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Sabbatical Years
How the Jews Commemorated Sabbatical Years
Part 2 Preview: In 11/02 I found an article by James Dwyer entitled Chronology of Jubilees. The purpose of this article is to confirm the date of the Jubilee thru Biblical and historical dating methods. This article is well researched. He estimates, in passing, that the year of Yeshua’s (Jesus’) crucifixion appears to be a Jubilee year 30 AD (His assumption that years began in the “fall”) I do not agree with some of the conclusions on the links provided in this article. For that matter, do I not agree with many things about other sites that I link to, as explained in my Disclaimer. This article was reformatted to conform with my usual style.
The hypothetical chronology of jubilee years (as presented) is made more certain by recorded instances of Sabbatical years (or 7th years) that were celebrated throughout the first-part of the Second-Temple Era. Essentially, the stated chronology seems to well agree with the earliest historical instances of Sabbatical years (as is shown in the subsequent section).
Sabbatical Years
One of the earliest instances of the celebration of a sabbatical year can seemingly be interpreted from a certain passage recorded in the accounts of the Jewish kings. This respective passage indicates that crops were not sown during a certain year (or years).
This indicated time when crops were not sown existed when Jerusalem was shut in by Assyrian armies. At this time, the prophet Isaiah relayed a Supreme promise that the siege would soon be ended—as follows:
... ye shall eat this year such things as grow of themselves, and in the second year that which springeth of the same; and in the third year sow ye, and reap, and plant vineyards, and eat the fruits thereof. (2 Kings 19:29).
Based upon Assyrian records, it appears that the cited siege of Jerusalem did correspond with the third campaign of Sennacherib (in 701 BCE).
The wording of Isaiah’s promise implies that crops were not to be sown in the year of the siege nor in the subsequent year (700 BCE). The specific prediction that crops would not be sown in the impending year could then possibly mean that a Sabbatical year was immediately pending.
As is further shown below, it appears that a Sabbatical year was indeed celebrated from autumn-to-autumn of the year 701-700 BCE.
Another early instance of the celebration of a sabbatical year (prior to the 167 BCE) can possibly be identified from the writings of Ezekiel.
This author shows that calendar intercalation may have occurred between the 5th and 6th year of the captivity.
In Ezekiel, Chapter 1, a date corresponding to the 5th year and 4th month and 5th day of the captivity is listed. In Chapter 8, a subsequent date corresponding to the 6th year and 6th month and 5th day of the captivity is listed. It is ultimately significant that an analysis of Chapter 3:15 and Chapter 4:5-6 indicates that the day count between the recorded dates should have accrued to at least 437 days.
The dates and day counts recorded by the author of Ezekiel tends to indicate that some kind of calendar intercalation was inserted between July-August of 592 BCE and September-October of 591 BCE.
If a jubilee year began or ended in September-October of the year 571, then one of the Sabbatical years leading up to this respective jubilee could have ended in September-October of the year 592 BCE.
The possibility then is that some kind of calendar intercalation may have occurred in association with the occurrence of a 7th year of the jubilee cycle. (For additional information, refer to: ‘A Significant Jubilee Cycle’).
One of the Sabbatical years (perhaps a 7th year of the jubilee cycle) can seemingly be identified from the writings of certain among the early rabbis.
Even through the rabbi sources aren’t in complete agreement, it appears that the First Temple may have been destroyed in a Sabbatical year.
“The First Temple was destroyed ... in the year following the Sabbatical year....” (Ta’anith 29a).
Because Sabbatical years appear to have been reckoned to commence in association with autumn of the year, and because civil years were reckoned to commence in association with spring of the year, the cited Sabbatical year most probably corresponded with 587-586 BCE (reckoned autumn-to-autumn).
Another series of Sabbatical years—that presumably occurred in the original jubilee cycle—can be identified in the era when Ezra the priest and Nehemiah the governor officiated at Jerusalem.
Ezra is indicated to have arrived at the capital city Jerusalem in 457 BCE (the 7th year of Artaxerxes 1).
Because a jubilee year would hypothetically have been celebrated in the year 422-421 BCE (autumn-to-autumn), it is clear that the year when Ezra arrived at Jerusalem (autumn-to-autumn of 458-457 BCE) would have corresponded with a Sabbatical year of the 50-year cycle (the 2nd Sabbatical of the jubilee cycle).
