Study Arakhin folio 33A with parallel Hebrew-English text, traditional commentary, and modern study tools. Free access to Babylonian Talmud online.
Text Excerpt
הניחא לרבנן דאמרי: שנת חמשים אינה מן המנין, אלא לרבי יהודה דאמר: שנת חמשים עולה לכאן ולכאן, למה לי? בשמיטין סגיא! הא ודאי דלא כרבי יהודה.
The Talmud objects: This works out well according to the Rabbis, who say that the 50th year is not included in the counting of the cycle of Sabbatical Years. It was therefore necessary to count the Jubilee Year. But according to R' Yehuda, who says that the 50th year is counted for here and for there, i.e., it is both the 50th year of the previous cycle and the 1st year of the subsequent cycle, why do I need for them to count the Jubilee Years? If the Jubilee Year is not in effect, then it is enough to count the Sabbatical Years. The Talmud explains: That baraita is certainly not in accordance with the opinion of R' Yehuda.
ולא מנו שמיטין ויובלות? והכתיב: ״מקץ שבע שנים תשלחו איש את אחיו העברי אשר ימכר לך״!
The Talmud asks: And did they not count Sabbatical Years and Jubilee Years once the tribes of Reuben and Gad and half the tribe of Manasseh were exiled? But isn’t it written that Jeremiah, who lived many years later, said: “At the end of 7 years you should let go every man his brother that is a Hebrew, that has been sold to you, and has served you 6 years, you should let him go free from you; but your fathers did not listen to Me, nor inclined their ear” (Jeremiah 34:14)?
והוינן בהו: ״מקץ שבע שנים״? והכתיב: ״ועבדך שש שנים״! ואמר רב נחמן בר יצחק: שש לנמכר, ושבע לנרצע.
The Talmud continues: And we discussed this verse: Why does it state: “At the end of 7 years you should let go every man”? But isn’t it written in the same verse: “And has served you 6 years”? And Rav Naḥman bar Yitzḥak says: The verse is referring to two separate individuals. The phrase “and has served you 6 years” is referring to a typical Hebrew slave who was sold, who goes free after 6 years (see Exodus 21:2), and the phrase “at the end of 7 years” is referring to a slave whose ear was pierced with an awl to extend his tenure. Such an individual remains a slave until the Jubilee Year, even if that is the following year, i.e., the end of the 7th year. If so, the verse indicates that the Jubilee Year was in effect in the times of Jeremiah, even though the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and half the tribe of Manasseh were exiled.