Leviticus 25:23 · Bible study
Leviticus 25:23 Commentary: Land, Ownership, and Sojourning with God
Hebrew · 10 what the commentators say
Meaning in one sentence
God claims the land as His own, calling Israel strangers and sojourners. This shapes Jubilee economics and spiritual identity.
Research Summary
- Meaning: The land cannot be permanently sold because God is the true owner, and Israel lives as temporary residents with Him.
- Key words: 'Perpetuity' (tzemitud, finality, cutting off); 'sojourners' (gerim, temporary residents); 'resident aliens' (toshavim, settlers).
- Main debate: Whether the principle applies literally to modern Christian land use or is limited to Israel's theocratic economy.
- Theological theme: God as owner, humans as stewards; the pilgrim identity of God's people; economic justice rooted in covenant.
- Best use: Teaching identity and stewardship; as a corrective to consumerism; as comfort that this world is not our final home.
Translation Comparison
BSB Berean Standard Bible 2020
The land must not be sold permanently, because it is Mine, and you are but foreigners and residents with Me.
WEB World English Bible 2000
“‘The land shall not be sold in perpetuity, for the land is mine; for you are strangers and live as foreigners with me.
KJV King James Version 1769
The land shall not be sold for ever: for the land is mine; for ye are strangers and sojourners with me.
ASV American Standard Version 1901
And the land shall not be sold in perpetuity; for the land is mine: for ye are strangers and sojourners with me.
YLT Young's Literal Translation 1898
`And the land is not sold--to extinction, for the land is Mine, for sojourners and settlers are ye with Me;
Darby Darby Bible 1890
And the land shall not be sold for ever; for the land is mine; for ye are strangers and sojourners with me.
Douay-Rheims Douay-Rheims Bible 1899
The land also shall not be sold for ever: because it is mine, and you are strangers and sojourners with me.
Translations in other languages (10 available)
Y la tierra no se venderá rematadamente, porque la tierra mía es; que vosotros peregrinos y extranjeros sois para conmigo.
E a terra não se venderá definitivamente, porque a terra minha é; que vós peregrinos e estrangeiros sois para comigo.
Les terres ne se vendront point à perpétuité; car le pays est à moi, car vous êtes chez moi comme étrangers et comme habitants.
Darum sollt ihr das Land nicht verkaufen für immer; denn das Land ist mein, und ihr seid Fremdlinge und Gäste vor mir.
Het land ook zal niet voor altoos verkocht worden; want het land is het Mijne, dewijl gij vreemdelingen en bijwoners bij Mij zijt.
Le terre non si venderanno per sempre; perché la terra è mia, e voi state da me come forestieri e avventizi.
Ziemia tedy nie będzie sprzedawana na wieczność; bo moja jest ziemia, a wyście gośćmi i przychodniami u mnie.
Землю не должно продавать навсегда, ибо Моя земля: вы пришельцы и поселенцы у Меня;
「地 不可 永 賣，因為 地 是我的； 你們 在我面前 是客旅，是寄居的。
No exchange of land may be for ever, for the land is mine, and you are as my guests, living with me for a time.
Verse in Context
Original Language (Biblical Hebrew)
Old Testament · Biblical Hebrew · Leviticus 25:23
Source: STEPBible TAGNT/TEHB (CC-BY 4.0). Click or tap a morphology code to see the full parsing.
Scholars' Consensus
Commentators agree that this verse supplies the theological foundation for the Jubilee laws. Barnes notes that 'the land belonged to Yahweh, and it was He who allotted it among the families of Israel for their use.' Gill observes that the Hebrew word translated 'perpetuity' (tzemitud) implies 'cutting off', the land could not be sold in a way that permanently cut off the family from its inheritance. Calvin adds that the land distribution by lot under Joshua was 'an inviolable decree of God Himself,' intended to maintain the covenant memory. Matthew Henry emphasizes the pastoral implication: God's people are 'strangers and sojourners' even in the land He gave them, a truth that should foster humility and heavenly hope. All sources agree that the verse grounds economic practice in theological identity.
How settled is the interpretation?
Interpretive difficulty: Low
What is clear: God owns the land, therefore it cannot be permanently sold; Israel's identity as strangers and sojourners with God defines their relationship to the land and all material possessions.
