Exodus 23:9-11 KJV
[9] Also thou shalt not oppress a stranger: for ye know the heart of a stranger, seeing ye were strangers in the land of Egypt. [10] And six years thou shalt sow thy land, and shalt gather in the fruits thereof: [11] But the seventh year thou shalt let it rest and lie still; that the poor of thy people may eat: and what they leave the beasts of the field shall eat. In like manner thou shalt deal with thy vineyard, and with thy oliveyard.
Tecarta Bible
Thanks, I was stumbling along there for a while. Leviticus 25 also discusses it along with the Jubilee. Then there are the seventy weeks of Daniel where 70 x 7 equals 490.
Daniel 9:24 Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy.
Let pass other things for now and try to relate that 490 to the 490 found in Jesus' answer to Peter. There are two words in Hebrew for perfect; actually it's the same word spelled differently --
tmym = 490 -- and with the vowel y tmm = 440.
The 490 variation is more important. I believe a person could be imperfect in 490 ways. Thus we may need to forgiven him that many times was he corrects his flaws one by one. The Jewish idea of repentance is not quite the same as most Christians. For the Jew, true repentance means someone sees how his sin has injured others and himself as well by damaging his relationships with them. If he sees that, really sees it, he regrets it and will not repeat it in the future. It is a matter for rejoicing then.
Indeed the word usually translated as "repent" also is translated as "take comfort" as well.
1Ch 7:22 And Ephraim their father mourned many days, and his brethren came to comfort him.
Jesus connected repentance with rejoicing.
Luke 15:10 Likewise, I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth.
While there is sorrow at first at repentance, that's for the past; and that sorrow turns to gladness, comfort and rejoicing.
I don't mind if someone injures me and regrets it, then comes to tell me he's learned from it. Most of the time, he may have meant to injure me but didn't. If he did truly injure me, I will have to overlook it; and if he's truly sorry, he'll try to fix it. If he stole money from me, he can't say he sorry and keep the money. But when someone offends against me and repents, I'm happy most of the time (and try to be if I'm not). I was used by God to help bring him one step closer to perfection. It didn't really injure me -- even if someone killed me, so what?
Peter's question is slightly misguided then. He's not "rejoicing" when people repent. He's saying he's tired of forgiving others. He wasn't seeing how someone could be used by God to help others perceive their errors. He hadn't perceived yet how people can be blessed when others persecute them and do bad things to them. Peter did learn it; and he was willing to be a martyr for Christ, and I believe that witness of his helped bring many to Christ. I think if we could ask Peter, he'd say it was worth it and he was pleased by it.
Note though if someone keeps offending in the same way again and again, he's not repented fully. He's not learned from his mistakes. The person who says, "I forgive you" to someone like this too many times is sending a wrong message. He should want the other person to see the truth about why his sins are damaging himself and others. I may tell someone I forgive them the first time he does something; but if he does it again and asks for forgiveness, we need to have a conversation about it. "Have you really learned, or do you just want me to say I forgive you because you think I might be angry and want revenge? Or you really sorry, or do you just want to feel I still love you?" It's a struggle with that kind of conversation since I can't read minds or hearts; but my aim in telling someone I forgive him is so he improves and doesn't repeat that mistake. If we can err in 490 ways, I don't want him stuck on just one way. Fix that and move to another mistake that needs fixing.
Back to the word repent in Hebrew now:
In Job, I think it's translated wrong.
Job 42:6 Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes.
I read that cheerfully as, "Wherefore I melt away and find comfort in dust and ashes. The appearance of the LORD in the whirlwind has gladdened him. Earlier, Job said of dust and ashes:
Job 30:9 He hath cast me into the mire,
and I am become like dust and ashes.
20 I cry unto thee, and thou dost not hear me:
I stand up, and thou regardest me not.
21 Thou art become cruel to me:
Man was made of dust, right? Job is worried about that.
Job 14:14 If a man die, shall he live again? all the days of my appointed time will I wait, till my change come.
He has also sat down in ashes.
Job 2:8 And he took him a potsherd to scrape himself withal; and he sat down among the ashes.
Job was righteous even perfect (440 version of the spelling), but that was the earthly type of perfection. Was there anything else, or would he return to dust and ashes and that would be the end of him? Elihu ignited the revelation. Elihu is a variation of Elijah. Elijah came first, and then the LORD. I see it as Pentecost -- 50. The 490 variation spelling of perfection isn't used; but I see it by implication and get it by adding the 440 and 50. Job has his answer. He is not "repenting" of sin in the sense of having iniquity to cast off -- how could that be if we're told he was perfect? Rather now he's finding comfort in the dust and ashes. All his worries that filled him melted away. He is content to live life in the mortal body and has no doubt that all will be well when that mortal body returns to dust. He has the answer to his question if man will live again. Pentecost has truly come.
By the way, I read the book of Job as a prophecy that says something about Israel and the Gentiles. For me, it says something about how Israel and the whole world will reach the perfection of 490.