Some things you cannot live without: water, bread, clothes, and a shelter.
Commentaries
29:21 - 29:28
In Someone Else’s House.
Building on the previous themes, we see the plight of those lacking the basic means to survive; they are vulnerable to abuse, ridicule, and ultimately, wandering. The Bible shows that to address these extreme cases of poverty, two institutions were established and should have been implemented promptly, as the law of Moses required. One was the “goelato” (Lv 25:25), which required the closest relative of a debtor to redeem the property or pledge left with the lender. In severe cases, when a debtor had to surrender as a pledge or payment to his creditor, the “go’el” was responsible for paying his ransom. The other institution was the “sabbatical year” (Dt 15:1-11), which Leviticus expanded into the “jubilee year,” offering liberation for slaves, debt forgiveness, and restitution of collateral property. This system was meant to balance society, preventing extreme disparities between wealth and poverty periodically.
Commentaries
In Someone Else’s House.
Building on the previous themes, we see the plight of those lacking the basic means to survive; they are vulnerable to abuse, ridicule, and ultimately, wandering. The Bible shows that to address these extreme cases of poverty, two institutions were established and should have been implemented promptly, as the law of Moses required. One was the “goelato” (Lv 25:25), which required the closest relative of a debtor to redeem the property or pledge left with the lender. In severe cases, when a debtor had to surrender as a pledge or payment to his creditor, the “go’el” was responsible for paying his ransom. The other institution was the “sabbatical year” (Dt 15:1-11), which Leviticus expanded into the “jubilee year,” offering liberation for slaves, debt forgiveness, and restitution of collateral property. This system was meant to balance society, preventing extreme disparities between wealth and poverty periodically.