The Jubilee from Leviticus to Qumran
Abstract
The observation of the Jubilee Year 2000 by many Christian groups worldwide generated renewed interest in the theological, historical, and socio-economic aspects of the biblical jubilee. This book begins with an analysis of the historical origins of the jubilee institution in ancient Israel, and then traces the reinterpretation of the jubilee and the text of Leviticus 25 through the Old Testament, the Second Temple literature, and the Qumran documents. It demonstrates that, with the passage of time, the socio-economic implementation of the jubilee is increasingly de-emphasized in favor of an eschatological interpretation, in which the jubilee itself functions as a type of the final age, and cycles of jubilee years are employed to calculate when this age will arrive.
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The period of 'seventy sevens' seems to draw on the chronological scheme of the jubilee.
“It has long been noticed that, like the many other second temple Jewish texts that organise history according to jubilee cycles, 68 the period of 'seventy sevens' seems to draw on the chronological scheme of the jubilee.”
From Melchizedek, the Son of Man, and Eschatological Jubilee: The Sin-Forgiving Messiahs in 11QMelchizedek and Mark (2023) · cites this paper as Bergsma 2007
The conflation between jubilee and the shemittah year is attested in other contemporary Jewish authors, including possibly the Septuagint.
“This conflation between jubilee )יובל( and the shemittah year )שמטה( is attested in other contemporary Jewish authors, including possibly the Septuagint”
From Melchizedek, the Son of Man, and Eschatological Jubilee: The Sin-Forgiving Messiahs in 11QMelchizedek and Mark (2023) · cites this paper as Bergsma (2007: 281)
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- Authors
- Bergsma, J.
- Corresponding author
- Bergsma, John
- Venue
- BRILL eBooks
- Publisher
- BRILL
- Published
- 2007-01-01
- OpenAlex
- W4254972927
- Semantic Scholar
- 721600d36cd79dc7f546bb63a13bc035d300e362
- Cited by
- 59
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2026: 22 · 2024: 2 · 2023: 2 · 2022: 2 · 2021: 24 · 2020: 1 · 2019: 2 · 2018: 1 · 2014: 1 · 2013: 1
- FWCI
- 0.00
- Type
- book
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- BRILL eBooks (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Religious studies › Biblical Studies and Interpretation
- Social Sciences › Political Science and International Relations › Religion, Theology, History, Judaism, Christianity
- Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › History › Reformation and Early Modern Christianity
- Keywords
- jubilee year, Jubilee Year 2000, Leviticus 25, Qumran, Second Temple literature, eschatology, biblical exegesis, ancient Israel
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