exodus/23.htm">Literal Standard Version</a></span><br />And [for] six years you sow your land and have gathered its increase;<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="versiontext"><a href="/ylt/exodus/23.htm">Young's Literal Translation</a></span><br /> 'And six years thou dost sow thy land, and hast gathered its increase;<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="versiontext"><a href="/slt/exodus/23.htm">Smith's Literal Translation</a></span><br />Six years shalt thou sow thy land, and gather its produce:<div class="vheading2"><b>Catholic Translations</b></div><span class="versiontext"><a href="/drb/exodus/23.htm">Douay-Rheims Bible</a></span><br />Six years thou shalt sow thy ground, and shalt gather the corn thereof. <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="versiontext"><a href="/cpdv/exodus/23.htm">Catholic Public Domain Version</a></span><br />For six years, you shall sow your land and gather its produce.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="versiontext"><a href="/nabre/exodus/23.htm">New American Bible</a></span><br />For six years you may sow your land and gather in its produce.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="versiontext"><a href="/nrsvce/exodus/23.htm">New Revised Standard Version</a></span><br />For six years you shall sow your land and gather in its yield;<div class="vheading2"><b>Translations from Aramaic</b></div><span class="versiontext"><a href="/lamsa/exodus/23.htm">Lamsa Bible</a></span><br />For six years you shall sow your land and shall gather in the crops thereof:<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="versiontext"><a href="/hpbt/exodus/23.htm">Peshitta Holy Bible Translated</a></span><br />Six years you shall sow your land and you shall gather in its harvests:<div class="vheading2"><b>OT Translations</b></div><span class="versiontext"><a href="/jps/exodus/23.htm">JPS Tanakh 1917</a></span><br />And six years thou shalt sow thy land, and gather in the increase thereof;<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="versiontext"><a href="/sep/exodus/23.htm">Brenton Septuagint Translation</a></span><br />Six years thou shalt sow thy land, and gather in the fruits of it.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="versiontext"><a href="/parallel/exodus/23-10.htm">Additional Translations ...</a></span></div></div></div><div id="centbox"><div class="padcent"><a name="study" id="study"></a><div class="vheadingv"><b>Audio Bible</b></div><iframe width="100%" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/kVae3PiKqhs?start=5797" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe><span class="p"><br /><br /><br /></span><div class="vheadingv"><b>Context</b></div><span class="hdg"><a href="/bsb/exodus/23.htm">Sabbath Laws</a></span><br> <span class="reftext">10</span><span class="highl"><a href="/hebrew/8337.htm" title="8337: wə·šêš (Conj-w:: Number-fs) -- Masculine shishshah; a primitive number; six (see suws) beyond five or the fingers of the hand); as ord. Sixth.">For six</a> <a href="/hebrew/8141.htm" title="8141: šā·nîm (N-fp) -- A year. (in plura or shanah; from shanah; a year.">years</a> <a href="/hebrew/2232.htm" title="2232: tiz·ra‘ (V-Qal-Imperf-2ms) -- To sow, scatter seed. A primitive root; to sow; figuratively, to disseminate, plant, fructify.">you are to sow</a> <a href="/hebrew/853.htm" title="853: ’eṯ- (DirObjM) -- Apparent contracted from 'owth in the demonstrative sense of entity; properly, self."></a> <a href="/hebrew/776.htm" title="776: ’ar·ṣe·ḵā (N-fsc:: 2ms) -- Earth, land. From an unused root probably meaning to be firm; the earth.">your land</a> <a href="/hebrew/622.htm" title="622: wə·’ā·sap̄·tā (Conj-w:: V-Qal-ConjPerf-2ms) -- To gather, remove. A primitive root; to gather for any purpose; hence, to receive, take away, i.e. Remove.">and gather</a> <a href="/hebrew/853.htm" title="853: ’eṯ- (DirObjM) -- Apparent contracted from 'owth in the demonstrative sense of entity; properly, self."