And you shall hallow the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof: it shall be a jubilee unto you; and you shall return every man unto his possession, and you shall return every man unto his family.
Read Chapter 25
Basil the Great
AD 379
Seven weeks of years in ancient times produced the celebrated jubilee, in which the earth kept the sabbath, debts were canceled, slaves were set free and, as it were, a new life was established again, the old one in a certain way attaining its fulfillment in the number seven. These things are figures of this present age which revolves through the seven days and passes us by; an age in which the penalties for the lesser sins are paid according to the loving care of the good Lord, so that we may not be handed over for punishment in the age without end.
We read in the law that the fiftieth year was ordered to be designated as a jubilee (that is, a [year for] releasing or exchanging), in which the whole people should rest from all cultivation of the land and everyone’s debts should be canceled. And we know that in the New Testament the grace of the Holy Spirit came upon the apostles on the day of Pentecost (that is, the fiftieth day of the Lord’s resurrection) and hallowed the beginnings of the church that was being brought into existence by its coming. It is agreed then that by this number can rightly be figured either the grace of the Holy Spirit or the joy of future blessedness, to which one is brought through the gift of the same Spirit and in the perception of which alone is true rest and joy.
In the law the fiftieth year was ordered to be called [the year] of jubilee, that is, “forgiving” or “changed.” During it the people were to remain at rest from all work, the debts of all were to be canceled, slaves were to go free [and] the year itself was to be more notable than other years because of its greater solemnities and divine praises. Therefore by this number is rightly indicated that tranquility of greatest peace when, as the apostle says, at the sound of the last trumpet “the dead will rise and we shall be changed” into glory. Then, when the labors and hardships of this age come to an end and our debts, [that is] all our faults, have been forgiven, the entire people of the elect will rejoice eternally in the sole contemplation of the divine vision. And that most longedfor command of our Lord and Savior will be fulfilled: “Be still, and see that I am God.”
The number of this psalm is not without reason. It has reference to the year of the jubilee, which among the Jews dissolved old contracts and obligations and which in Leviticus the Lord ordered all dwellers on earth to call the year of remission. The number also refers to Pentecost, when after the Lord’s ascension the Holy Spirit came on the apostles, working miracles and imparting the gift of charisms. So too this psalm, which is given the number , if recited with a pure heart, looses sins, cancels the bond of our debt and, like the year of remission, frees us through the Lord’s kindness of the debts of our sins. Exposition of the Psalms , conclusion.
Remission; that is, a general release and discharge from debts and bondage, and a reinstating of every man in his former possessions. (Challoner)
Jubilee: Hebrew jubol means "liberty "(Josephus); "re-establishment "(Philo); (Calmet)
"deliverance "(Abenezra). The Rabbins falsely assert, that a ram's horn was used on this occasion: but Bo chart shows that it is solid and unfit for the purpose. (B. ii. 42.) They also maintain, that from the 1st of this sacred month, as it is called by Philo, till the 10th, the slaves spent their time in continual rejoicings in their master's house, and on the latter day they were set free. Cunæus (Rep., i. 6,) observes, that the jubilee was discontinued after the captivity, though the sabbatic year was still kept. (Calmet)
Indeed the Jews were often very negligent in these respects, and God complained and punished them for it, chap. xxvii. 32.; The avarice of the great ones chiefly caused these wise regulations to be despised, though, from time to time...
