Jubilee

Leviticus chapters 25, 26, and 27 are not only each explicitly set at Sinai, but are also tied together by a network of Leitwörter, numerical patterns, and unusual forms. Significant is the use of ג.א.ל, “to redeem”—whether of land, houses, persons, or sanctuary dedications—19 times in chapter 25 and 12 times in chapter 27. In contrast, ג.א.ל is entirely absent from the curses and blessings of chapter 26, and its place is taken by ג.ע.ל, “to reject with disgust,” a root that does not appear anywhere else in the Torah.

During the Babylonian siege, while Jeremiah was in King Zedekiah’s prison, he redeems his cousin’s land, upon YHWH’s instruction. The incarcerated prophet thus symbolically enacts the future restoration for the people who will soon be exiled from their land.

Leviticus 25 legislates a multi-tiered system of rights and requirements that act as a corrective to a market in which even human beings can be sold. This system preserves the dignified status of Israelite brothers as free persons with their own ancestral agricultural land, ensuring that no Israelites become a permanent lower class.

Jeremiah 32 describes the prophet’s redemption of his uncle’s ancestral land. The scribal authors turned this transaction into an oracle. Eventually, the passage was expanded to include a prayer in which Jeremiah invokes the exodus from Egypt and the gift of the land. Taken together, the passage inspires hope for exilic Jews that God will redeem their land as well.

A classic example of source criticism applied to Torah legislation.

An attempt to control the disparity between the rich and the poor and create a righteous society

A new insight based on archaeology