></a> <a href="/hebrew/8393.htm" title="8393: tə·ḇū·’ā·ṯāh (N-fsc:: 3fs) -- Product, revenue. From bow'; income, i.e. Produce.">its produce,</a> </span><span class="reftext">11</span>but in the seventh year you must let it rest and lie fallow, so that the poor among your people may eat from the field and the wild animals may consume what they leave. Do the same with your vineyard and olive grove.…<div class="cred"><a href="//berean.bible">Berean Standard Bible</a> · <a href="//berean.bible/downloads.htm">Download</a></div><span class="p"><br /><br /></span><a name="crossref" id="crossref"></a><div class="vheading">Cross References</div><div id="crf"><span class="crossverse"><a href="/leviticus/25-3.htm">Leviticus 25:3-4</a></span><br />For six years you may sow your field and prune your vineyard and gather its crops. / 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.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="crossverse"><a href="/deuteronomy/15-1.htm">Deuteronomy 15:1-2</a></span><br />At the end of every seven years you must cancel debts. / This is the manner of remission: Every creditor shall cancel what he has loaned to his neighbor. He is not to collect anything from his neighbor or brother, because the LORD’s time of release has been proclaimed.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="crossverse"><a href="/leviticus/26-34.htm">Leviticus 26:34-35</a></span><br />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. / As long as it lies desolate, the land will have the rest it did not receive during the Sabbaths when you lived in it.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="crossverse"><a href="/2_chronicles/36-21.htm">2 Chronicles 36:21</a></span><br />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.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="crossverse"><a href="/nehemiah/10-31.htm">Nehemiah 10:31</a></span><br />When the people of the land bring merchandise or any kind of grain to sell on the Sabbath day, we will not buy from them on a Sabbath or holy day. Every seventh year we will let the fields lie fallow and will cancel every debt.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="crossverse"><a href="/isaiah/37-30.htm">Isaiah 37:30</a></span><br />And this will be a sign to you, O Hezekiah: This year you will eat what grows on its own, and in the second year what springs from the same. But in the third year you will sow and reap; you will plant vineyards and eat their fruit.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="crossverse"><a href="/jeremiah/34-14.htm">Jeremiah 34:14</a></span><br />Every seventh year, each of you must free his Hebrew brother who has sold himself to you. He may serve you six years, but then you must let him go free. But your fathers did not listen or incline their ear.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="crossverse"><a href="/leviticus/25-20.htm">Leviticus 25:20-22</a></span><br />Now you may wonder, ‘What will we eat in the seventh year if we do not sow or gather our produce?’ / But I will send My blessing upon you in the sixth year, so that the land will yield a crop sufficient for three years. / While you are sowing in the eighth year, you will be eating from the previous harvest, until the ninth year’s harvest comes in.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="crossverse"><a href="/deuteronomy/31-10.htm">Deuteronomy 31:10-11</a></span><br />Then Moses commanded them, “At the end of every seven years, at the appointed time in the year of remission of debt, during the Feast of Tabernacles, / when all Israel comes before the LORD your God at the place He will choose, you are to read this law in the hearing of all Israel.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="crossverse"><a href="/genesis/2-2.htm">Genesis 2:2-3</a></span><br />And by the seventh day God had finished the work He had been doing; so on that day He rested from all His work. / Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because on that day He rested from all the work of creation that He had accomplished.