Leviticus 25:25

25 If anyone of your kin falls into difficulty and sells a piece of property, then the next of kin shall come and redeem what the relative has sold.

Leviticus 25:25 Meaning and Commentary

Leviticus 25:25

If thy brother be waxen poor
Is brought very low, greatly reduced, and is in mean circumstances; hence Jarchi says, we learn, that no man may sell his field, unless his distress presses him and forces him to it; for, as Maimonides F3 observes, a man might not sell his estate to put money into his purse, or to trade with, or to purchase goods, servants, and cattle, only food:

and hath sold away [some] of his possession;
not all of it, as Jarchi remarks; for the way of the earth or custom of the world teaches, that a man should reserve a field (or a part) for himself:

and if any of his kin come to redeem it;
come to the buyer and propose to redeem it, by giving what it was sold for, or in proportion to the time he had enjoyed it:

then shall he redeem that which his brother sold;
nor was it in the power of the purchaser to hinder him, or at his option whether he would suffer him to redeem it or not: such an one was an emblem of our "goel", our near kinsman and Redeemer the Lord Jesus Christ, who came in our nature into this world to redeem us, and put us into the possession of the heavenly inheritance; nor was it in the power of any to hinder his performance of it, for he is the mighty God, the Lord of Hosts is his name.


FOOTNOTES:

F3 Hilchot Shemittah Vejobel, c. 11. sect. 3.

Leviticus 25:25 In-Context

23 The land shall not be sold in perpetuity, for the land is mine; with me you are but aliens and tenants.
24 Throughout the land that you hold, you shall provide for the redemption of the land.
25 If anyone of your kin falls into difficulty and sells a piece of property, then the next of kin shall come and redeem what the relative has sold.
26 If the person has no one to redeem it, but then prospers and finds sufficient means to do so,
27 the years since its sale shall be computed and the difference shall be refunded to the person to whom it was sold, and the property shall be returned.
New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.