29 'Likewise, if a man sells a dwelling house in a walled city , then his redemption right remains valid until a full year from its sale ; his right of redemption lasts a full year . 30 'But if it is not bought back for him within the space of a full year , then the house that is in the walled city passes permanently to its purchaser throughout his generations ; it does not revert in the jubilee . 31 'The houses of the villages , however, which have no surrounding wall shall be considered as open fields ; they have redemption rights and revert in the jubilee . 32 'As for cities of the Levites , the Levites have a permanent right of redemption for the houses of the cities which are their possession . 33 'What , therefore, belongs to the Levites may be redeemed and a house sale in the city of this possession reverts in the jubilee , for the houses of the cities of the Levites are their possession among the sons of Israel . 34 ' But pasture fields of their cities shall not be sold , for that is their perpetual possession .
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Leviticus 25:29-34
Commentary on Leviticus 25:23-34
(Read Leviticus 25:23-34)
If the land were not redeemed before the year of jubilee, it then returned to him that sold or mortgaged it. This was a figure of the free grace of God in Christ; by which, and not by any price or merit of our own, we are restored to the favour of God. Houses in walled cities were more the fruits of their own industry than land in the country, which was the direct gift of God's bounty; therefore if a man sold a house in a city, he might redeem it only within a year after the sale. This encouraged strangers and proselytes to come and settle among them.