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="crossverse"><a href="/hebrews/4-4.htm">Hebrews 4:4-10</a></span><br />For somewhere He has spoken about the seventh day in this manner: “And on the seventh day God rested from all His works.” / And again, as He says in the passage above: “They shall never enter My rest.” / Since, then, it remains for some to enter His rest, and since those who formerly heard the good news did not enter because of their disobedience, ...<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="crossverse"><a href="/luke/4-18.htm">Luke 4:18-19</a></span><br />“The Spirit of the Lord is on Me, because He has anointed Me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to release the oppressed, / to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="crossverse"><a href="/matthew/11-28.htm">Matthew 11:28-30</a></span><br />Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. / Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. / For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="crossverse"><a href="/romans/8-21.htm">Romans 8:21</a></span><br />that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="crossverse"><a href="/galatians/5-1.htm">Galatians 5:1</a></span><br />It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not be encumbered once more by a yoke of slavery.</div><span class="p"><br /><br /></span><a name="tsk" id="tsk"><div class="vheading">Treasury of Scripture</div><p class="tsk2">And six years you shall sow your land, and shall gather in the fruits thereof:</p><p class="hdg">no reference </p><div class="vheading">Jump to Previous</div><a href="/genesis/26-12.htm">Crops</a> <a href="/exodus/16-25.htm">Fields</a> <a href="/exodus/22-29.htm">Fruits</a> <a href="/exodus/16-27.htm">Gather</a> <a href="/exodus/16-22.htm">Gathered</a> <a href="/exodus/22-29.htm">Harvest</a> <a href="/genesis/48-16.htm">Increase</a> <a href="/exodus/22-5.htm">Produce</a> <a href="/exodus/16-31.htm">Seed</a> <a href="/exodus/21-2.htm">Six</a> <a href="/genesis/47-23.htm">Sow</a> <a href="/exodus/22-15.htm">Thereof</a> <a href="/genesis/49-20.htm">Yield</a><div class="vheading2">Jump to Next</div><a href="/exodus/23-16.htm">Crops</a> <a href="/exodus/23-16.htm">Fields</a> <a href="/exodus/23-16.htm">Fruits</a> <a href="/exodus/23-16.htm">Gather</a> <a href="/exodus/23-16.htm">Gathered</a> <a href="/exodus/23-16.htm">Harvest</a> <a href="/leviticus/19-25.htm">Increase</a> <a href="/exodus/34-22.htm">Produce</a> <a href="/exodus/28-43.htm">Seed</a> <a href="/exodus/23-12.htm">Six</a> <a href="/exodus/23-16.htm">Sow</a> <a href="/exodus/25-9.htm">Thereof</a> <a href="/leviticus/19-25.htm">Yield</a><div class="vheading2">Exodus 23</div><span class="reftext">1. </span><span class="outlinetext"><a href="/exodus/23-1.htm">Of slander, false witness, and partiality</a></span><br><span class="reftext">4. </span><span class="outlinetext"><a href="/exodus/23-4.htm">Of charitableness</a></span><br><span class="reftext">6. </span><span class="outlinetext"><a href="/exodus/23-6.htm">Of justice in judgment</a></span><br><span class="reftext">8. </span><span class="outlinetext"><a href="/exodus/23-8.htm">Of taking bribes</a></span><br><span class="reftext">9. </span><span class="outlinetext"><a href="/exodus/23-9.htm">Of oppressing a stranger</a></span><br><span class="reftext">10. </span><span class="outlinetext"><a href="/exodus/23-10.htm">Of the year of rest</a></span><br><span class="reftext">12. </span><span class="outlinetext"><a href="/exodus/23-12.htm">Of the Sabbath</a></span><br><span class="reftext">13. </span><span class="outlinetext"><a href="/exodus/23-13.htm">Of idolatry</a></span><br><span class="reftext">14. </span><span class="outlinetext"><a href="/exodus/23-14.htm">Of the three feasts</a></span><br><span class="reftext">18. </span><span class="outlinetext"><a href="/exodus/23-18.htm">Of the blood and the fat of the sacrifice</a></span><br><span class="reftext">20. </span><span class="outlinetext"><a href="/exodus/23-20.htm">An angel is promised, with a blessing, if they obey him</a></span><br></div></div><div id="mdd"><div align="center"><div class="bot2"><table align="center" width="100%"><tr><td><div align="center"> <script