You asked

how did the agricultural economy of ancient israel create cycles of poverty and debt?

The passage, plainly, with room to sit with it.

Deuteronomy 15:1-2

“At the end of every seven years you shall make a release. This is the manner of the release: every creditor shall release that which he has lent to his neighbor. He shall not exact it of his neighbor and his brother, because Yahweh’s release has been proclaimed.”

This passage is part of Moses' address to the Israelites as they prepare to enter the Promised Land, found in the book of Deuteronomy. It lays out laws for their society, including economic regulations intended to foster justice and prevent lasting poverty.

What systems or practices in our present society might perpetuate cycles of economic hardship, and how might they be addressed?

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Read alongside it

Leviticus 25:8-10
Describes the Jubilee year, a larger-scale release of land and debts every 50 years.
Nehemiah 5:1-7
Illustrates a crisis where people were forced into debt and selling children due to taxes and famine.
Matthew 6:12
Includes the petition 'forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors' in the Lord's Prayer.

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