Year, Sabbatical. Every seventh year all agricultural labor was suspended, and spontaneous productions were left to the poor, the traveller, and the wild beasts. Leviticus 25:1-7. This was (1) for the sake of the ground; (2) for the preservation of wild beasts; and (3) to make the people provident and sensible of dependence. The people could fish, hunt, take care of bees and flocks, repair buildings, manufacture clothes, and carry on commerce. This year was religiously observed. Deuteronomy 31:10-13. There was, moreover, a general release; no debt to a Jew was allowed to stand, but must be forgiven. Deuteronomy 15:1-11.