Jubilee Day!!! :D

Jubilee (Biblical)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Jubilee (Hebrew Yovel יובל) year is the year at the end of seven cycles of Sabbatical years (Hebrew Shmita), and according to Biblical regulations had a special impact on the ownership and management of land in the territory of the kingdoms of Israel and of Judah; there is some debate whether it was the 49th year (the last year of seven sabbatical cycles, referred to as the Sabbath's Sabbath), or whether it was the following 50th year. The English term Jubilee derives from the Hebrew term yobel (via Latin Jubilaeus), which in turn derives from yobhel, meaning ram;[1] the Jubilee year was announced by a blast on an instrument made from a ram's horn, during that year's Yom Kippur.[2] J.P.Mallory and D.Q. Adams proposed an alternative etymology of the Latin jubilo (meaning shout, as well as Middle Irish ilach victory cry, New English yowl, Greek iuzo shout), being derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *yu- shout for joy [3], effectively making the Hebrew term a mere borrowing from neighboring Indo-European languages. The biblical rules concerning Sabbatical years (shmita) are still observed by many religious Jews in the State of Israel...

The biblical regulations go on to specify that the price of land had to be proportional to how many years remained before the Jubilee, with land being cheaper the closer it is to the Jubilee.

There is, of course, an alternative account of when counting started: at the entry into the land. This follows from a straightforward reading of the relevant text in Leviticus:

The Lord then spoke to Moses at Mount Sinai, saying, "Speak to the sons of Israel, and say to them, 'When you come into the land which I shall give you, then the land shall have a sabbath to the Lord. Six years you shall sow your field, and six years you shall prune your vineyard and gather in its crop, but during the seventh year the land shall have a sabbath rest, a sabbath to the Lord…You are also to count off seven sabbaths of years for yourself, seven times seven years, so that you have the time of the seven sabbaths of years, namely, forty-nine years. You shall then sound a ram's horn abroad on the tenth day of the seventh month; on the day of atonement you shall sound a horn all through your land. You shall thus consecrate the fiftieth year and proclaim a release through the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee for you (Leviticus 25:1-4, 8-10)

Biblical scholars argue that the Jubilee is an obvious development of the Sabbatical year.[11] Rather than waiting for the 50th or 49th year, the Deuteronomic code requires that slaves be liberated during their 7th year of service,[31] as does the Covenant Code,[32] which some textual scholars regard as pre-dating the Holiness Code;[33] the Book of Ezekiel, which some textual scholars also regard as earlier than the Holiness Code, refers to a year of liberty (שנת דרור), during which property is returned to the original owner (or their heirs),[34] but the word דרור is used by Jeremiah to describe the release of slaves during the Sabbatical year..

According to the theories of Julius Wellhausen and others who have followed his approach, the Biblical chapters that contain the Jubilee and Sabbatical-year legislation (chapters 25 and 27 of Leviticus) were part of the so-called "P" or Priestly Code that represented the last stage in the development of Israel's religion..

In addition, Bergsma shows that the problem that this legislation was addressing was a problem recognized by the kings of Babylon in the second millennium BC, which naturally suggests the possibility of a much earlier date of codification. These Babylonian kings (to whom could be added Ammizaduga[42]) occasionally issued decrees for the cancellation of debts and/or the return of the people to the lands they had sold. Such "clean slate" decrees were intended to redress the tendency of debtors, in ancient societies, to become hopelessly in debt to their creditors, thus accumulating most of the arable land into the control of a wealthy few. The decrees were issued sporadically. Economist Michael Hudson has maintained that the Biblical legislation of the Jubilee and Sabbatical years addressed the same problems encountered by these Babylonian kings, but the Biblical formulation of the laws presented a significant advance in justice and the rights of the people. This was due to the "clean slates" now being codified into law, rather than relying on the whim of the king. Furthermore, the regular rhythm of the Sabbatical and Jubilee years meant that everyone would know when the next release was due, thereby giving fairness and equity to both creditor and debtor.[43][44] Hudson therefore maintains that not only was the Levitical legislation a significant advance over the prior attempts to deal with indebtedness, but this legislation was also eminently practical, in contradiction to many Biblical interpreters who are not economists and who have labeled it "utopian."

The Bible argues that the Jubilee existed because the land was the possession of YHWH, and its current occupiers were merely aliens or tenants, and therefore the land shouldn't be sold forever;[45] however, Midrashic sources argue that the jubilee was created to preserve the original division of land between the Israelite tribes,[46] as evidenced by the rabbinical tradition that the Jubilee should not be imposed until the Israelites were in control of Canaan.[7] The Bible also states that the Israelites were the servants of YHWH,[47] which classical rabbis took as justification for the manumission of indentured Israelite servants at the Jubilee, using the argument that no man should have two masters, and thus as the servants of YHWH, the Israelites shouldn't also be the servants of men.