Shemittah
/ʃəˈmiːtə/noun
In Jewish law, the sabbatical year occurring every seventh year, traditionally involving agricultural rest and the remission of certain debts.
Did you know?The Hebrew Bible connects Shemittah with both letting farmland lie fallow and releasing debts, making it a rare ritual system linking ecology with economic mercy.
Etymological Timeline
Biblical Hebrew
Hebrew
שְׁמִטָּה (shəmīṭṭāh)
“Release, remission, or letting something drop”
7th Century BCE or earlier
Hebrew
שָׁמַט (shāmaṭ)
“To let fall, drop, release, or relinquish”
6th–5th Century BCE
Biblical Hebrew
שְׁמִטַּת כֶּסֶף (shəmiṭṭat kesef)
“The release or remission of monetary debts”
Late Second Temple period
Greek
σαββατισμός (sabbatismós)
“A sabbath observance or period of sabbatical rest; a related translation tradition, not the direct root of Shemittah”
Medieval Hebrew and Rabbinic usage
Hebrew
שמיטה (shmittah)
“The seventh-year agricultural rest and legal remission of debts”
Modern English
English
Shemittah
“The Jewish sabbatical year, also spelled Shmita or Shemitah”