It is of special interest that the year 457 BCE likewise corresponded with the epoch of a 70th year of the kingly cycle as is shown in our online document entitled: ‘The Significance of 70 years’.
The actions of Ezra the priest and Nehemiah the governor can be ultimately constructed from the writings of Josephus, the books of Ezra and Nehemiah, and from the Apocrypha.
The several accounts of the actions of Ezra the priest and Nehemiah the governor all indicate that a special festival was held at the time when Ezra (a ranking priest) read from the books of Moses.
It is here significant—according to a certain passage in the book of Deuteronomy—the law was to be read in public at a certain festival (but only in each 7th year or Sabbatical year).
From the indicated requirement to publicly read the books of Moses in each 7th year, it can be recognized that the time of the priestly reading of the law books corresponded to one of the sets of 7 years (presumably leading up to the celebration of a jubilee year).
The year when this unique festival was held would probably have been the Sabbatical year that ended in autumn of the year 443 BCE (or the 21st year of Artaxerxes I).
Nehemiah is noted to have become governor of Jerusalem in the 20th year of Artaxerxes I. Moses was then read in that year or more probably in the following year—as the book of Nehemiah seems to indicate (refer to Nehemiah, Chapter 8).
A yet additional instance of a Sabbatical year can possibly be identified from those sources that contain accounts of the actions of Ezra the priest and Nehemiah the governor. In ‘Antiquities of the Jews’ (by Josephus), is the description of the celebration of an additional feast.
The version of the actions of Ezra and Nehemiah by Josephus is a bit different from the version shown in the biblical books. The description of Josephus is much more plausible in that his description seems to more properly account for the time that would have been required for Nehemiah to receive the office of governor from Artaxerxes I, travel to Jerusalem, rebuild the walls of the city, and ultimately participate in the celebration of a festival.
Based upon a composite analysis of the diverse accounts of Ezra-Nehemiah, it seems that the above-cited festival (held in 443 BCE) was not a single occurrence. Essentially, two festivals are mentioned in Antiquities, and the occurrence of only one festival is mentioned in Ezra-Nehemiah. The two festivals were obviously celebrated at different times.
Josephus mentioned that Ezra did read the book of Moses at a respective feast. Though the year-date of this respective feast cannot be determined from the Josephus’ record alone, the year-date of this festival can be identified to be in the year 443 BCE (as cited above).
The Josephus account then becomes of special interest in that the observance of a yet subsequent festival (in the 28th year of Artaxerxes) can be identified. The year of this latter feast would then have corresponded to the year 436 BCE.
It is then of large significance that this respective 8-day festival (a second feast) described by Josephus also exactly agrees with the cited jubilee chronology of 50 years.
Thus, from amid the accounts of Ezra the priest and Nehemiah the governor the identification of 3 distinct Sabbatical years can be identified. It is clear that the cited years of 457 BCE, 443 BCE, and 436 BCE did all correspond with Sabbatical years. This respective cluster of Sabbatical years remarkably conforms to a chronological sequence of 7 years. The indicated 7-year sequence exactly agrees with the previously hypothesized jubilee chronology of 50 years.
Some other possible instances of Sabbatical years can be identified from early sources.
In the year 536 BCE, a Persian monarch named Cyrus is indicated to have issued a significant decree to rebuild the Temple at Jerusalem (refer to 2 Chronicles 36:22 and Ezra 1:1).
Most scholars agree that the decree to rebuild the Temple was issued when Cyrus ascended to the throne over the Chaldeans in 536 BCE.
It is thus significant that the year 536 (when the decree to rebuild the Temple was issued) corresponded with a Sabbatical year (as reckoned from autumn of the year 537).
An instance of an early celebrated Sabbatical year can be recited from ‘Antiquities of the Jews’—as follows:
“... they [the Samaritans] petitioned that he [King Alexander] would remit the tribute of the seventh year to them because they did not sow thereon” (Book 11, 8:6).
Alexander the Great assumed control of Judea in the year 331-330 BCE. Thus, it would appear from the quoted passage that a Sabbatical year was in close proximity. (Most probably, the epoch of the cited 7th year did commence with autumn of the year 330 BCE—as is further shown below).
