Deuteronomy 31:10

31:10 He¹ commanded them: “At the end of seven years, at the appointed time of the cancellation of debts,² at the Feast of Temporary Shelters,³

Deuteronomy 15:2

15:2 This is the nature of the cancellation: Every creditor must remit what he has loaned to another person;⁴ he must not force payment from his fellow Israelite,⁵ for it is to be recognized as “the Lord’s cancellation of debts.”

Deuteronomy 15:9

15:9 Be careful lest you entertain the wicked thought that the seventh year, the year of cancellation of debts, has almost arrived, and your attitude⁶ be wrong toward your impoverished fellow Israelite⁷ and you do not lend⁸ him anything; he will cry out to the Lord against you and you will be regarded as having sinned.⁹

¹tn Heb “Moses.” The pronoun has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons.

²tn The Hebrew term שְׁמִטָּה (shÿmittah), a derivative of the verb שָׁמַט (shamat, “to release; to relinquish”), refers to the procedure whereby debts of all fellow Israelites were to be canceled. Since the Feast of Tabernacles celebrated God’s own deliverance of and provision for his people, this was an appropriate time for Israelites to release one another. See note on this word at Deut 15:1.

³tn The Hebrew phrase הַסֻּכּוֹת[חַג] ([khag] hassukot, “[festival of] huts” [or “shelters”]) is traditionally known as the Feast of Tabernacles. See note on the name of the festival in Deut 16:13.

sn For the regulations on this annual festival see Deut 16:13-15.

⁴tn Heb “his neighbor,” used idiomatically to refer to another person.

⁵tn Heb “his neighbor and his brother.” The words “his brother” may be a scribal gloss identifying “his neighbor” (on this idiom, see the preceding note) as a fellow Israelite (cf. v. 3). In this case the conjunction before “his brother” does not introduce a second category, but rather has the force of “that is.”

⁶tn Heb “your eye.”

⁷tn Heb “your needy brother.”

⁸tn Heb “give” (likewise in v. 10).

⁹tn Heb “it will be a sin to you.”