Deuteronomy 15:2, commentary and pictures

Every seventh year there was a release belonging to the Lord, in which every creditor was to cancel what had been lent to an Israelite neighbor or brother and was not to demand or exact repayment. The release was not optional forbearance but remission of the debt, because it was called the Lord's release. It applied to neighbor and to brother, to fellow Israelite and by extension to fellow believer, requiring the creditor to let the claim go rather than press for payment.

This remission formed part of a system that protected each family's inheritance and kept family land from permanent loss, with the land returning to its original owners in the jubilee year. Its purpose was to guard against extremes of wealth and poverty. The same remission belonged to a wider system of religious giving and care for the poor by which God's claims were kept paramount and property was set apart for Him. Alongside the release stood the letting of the land's produce be available to the needy in the seventh year and the leaving of portions of the harvest for them.

Beyond the tithe, that system included the ransom for the firstborn, firstfruits, corners and gleanings for the destitute, the spontaneous produce of the land in the seventh year for the needy, sacrificial offerings, trespass-offerings, sin-offerings, hospitalities, gifts to the poor, and assessments. Its systematic and regular donations amounted to about one-third of income for religious interests and the poor, required of all in proportion to the amount each possessed, besides special free-will offerings. It calls for awakened generosity in beneficence and for faithful settling of God's claims.

Toward a brother or fellow believer who is unable to pay, mercy, compassion, and tenderness mean doing right by releasing the debt rather than pressing for repayment. Refusing to do so is a grievous wrong with consequences for one's eternal interest.