Another instance of an early celebrated Sabbatical year is noted to have occurred in the 150th year of the Seleucid Era. (The celebration of this respective Sabbatical year is mentioned in both the book of ‘Antiquities of the Jews’, and also in the books of the Maccabees).
The equivalency of the 150th year Seleucid to modern dating depends upon the epoch of Seleucid chronology (which apparently began in the autumn of the year 312 BCE). Thus, 150 years from the epoch (312-311 BCE) is equivalent to the year 162-161 BCE (autumn-to-autumn). The problem here is that 162-161 BCE doesn’t quite align with 7-year chronology (as it was reckoned in the late Second-Temple Era after 135 BCE).
Because the noted Sabbatical year should either exactly align with subsequent 7-year chronology, or perhaps exceed it by the distance of 1 year earlier, it is rather evident that the noted Sabbatical year should minimally have been celebrated in the year 163-162 BCE.
In this respective Sabbatical year (163-162 BCE), the high priest had been deposed (167 BCE) but the Maccabees had not yet ascended to the office of the high priest (160 BCE). Therefore, the method by which this respective Sabbatical year was reckoned could have been by the old-style jubilee-year determination. (Note that in the year 163-162 BCE, the new dynasty of ruling priests had not yet officially ascended into office).
It is then rather significant that this respective Sabbatical year (perhaps celebrated in about 163-162 BCE) may have been transitional in that a jubilee year had probably been celebrated prior to it. As such, the approximate year of 163 could have been a 7th year (amid the 7 sets of 7 years that pertained to the ancient jubilee-year count).
As is shown in ‘The Significance of 70 years’, the epoch of a 70th year would have occurred in the year 177-176 BCE (reckoned from spring-to-spring). This indicates that the year 163-162 BCE (spring-to-spring) also equated to a 7th year of the once reckoned kingly cycle of 70 years.
From this indicated close coincidence of both chronologies (priestly and kingly), it can ultimately be recognized that the cited Sabbatical year could have been celebrated beginning with the autumn season of the year (perhaps with autumn of the year 164 BCE).
According to the rabbis, the original ‘king’s year’ (or the year of the Jewish kings) was oriented to begin with the spring season of the year. The Sabbatical year was different in that the year-of-release was celebrated beginning with the fall season of the year.
[I believe that altho the Day of Atonement was a special day during the year of the Jubilee, it was not the first day of the year. The applicable scripture is Leviticus 25:9-10. Lon]
The real reason the Sabbatical year was celebrated in the 150th year of the Seleucid Era (or in a year later than other instances of Sabbatical years indicate) was probably due to Greek influence. It appears from the accounts of the Maccabees that for two or three years prior to 150 BCE the Greeks had prohibited the Jews from practicing their custom of celebrating a scheduled Sabbatical year. The required celebration may consequently have been deferred throughout Judea until the yoke of the Greeks was ultimately thrown off.
The Sabbatical year—when it’s observance was resumed—was consequently celebrated a year or two behind the original jubilee schedule. As a consequence of the cited Greek interference, the originally scheduled Sabbatical year can ultimately be deduced to have probably occurred either a half year (or one year and a half) ahead of the 150th year.
This ultimately means that the Sabbatical year (of the original jubilee schedule) was probably scheduled to be celebrated beginning with autumn of the year 165 BCE—or with autumn of the year 164 BCE. (Due to the influence of the Greeks, this year was not celebrated according to it’s official schedule).
Once the Maccabees ascended to the office of high priest (and king) in 160 BCE, the celebration of the jubilee year (or the 50th year) was thereafter abandoned. Instead, a version of the original king’s 70-year schedule was then (and thereafter) used to determine and define the occurrence of Sabbatical years.
It is of special interest that the year in which Jesus was crucified could have corresponded with the time of a jubilee year. In fact, there are passages in the New Testament from which it can be inferred that Jesus’ ministry coincided with the time of a jubilee year.
The book of Luke recounts that Jesus was sent to release captives in association with an acceptable year (refer to Luke 4:18-19). If the ministry of Jesus closely preceded the 49th year of the original jubilee cycle, then the duration of the ministry (at least 3 years) would have overlapped both a Sabbatical year (or the 49th year) and well as the jubilee year (or the 50th year).