What Scholars Agree and Debate
| Topic | Agreed | Debated |
|---|---|---|
| Land ownership | God is the ultimate owner of the land; Israel held it as a trust. | Some traditions apply the Jubilee principle to modern economics (land reform, debt forgiveness), while others see it as uniquely tied to Israel's theocratic land distribution. |
| Strangers and sojourners | Israel's status reminds them of dependence on God and their temporary tenure. | Some stress literal sojourning (Israel were once wanderers), others see a spiritual principle of pilgrimage for all believers. |
| Economic implications | The verse creates a safety net for the poor, preventing permanent loss of family inheritance. | Whether this requires a literal year of Jubilee today or is fulfilled spiritually in Christ's redemption and the hope of a heavenly inheritance. |
| Applicability to Christians | The principle of God's ownership and our stewardship applies across ages. | Whether Christians today are in a Promised Land analogous to Canaan, or whether our promises are entirely heavenly. |
Historical & Cultural Context
God gave the land of Canaan to Israel as an inheritance. Under Joshua, the land was divided by lot among the tribes and families, a process understood as divine allocation (Joshua 14, 19). This allotment was meant to be permanent, the land belonged to each family in perpetuity. But poverty could force a family to sell its land. Leviticus 25 addresses this with the institution of the Jubilee: every fiftieth year, all land returns to its original family.
This verse explains why: 'the land is mine', God retains ultimate ownership. The Israelites are 'strangers and sojourners with me.' The words ger and toshav describe temporary residents: a ger was a newcomer without inherited land rights; a toshav was a settled foreigner with some privileges. Calling Israel 'strangers and sojourners' before God reminded them that their tenure in Canaan was always dependent on God's grace. Even in the Promised Land, they were not ultimate owners. This status protected vulnerable families from permanent destitution, a family could lose its land temporarily but never forever.
The surrounding context (vv. 25, 28) describes the right of redemption: a near kinsman could buy back the land, or the original owner could repurchase it based on the remaining years until Jubilee. This economic safety net flowed directly from God's ownership claim. The phrase 'with me' (imadi) is striking: Israel sojourns not merely in God's land but in His presence. This intimacy tempers the legal structure with a relational reality, the land law was grounded in covenant relationship.
Textual Notes
The consulted sources note no significant textual variants for Leviticus 25:23. The Masoretic Text is consistent across manuscripts. The only variation is in English translations of the Hebrew tzemitud: 'perpetuity' (WEB, BSB), 'for ever' (KJV, Darby, Douay), or 'to extinction' (YLT). Each captures the sense of a permanent, irreversible sale. The Greek Septuagint translates with similar force.
Reception History
This verse has resonated throughout Jewish and Christian history. In Judaism, it anchors the laws of land tenure and the Jubilee cycle, emphasizing that the land is a sacred trust from God. Christian writers from Augustine to Calvin drew on the verse to describe believers as pilgrims on earth awaiting a heavenly inheritance. The early church saw in the Jubilee a type of Christ's redemption. In the Reformation, Calvin and the Reformed tradition stressed the temporary nature of all earthly possessions under God's ultimate ownership. The verse has also been cited in modern discussions of economic justice and creation care, reinforcing the idea that no human claim to land is absolute.
Preaching This Verse
Three-point outline
- God owns it all, 'the land is mine' establishes His ultimate right.
- We are tenants, 'strangers and sojourners' defines our temporary position.
- This identity shapes how we live, Jubilee economics protect the vulnerable and point to a permanent hope.
Five-point outline
- Divine ownership, all creation belongs to God.
- Gift and trust, the land given to families as a sacred inheritance.
- Protection from permanent loss, redemption and Jubilee ensure no family is forever dispossessed.
- Identity as pilgrims, sojourning with God, not as masters of the land.
- Hope of a permanent inheritance, the earthly land points toward a heavenly country (Hebrews 11:16).
Illustration hooks
- A lease with a renewable term: you can use the property but cannot sell it outright. The original owner always retains the reversion.
- A family heirloom held in trust: no one can permanently alienate it from the family line.
- A guest living in someone else's home, always aware it is not their own, yet welcomed and provided for by the host.
Questions your congregation is asking
- Does this mean Christians should not own property? (No, it means we hold it under God’s authority, as stewards.)
- How does this verse apply to our modern economy? (The principle of justice and protection for the poor, if not the exact Jubilee mechanism.)
- What comfort is there in being strangers with God? (We are not homeless; we sojourn with Him, and He has prepared a permanent city for us.)
Leading a Discussion
This verse is the capstone of the Jubilee legislation. It redefines land ownership and identity. As we study it, consider how God's ownership of everything shapes our view of possessions and our sense of belonging.
Discussion questions
- What does the phrase 'the land is mine' tell us about God's relationship to creation?
