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Sabbatical year

Original Hebrew / Aramaic / Greek connected to this term

How to read this: there is rarely one magic “true meaning” hidden behind an English word. A lexicon records a word’s semantic range. The intended meaning is narrowed by grammar, sentence, author, historical usage and context.

GREEK · G1763

ἐνιαυτός

eniautos — year

ἐνιαυτός, -oῦ, ὁ [in LXX for שָׁנֶה ;] 1. prop., a cycle of time. 2. = ἔτος, a year: Jhn.11:49, 51 18:13, Act.11:26 18:11, Jas.5:17, Rev.9:15; pl., of sabbatical years, Gal.4:10; ποιεῖν ἐ., to spend a year, Jas.4:13;ἅπαξ τοῦ ἐ., Heb.9:7; κατ᾽ ἐ., Heb.9:25 10:1, 3; ἐ. δεκτόν, Luk.4:19 (LXX).† (AS)

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HEBREW / ARAMAIC · H7677

שַׁבָּתוֹן

shab.ba.ton — sabbath observance

1) Sabbath observance, sabbatism 1a) of weekly sabbath 1b) day of atonement 1c) sabbatical year 1d) of Feast of Trumpets 1e) of the 1st and last days of the Feast of Tabernacles

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Historical dictionary entry

Every seventh year, during which the land, according to the law of Moses, had to remain uncultivated (Lev. 25:2-7; comp. Ex. 23:10, 11, 12; Lev. 26:34, 35). Whatever grew of itself during that year was not for the owner of the land, but for the poor and the stranger and the beasts of the field. All debts, except those of foreigners, were to be remitted (Deut. 15:1-11). There is little notice of the observance of this year in Biblical history. It appears to have been much neglected (2 Chr. 36:20, 21).

Scripture references

Source: Easton’s Bible Dictionary (1897). Historical dictionary wording reflects the scholarship and language of its era.

Compare other reference traditions

Look up Sabbatical year in Smith’s Bible Dictionary and ISBE →