NOTES for Lev 25:25-55
There is no abstract morality in the Bible. The moral rules and laws that God offers to people have a very firm and concrete foundation in the understanding of who God is and what the human person is. Old Testament legislation is based not only on the economic and social interests of particular people, but also on the people’s relationship with their God. Here is an example of this dependence in the laws on the sale of land, slaveholding, lending money at interest, and other commercial and economic ordinances. One may not treat a fellow member of the people as a slave, because that person belongs not to you but to God. One may not alienate or resell the land, because God gave this land to His people. The land must return to its owner, and debts must be forgiven in the jubilee year, because people have no “property”; they have a gift from God, which they must administer with mercy toward their brothers. We must understand that only such premises can serve as the foundation for creating genuine laws, social relations, economics, and politics that are pleasing to God. For all these things—the state, the economy, and economic activity—exist only for the human person, and the human person exists for God.