The time of the death of Jesus positively indicates that the crucifixion could have occurred in a 50th year. If Jesus was crucified in spring of the year 30 CE then it appears that the crucifixion occurred in the very middle of a jubilee year of the once celebrated cycle. (Here it seems pertinent to take into account that jubilees were not officially celebrated in the time of Jesus).
Josephus wrote of a great cycle of 600 years (refer to Antiquities, 1, 3:9). (Note that this ‘great cycle’ is equal to 12 jubilee cycles). It is here of special interest that both the jubilee year of 572-571 BCE (the time of Ezekiel’s vision) and the jubilee year of 29-30 CE (the time after the crucifixion) may have both occurred in alignment with a revolution of this respective long-time-cycle of 600 years. (Note that year zero corresponds to year 1 CE when computing time spans that extend into the Common Era).
Conclusions
The following instances of 7th years in the once observed jubilee cycle can explicitly and implicitly be identified from various ancient sources: 701-700 BCE, 587-586 BCE, 537-536 BCE, 458-457 BCE, 444-443 BCE, 437-436 BCE, 330-329 BCE, and 165-164 BCE.
If these several instances of 7th years were all projected and condensed as occurring in or after the middle of the pivotal Second Century BCE, then the following years would pertain to Sabbatical years: 187-186 BCE, 165-164 BCE, 158-157 BCE, 144-143 BCE, 137-136 BCE, 130-129 BCE, and 101-100 BCE
In addition to the cited string of Sabbaticals, the epoch of a jubilee year (the 50th year) can be recited to have ultimately occurred in the year 572-571 BCE, again in the year 522-521, and perhaps yet again in 29-30 CE.
If these three instances of jubilee years (or 50th years) and these eight related instances of Sabbaticals are condensed and projected into a single 50-year span (for the jubilee cycle extending from 172 BCE to 122 BCE) then the following chronology is indicated:
From the cited projection of jubilee years (or 50th years) and Sabbaticals into the pivotal Second Century, the original jubilee schedule ultimately becomes manifest. Historical cases can be recited for both jubilee years and for each of six Sabbatical years.
Because the location of both of the jubilee years (or 50th years) in 177-176 BCE and 122-121 BCE are manifest from the cited historical cases, the instances of all the intervening Sabbaticals are easy to verify.
It is significant that all of the early historical cases of Sabbaticals and jubilees (12 in total) closely agree in aligning with an arrangement of 7 sets of 7 years (plus a 50th year). From amid the string of identifiable cases it doesn’t seem feasible that a jubilee year (or a 50th year) could have been celebrated in any other year than the year 172-171 BCE.
These historical cases and their satisfactory chronological agreement with a cycle of 50 years then prove that only the year 172-171 BCE (probably reckoned from the autumn) did correspond with the occurrence of a jubilee year. Likewise, the year 122-121 (if it was celebrated) would have corresponded with the occurrence of a jubilee year.
Because the several instances of Sabbaticals and jubilee years are spaced throughout a wide number of centuries, it is clear that the cited 50th year was routinely reckoned—two times in each century.
The last time a jubilee year was officially celebrated in Judea may then have been as late as the year 122-121 BCE—and certainly no later. If not as late as the year 122-121 BCE, then a jubilee year was surely celebrated prior to the time of the Jewish revolt. From this premise, it can be concluded that a jubilee year certainly was celebrated in Judea in the year 172-171 BCE (probably reckoned from autumn of the year).
It is remarkable that the visions of the Temple (received by Ezekiel) and the messages of the new Temple (received by Haggai and Zechariah) were all received in correspondence with the epoch of a jubilee year.
If a jubilee year was celebrated in this modern era—as a projection of jubilees celebrated in the Temple Era—it is probable that the next jubilee year would correspond to the year 2029-2030 (reckoned from the autumn). However, due to some uncertainty inherent in the assumptions currently made and due to the antiquity of the cited source material, the current analysis should be considered to be very speculative.
Celebration of 50 Years is of primary importance to anyone who wants to know about the 49 year (solely Sabbatical) or 50 year (Jubilee) controversy.