- Why would God want the land to stay with the original family rather than being freely bought and sold?
- In what ways were the Israelites 'strangers and sojourners' even in the Promised Land they had just conquered?
- How does this verse challenge our ideas of private property and security?
- What does it mean to be 'sojourners with me', how does the preposition 'with' change the picture from simple tenancy?
- How does this verse point forward to the New Testament idea of believers as pilgrims (1 Peter 2:11; Hebrews 11:13)?
- If we truly believed God owns everything and we are just sojourners, how would that change our spending, giving, and attitude toward possessions this week?
Word Study
The key original-language words in this verse. Select any word for its full lexicon entry — meaning, every occurrence in Scripture, and related words.
Cross-References
Source: Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (TSK, public domain)
| Genesis 23:4 | “I am a stranger and a foreigner living with you. Give me a possession of a burying-place with you, that I may bury my dead out of my sight.” |
| Genesis 47:9 | Jacob said to Pharaoh, “The years of my pilgrimage are one hundred thirty years. The days of the years of my life have been few and evil. They have not attained to the days of the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their pilgrimage.” |
| Exodus 19:5 | Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, then you shall be my own possession from among all peoples; for all the earth is mine; |
| Leviticus 25:10 | You shall make the fiftieth year holy, and proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee to you; and each of you shall return to his own property, and each of you shall return to his family. |
| Deuteronomy 32:43 | Rejoice, you nations, with his people, for he will avenge the blood of his servants. He will take vengeance on his adversaries, and will make atonement for his land and for his people. |
| I Kings 21:3 | Naboth said to Ahab, “May Yahweh forbid me, that I should give the inheritance of my fathers to you!” |
| I Chronicles 29:15 | For we are strangers before you and foreigners, as all our fathers were. Our days on the earth are as a shadow, and there is no remaining. |
| II Chronicles 7:20 | then I will pluck them up by the roots out of my land which I have given them; and this house, which I have made holy for my name, I will cast out of my sight, and I will make it a proverb and a byword among all peoples. |
Interlinear and lexical data from STEPBible (CC BY 4.0). Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0). Commentaries are public domain.
For personal reflection
Read the devotional page — prayer, application, and "for families"
What the Commentators Say
9 public-domain commentaries, condensed into plain language.
Adam Clarke's Commentary Methodist/Wesleyan 1826
Clarke emphasizes that because God owned the land and granted it on His terms, the Israelites were reminded they held nothing permanently on earth. This arrangement was designed to keep their hearts fixed on the heavenly inheritance and on the spiritual preparation required to enter it.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible Protestant 1832
Barn
Calvin's Commentaries Reformed 1564
Calvin argues that this law applied only to ancient Israel because the land was divided by God's own hand through Joshua as a permanent sign of the covenant. The restriction prevented the loss of this unique inheritance and cannot be transferred to other nations.
Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges Anglican 1880
The Cambridge Bible Schools commentary notes that this verse resumes the Jubilee regulation after an interruption. The provision prevents permanent land sales; any transfer lasts only until the next Jubilee year, thus ensuring the land cannot be alienated beyond that point.
Geneva Bible Notes Reformed 1599
The Geneva note highlights that land cannot be sold permanently because God himself owns it, and the Israelites are only strangers and sojourners living on his property. This divine ownership grounds the rule that land must return to its original family.
Gill's Exposition of the Bible Baptist 1748
Gill stresses that land in Israel could never be sold absolutely or permanently, only conditionally with a view to the jubilee year. The reason is that God is the true owner of the land, which He chose as His special dwelling and as a figure of the heavenly inheritance. The Israelites were but strangers and sojourners with Him, not absolute proprietors.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Commentary Protestant 1871
JFB stresses that the land belonged to God and was only leased to Israel's families as tenants. They could sell the use of it temporarily in hard times, but the law of redemption and the Jubilee guaranteed the land would eventually return to its original family, making permanent sale impossible.
Matthew Henry's Commentary Reformed/Presbyterian 1710
Henry highlights the underlying principle for all these land laws: God owns the land, and Israel's place in it is as resident aliens. Their perpetual title is not absolute ownership but tenancy under God, which makes the Jubilee restoration of property a lasting reminder of their dependence on Him.
Wesley's Explanatory Notes Methodist/Wesleyan 1754
Wesley stresses that the land ultimately belongs to God; humans merely dwell in it as temporary guests. He interprets the prohibition on permanent land sales as a reminder that no one truly owns the land forever. People may think themselves lords and proprietors, but in reality they are only strangers sojourning for a season.