id="3d27ed63fc4348d5b062c4527ae09445"> (new Image()).src = 'https://capi.connatix.com/tr/si?token=51ce25d5-1a8c-424a-8695-4bd48c750f35&cid=3a9f82d0-4344-4f8d-ac0c-e1a0eb43a405'; </script> <script id="b817b7107f1d4a7997da1b3c33457e03"> (new Image()).src = 'https://capi.connatix.com/tr/si?token=cb0edd8b-b416-47eb-8c6d-3cc96561f7e8&cid=3a9f82d0-4344-4f8d-ac0c-e1a0eb43a405'; </script><br /><br />  <div id='div-gpt-ad-1529103594582-2'> </div><br /><br />  <div id='div-gpt-ad-1529103594582-0' style='max-width: 300px;'> </div><br /><br />  <div id='div-gpt-ad-1529103594582-3'> </div><br /><br />  <div id='div-gpt-ad-1529103594582-1' style='max-width: 300px;'> </div><br /><br />  <div align="center" id='div-gpt-ad-1531425649696-0'> </div><br /><br /> <script type="text/javascript"> </script> <script type="text/javascript" src="//pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js"> </script><br /><br /> </div> </td></tr></table></div></div></div><div id="combox"><div class="padcom"><a name="commentary" id="commentary"></a><div class="vheading"><a href="/study/exodus/23.htm">Berean Study Bible</a></div><b>For six years</b><br />This phrase introduces a cycle of labor and rest that is deeply rooted in the agricultural practices of ancient Israel. The number six is significant in biblical numerology, often representing human effort and labor. In the context of creation, God worked for six days and rested on the seventh, establishing a divine pattern for humanity. The six-year period of sowing and harvesting reflects a time of diligent work and stewardship over the land, emphasizing the importance of human responsibility in God's creation.<p><b>you are to sow your land</b><br />The act of sowing the land is a fundamental aspect of agrarian life in ancient Israel. The Hebrew word for "sow" (זָרַע, zara) implies not only the physical act of planting seeds but also the broader concept of investing effort and care into the land. This command underscores the relationship between the Israelites and the land God has given them, highlighting their role as caretakers. It also reflects the covenantal promise that the land will yield its bounty if the people remain faithful to God's commands.<p><b>and gather its produce</b><br />Gathering the produce is the culmination of the sowing process, representing the reward for faithful labor. The Hebrew term for "gather" (אָסַף, asaph) conveys the idea of collecting or bringing in, which in this context, signifies the harvest. This phrase emphasizes the provision and blessing of God, who ensures that the land produces abundantly. It also serves as a reminder of the dependence of the Israelites on God's faithfulness to sustain them through the fruits of their labor.<div class="vheading2"><a href="/commentaries/ellicott/exodus/23.htm">Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers</a></div>CEREMONIAL LAWS.</span><p>(10, 11) <span class= "bld">Six years . . . the seventh year</span>.--The Sabbatical year which is here commanded was an institution wholly unknown to any nation but the Hebrews. It is most extraordinary that any legislator should have been able to induce a people to accept such a law. <span class= "ital">Prima facie, </span>it seemed, by forbidding productive industry during one year in seven, to diminish the wealth of the nation by one-seventh. But it is questionable whether, under a primitive agricultural system, when rotation of crops was unknown, the lying of the land fallow during one year in seven would not have been an economical benefit. There was no prohibition on labour other than in cultivation. The clearing away of weeds and thorns and stones was allowed, and may have been practised. After an early harvest of the self-sown crop, the greater part of the year may have been spent in this kind of industry. Still the enactment was no doubt unpopular: it checked the regular course of agriculture, and seemed to rob landowners of one-seventh of their natural gains. Accordingly, we find that it was very irregularly observed. Between the Exodus and the Captivity it had apparently been neglected seventy times (<a href="/2_chronicles/36-21.htm" title="To fulfill the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed her sabbaths: for as long as she lay desolate she kept sabbath, to fulfill three score and ten years.">2Chronicles 36:21</a>), or more often than it had been kept. After the Captivity, however, the observance became regular, and classical writers notice the custom as one existing in their day (Tacit. <span class= "ital">Hist. v.