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Title: The Jubilee
Subtitle: A Post-Exilic Priestly Attempt to Reclaim Lands?
Author(s): BERGSMA, John Sietze
Journal: Biblica
Volume: 84    Issue: 2   Date: 2003   
Pages: 225-246
DOI: 10.2143/BIB.84.2.3194468

Abstract :
The article examines the hypothesis that the jubilee legislation of Lev 25 was a post-exilic attempt on the part of returning Judean exiles — particularly the priests — to provide legal justification for the reclamation of their former lands. This hypothesis is found to be dubious because (1) the jubilee did not serve the interests of the socio-economic classes that were exiled, and (2) Lev 25 does not show signs of having been redacted with the post-exilic situation in mind. A comparison with Ezekiel’s vision of restoration points out the differences between Lev 25 and actual priestly land legislation for the post-exilic period.


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