NOTES for Lev 25:25-55

There is no abstract morality in the Bible. The moral rules and laws that God offers people have a very firm and concrete foundation in the understanding of who God is and what the human being is. Old Testament legislation is based not only on the economic and social interests of certain people, but also on the people's relations with their God. Before us are examples of this dependence: in regulations on the sale of land, on slaveholding, on lending money at interest, and on other commercial and economic statutes.

One must not treat a fellow tribesman as a slave, because he belongs not to you, but to God. One must not alienate or resell land, because God gave it to His people. The land must return to its owner, and debts must be forgiven in the jubilee year, because people have no "property," but have God's gift, which they must manage with mercy toward their brothers.

We should understand that only such premises can serve as the basis for creating genuine laws, social relations, economics, and politics that are pleasing to God. For all this: the state, the economy, and economic life, exists only for the human being, and the human being exists for God.