Hashem promised that, in the sixth year, the land would bring forth more grain than usual, enough to sustain the people for thee years.
Sources:Standard interpretation
Shemittah as a test of faith? - Since this position assumes that the people are given supplies of food in advance, it views Shemittah not as a test of faith but as a tool to instill it. The gift of a threefold harvest1 teaches the nation that Hashem always cares for them, leading to dependence on Him.
- Alternatively, Shemittah is not primarily about man's relationship with Hashem at all, but is rather about social justice and providing for the poor. See Purpose of Shemittah for elaboration on both possibilities.
Purpose of blessings – Unlike many other blessings in Tanakh, the blessing of increased produce serves not as a reward for observance, but as a facilitator to ensure it. Recognizing how difficult the commandment would be otherwise, Hashem eased the path to fulfillment. If He had not done so, the mitzvah's goals (in terms of both social justice and dependence on God) could not have been realized.
2 Parallel to manna – The double portion of grain is similar to the double portion of manna that fell before Shabbat. In both cases, Hashem provides before the absence is felt, and a blessing is given before, rather than after, the people observe Hashem's commandment.
"וְכִי תֹאמְרוּ" – Who will ask? According to this position, it is difficult to imagine that in the middle of the sixth year the nation living in Israel would question, "what shall we eat?". By that point they would already have seen that their crops had multiplied and that they had enough to sustain themselves. As such, this approach would instead posit that Hashem is simply preempting a question that might have been asked by the Generation of the Wilderness upon receiving the laws of Shemittah.
3 Accordingly, the words "וְכִי תֹאמְרוּ" should be translated as "lest you say...".
"מַה נֹּאכַל בַּשָּׁנָה הַשְּׁבִיעִת" – This position could explain in two ways why the people are concerned about the seventh rather than eighth year:
- It might say, as the Minchat Yehuda, that the people are questioning not what they will eat the entire seventh year, but what they will eat in the second half of the seventh year, by which point they would normally be eating from the harvest of the seventh year.
- Alternatively, it could follow the explanation of Abarbanel who proposes to repunctuate the verse, placing a pause after the words, "מַה נֹּאכַל" rather than after "בַּשָּׁנָה הַשְּׁבִיעִת".4 As such, the verse reads: "If you say: 'What shall we eat [in subsequent years]? [After all] in the seventh year we will neither sow nor harvest!?'"
Evaluating the question – This position views the question of "what shall we eat" as a legitimate and natural concern to which Hashem responds by reassuring the people.
Why did the people not observe Shemittah? It is possible that despite being provided for, people were still anxious lest something happened to the stored crop. Alternatively, greed set in and they simply wanted to reap more.
Although the amount harvested in the sixth year would be no different from in any other year, Hashem promised that it would last longer. The same amount of grain would nourish the people for three years instead of the usual one.
Shemittah as a test of faith – According to this approach, observing Shemittah is an extremely demanding test of faith, as the nation neither receives nor sees a double portion in advance. Rather, they must trust that Hashem will make the regular produce of the sixth year go further. See
Purpose of Shemittah for other ways in which the commandment leads to recognition of and belief in Hashem.
Parallel to manna – The Keli Yekar compares the mitzvah of Shemittah to the test of the manna in which the Children of Israel could not hoard for the long term, but needed to have daily faith that Hashem would continue to provide for them.
Purpose of blessings – According to this approach, it is possible that the blessing was limited to those who observed Shemittah, while the crops of people who did not keep the laws might not have lasted longer than normal. If so, this blessing is similar to many others and comes as a reward for following Hashem's commands.
"וְכִי תֹאמְרוּ" – Who will ask? The Keli Yekar assumes that Hashem is anticipating the anxieties of those living in Israel when the Shemittah year approaches. Since the sixth year's harvest was not noticeably different from previous years, the people would naturally be concerned about how they would survive in subsequent years. Thus, according to him, "וְכִי תֹאמְרוּ" means, "when you will ask."
"מַה נֹּאכַל בַּשָּׁנָה הַשְּׁבִיעִת" – The Keli Yekar offers two ways to understand why the people question the lack of food in the seventh rather than eighth year:
5 - He cites Ramban who suggests that one understand the verse as if its order were rearranged (מקרא מסורס), so that it reads: "And if you will say in the seventh year: 'What shall we eat [in subsequent years]'." The Keli Yekar points out that Ramban's reading of the verse is viable only if one assumes that the blessing was hidden and related not to the quantity of the food but to how long it was to last. Otherwise, by the seventh year people would already have known that they were cared for and would have no need to question.
