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Document Details :

Title: The Sabbatical/Jubilee Cycle and the Seven-Year Famine in Egypt
Author(s): CARMICHAEL, Calum
Journal: Biblica
Volume: 80    Issue: 2   Date: 1999   
Pages: 224-239
DOI: 10.2143/BIB.80.2.3200561

Abstract :
The comparative method is of limited value in locating the Sabbatical/Jubilee cycle of Leviticus 25 within the framework of similar institutions in the ancient Near East. Not only is the character of the biblical institution distinctively Israelite, but so is the manner in which the Levitical lawgiver devised the entire cycle. The lawgiver formulated rules to ensure that the Israelites do not do what the Egyptians did in their land (Lev 18,3). Borrowing details from the Genesis account of the seven-year famine in Egypt, the lawgiver set out Yahweh’s scheme for his people’s welfare. The scheme stands opposed to the pharaoh’s for the Egyptians at the time of the famine.

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