</span> 4). Julius Caesar permitted it, and excused the Jews from paying tribute in the seventh year on its account (Joseph., <span class= "ital">Ant Jud. </span>xiv. 10, ? 6). The object of the law was threefold--(1) to test obedience; (2) to give an advantage to the poor and needy, to whom the crop of the seventh year belonged (<a href="/exodus/23-11.htm" title="But the seventh year you shall let it rest and lie still; that the poor of your people may eat: and what they leave the beasts of the field shall eat. In like manner you shall deal with your vineyard, and with your olive grove.">Exodus 23:11</a>); and (3) to allow an opportunity, once in seven years, for prolonged communion with God and increased religious observances. (See <a href="/context/deuteronomy/31-10.htm" title="And Moses commanded them, saying, At the end of every seven years, in the solemnity of the year of release, in the feast of tabernacles,">Deuteronomy 31:10-13</a>.)<p><div class="vheading2"><a href="/commentaries/pulpit/exodus/23.htm">Pulpit Commentary</a></div><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verses 10, 11.</span> - <span class="accented">Law of the Sabbatical year</span>. Days of rest, at regular or irregular intervals, were well known to the ancients and some regulations of the kind existed in most countries But entire years of rest were wholly unknown to any nation except the Israelites. and exposed them to the reproach of idleness. (See Tacit. <span class="accented">Hist</span>. 5:4: - "Septimo die otium placuisse ferunt, quia is finem laborum dedit; dein, <span class="accented">blandiente inertia</span>, septimum quoque annum ignaviae datum"). In a primitive condition of agriculture, when rotation of crops was unknown, artificial manure unemployed, and the need of letting even the best land sometimes lie fallow unrecognised, it may not have been an uneconomical arrangement to require an entire suspension of cultivation once in seven years. But great difficulty was probably experienced in enforcing the law. Just as there were persons who wished to gather manna on the seventh day (<a href="/exodus/16-27.htm">Exodus 16:27</a>), so there would be many anxious to obtain in the seventh year something more from their fields than Nature would give them if left to herself. If the "seventy years" of the captivity were intended exactly to make up for omissions of the due observance of the sabbatical year, we must suppose that between the time of the exodus and the destruction of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar, the ordinance had been as often neglected as observed. (See <a href="/2_chronicles/36-21.htm">2 Chronicles 36:21</a>.) The primary object of the requirement was, as stated in ver. 11, <span class="cmt_word">that the poor of thy people may eat</span>, what the land brought forth of its own accord in the Sabbatical year being shared by them (<a href="/leviticus/25-6.htm">Leviticus 25:6</a>.). But no doubt it was also intended that the Sabbatical year should be one of increased religious observance, whereof the solemn reading of the law in the ears of the people at the Feast of Tabernacles "in the year of release" (<a href="/deuteronomy/31-10.htm">Deuteronomy 31:10</a>) was an indication and a part. That reading was properly preceded by a time of religious preparation (<a href="/nehemiah/8-1.htm">Nehemiah 8:1-15</a>), and would naturally lead on to further acts of a religious character, which might occupy a considerable period (<span class="accented">ibid.