ABSTRACT
This chapter divides into three parts: the law of the Sabbatical year (verses 2–7), the Jubilee (50th year, after seven Sabbatical cycles; verses 8–22), and laws governing the sale of land in between the Jubilee periods (verses 23–55). Unlike Deut 15 ( A5 ), the purpose of the Sabbatical year is not for the release of debts but rather for letting the land go fallow. The release from debt now occurs during the Jubilee. During the Second Temple period, when the notion of a debt became a common metaphor for sin, the occasion of the Jubilee came to be considered a moment for the forgiveness of sins as well.