- Alternatively, the Keli Yekar suggests that the people are actually concerned about the seventh year itself. Knowing that they cannot plant, and not seeing anything saved for the next year, would make it difficult to feel satisfied even while they were eating food in the seventh year (אינו דומה מי שיש לו פת בסלו למי שאין לו).6
Evaluating the question – This position views the nation's questioning as an understandable and expected reaction to the daunting task of observing Shemittah.
Why did the people not observe Shemittah? According to this position, Shemittah did require a great amount of faith and was not simple to observe. Thus it is not surprising that the people might have failed to do so.
The blessing differed in accordance with the degree of faith held by the people. Hashem promised that if the nation had enough trust, He would ensure that a regular-sized harvest would be of such quality that it could nourish the nation for three years. However, if the people had doubts, He would increase the quantity of the harvest so they could see with their own eyes that it would suffice.
Shemittah as a measure of faith – According to this position, the people's reaction to the upcoming Shemittah year served as a measure of the people's faith. In certain years, they had sufficient trust to not question their survival, while in other years they asked, "what shall we eat?".
Beginning of textual unit –
Sforno's reading of the verses differs from that of the above commentators in that he begins the unit, not in verse 20, but in verse 18. According to him, the verses present two different scenarios. Verses 18-19 speak of a case in which the people have faith and are thus blessed "וַאֲכַלְתֶּם לָשֹׂבַע", while verses 20-22 refer to a case in which the people are plagued with doubts and are told, "וְעָשָׂת אֶת הַתְּבוּאָה לִשְׁלֹשׁ הַשָּׁנִים".
"וַאֲכַלְתֶּם לָשֹׂבַע" versus "וְעָשָׂת אֶת הַתְּבוּאָה" – Sforno differentiates between these two blessings, suggesting that the former refers to the blessing of quality given to those of faith and the latter to the blessing of quantity to those who doubt. The phrase "וַאֲכַלְתֶּם לָשֹׂבַע" implies that the food eaten will be extra-nourishing, so that the same quantity of grain will be more satisfying, and thus sustain them for longer than usual. The blessing, "וְעָשָׂת אֶת הַתְּבוּאָה לִשְׁלֹשׁ הַשָּׁנִים", in contrast, refers to an extra large crop.
Why two types of blessings? Since a blessing of long-lasting food is not readily apparent, Hashem recognizes that it won't alleviate the concerns of those who lack faith. Such people require the obvious blessing of an extra large harvest.
Parallel to manna – Sforno compares the blessing in which the crops are very nourishing to the manna. Just as in the Wilderness, an omer's worth of manna managed to satisfy an adult as easily as it did a child, so too, a small amount of grain would manage to satiate to the same degree as a larger portion would have.
"וְכִי תֹאמְרוּ" – Who will ask? According to Sforno, it is not evident that everyone will question. As such, he understands the words "וְכִי תֹאמְרוּ" to mean "and if you will say", referring to a scenario in which some people lack faith. Since he maintains that Hashem decides what type of blessing to bestow upon the sixth year's crops based on whether or not the people harbor doubts, he must maintain that the people express this concern before the crops are reaped in the sixth year.
"מַה נֹּאכַל בַּשָּׁנָה הַשְּׁבִיעִת" – Sforno could explain, as the Minchat Yehuda above, that the people are worried about the second half of the seventh year. Since, according to this approach, the people are asking about the lack of food already at the beginning of the sixth year, it is natural that they would be thinking ahead only to the next year, even if though the larger problem is the lack of food in the eighth year.
Nature of the blessing – While the qualitative blessing is a reward for faith,
7 the quantitative blessing is an incentive to facilitate observance. The former is considered a higher form of blessing. It requires no extra work on the part of receiver (neither in extra harvest time nor in finding storage space), and in some ways is more supernatural, as it is a hidden miracle.
Evaluating the question – This position views the question of "what shall we eat" negatively, as betraying a lack of trust. Nonetheless, Hashem, does not consider this as cause for punishment, but rather as a sign that the people need more concrete proof of Hashem's care.