</span> chs. 9. and 10.). Altogether, the year was a most solemn period, calling men to religious self-examination, to repentance, to the formation of holy habits, and tending to a general elevation among the people of the standard of holiness. <span class="cmt_word">What they leave the beasts of the field shall eat</span>. There was to be no regular ingathering. The proprietor, his servants, the poor, and the stranger were to take what they needed; and the residue was to be for the cattle and for the beasts that were in the land (<a href="/deuteronomy/25-6.htm">Deuteronomy 25:6, 7</a>). <span class="cmt_word">Thy vineyard - thy oliveyard</span>. Corn, wine, and oil were the only important products of Palestine; and this mention of the vineyard and the oliveyard shows that one and the same law was to hold good of all the lands in the country, however they might be cultivated. The whole land was to rest. <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="versiontext"><a href="/commentaries/exodus/23-10.htm">Parallel Commentaries ...</a></span><span class="p"><br /><br /><br /></span><a name="lexicon" id="lexicon"></a><div class="vheading">Hebrew</div><span class="word">For six</span><br /><span class="heb">וְשֵׁ֥שׁ</span> <span class="translit">(wə·šêš)</span><br /><span class="parse">Conjunctive waw | Number - feminine singular<br /></span><span class="str"><a href="/hebrew/strongs_8337.htm">Strong's 8337: </a> </span><span class="str2">Six (a cardinal number)</span><br /><br /><span class="word">years</span><br /><span class="heb">שָׁנִ֖ים</span> <span class="translit">(šā·nîm)</span><br /><span class="parse">Noun - feminine plural<br /></span><span class="str"><a href="/hebrew/strongs_8141.htm">Strong's 8141: </a> </span><span class="str2">A year</span><br /><br /><span class="word">you are to sow</span><br /><span class="heb">תִּזְרַ֣ע</span> <span class="translit">(tiz·ra‘)</span><br /><span class="parse">Verb - Qal - Imperfect - second person masculine singular<br /></span><span class="str"><a href="/hebrew/strongs_2232.htm">Strong's 2232: </a> </span><span class="str2">To sow, to disseminate, plant, fructify</span><br /><br /><span class="word">your land</span><br /><span class="heb">אַרְצֶ֑ךָ</span> <span class="translit">(’ar·ṣe·ḵā)</span><br /><span class="parse">Noun - feminine singular construct | second person masculine singular<br /></span><span class="str"><a href="/hebrew/strongs_776.htm">Strong's 776: </a> </span><span class="str2">Earth, land</span><br /><br /><span class="word">and gather</span><br /><span class="heb">וְאָסַפְתָּ֖</span> <span class="translit">(wə·’ā·sap̄·tā)</span><br /><span class="parse">Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Conjunctive perfect - second person masculine singular<br /></span><span class="str"><a href="/hebrew/strongs_622.htm">Strong's 622: </a> </span><span class="str2">To gather for, any purpose, to receive, take away, remove</span><br /><br /><span class="word">its produce,</span><br /><span class="heb">תְּבוּאָתָֽהּ׃</span> <span class="translit">(tə·ḇū·’ā·ṯāh)</span><br /><span class="parse">Noun - feminine singular construct | third person feminine singular<br /></span><span class="str"><a href="/hebrew/strongs_8393.htm">Strong's 8393: </a> </span><span class="str2">Product, revenue</span><br /><span class="p"><br /><br /></span><div class="vheading">Links</div><a href="/niv/exodus/23-10.htm">Exodus 23:10 NIV</a><br /><a href="/nlt/exodus/23-10.htm">Exodus 23:10 NLT</a><br /><a href="/esv/exodus/23-10.htm">Exodus 23:10 ESV</a><br /><a href="/nasb/exodus/23-10.htm">Exodus 23:10 NASB</a><br /><a href="/kjv/exodus/23-10.htm">Exodus 23:10 KJV</a><span class="p"><br /><br /></span><a href="//bibleapps.com/exodus/23-10.htm">Exodus 23:10 BibleApps.com</a><br /><a href="//bibliaparalela.com/exodus/23-10.htm">Exodus 23:10 Biblia Paralela</a><br /><a href="//holybible.com.cn/exodus/23-10.htm">Exodus 23:10 Chinese Bible</a><br /><a href="//saintebible.com/exodus/23-10.htm">Exodus 23:10 French Bible</a><br /><a href="/catholic/exodus/23-10.htm">Exodus 23:10 Catholic Bible</a><span class="p"><br /><br /></span><a href="/exodus/23-10.htm">OT Law: Exodus 23:10 For six years you shall sow your (Exo. 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