>>> Hey guys--I have been on both sides of this argument.
Is the Jubilee cycle a 50 year cycle or 49 year cycle?
I believe the answer is clear and lies in Lev 25:3-4:
You shall sow your field six years, and you shall prune your vineyard six years, and shall gather its produce. (4) And in the seventh year shall be a sabbath of rest to the land, a sabbath to YHWH. You shall not sow your field, and you shall not prune your vineyard.
If you begin a 49-year cycle with the Jubilee, then because of the prohibiitions in the Jubilee year, you cannot "sow your field six years and prune your vineyard six years" in that first set of years. You would only be able to do that for five years during the first seven years--because the first year would be a Jubilee and the last year would be a land sabbath.
That doesn't make sense and it is not in keeping with YHWH's symmetry. He would not make a rule we cannot follow.
The Jubilee cycle is 50 years, not 49.
Blessings,
Mary Ames=======Mary,All of Leviticus 25 covers the laws of the Jubilee years, not just verses 3 & 4. In verse 20,21,22; God promises enough in the 6th year of the 7th cycle for three years which will last until the 9th year, v22. Therefore, there are provision for sowing only 5 years. That which is sowed in the 5th year is reaped in the 6th year and it is triple.The regular 6th year provided enough for two years, whereas the 48th year (6X7+6) provided triple provisionsI very respectfully believe you are pulling v3-4 out of context. All of Lev 25 is below and highlighted.<><Lev 25:1And the LORD spake unto Moses in mount Sinai, saying,2Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye come into the land which I give you, then shall the land keep a sabbath unto the LORD.
3Six years thou shalt sow thy field, and six years thou shalt prune thy vineyard, and gather in the fruit thereof;
4But in the seventh year shall be a sabbath of rest unto the land, a sabbath for the LORD: thou shalt neither sow thy field, nor prune thy vineyard.
5That which groweth of its own accord of thy harvest thou shalt not reap, neither gather the grapes of thy vine undressed: for it is a year of rest unto the land.
6And the sabbath of the land shall be meat for you; for thee, and for thy servant, and for thy maid, and for thy hired servant, and for thy stranger that sojourneth with thee.
7And for thy cattle, and for the beast that are in thy land, shall all the increase thereof be meat.
8And thou shalt number seven sabbaths of years unto thee, seven times seven years; and the space of the seven sabbaths of years shall be unto thee forty and nine years.
9Then shalt thou cause the trumpet of the jubile to sound on the tenth day of the seventh month, in the day of atonement shall ye make the trumpet sound throughout all your land.
10And ye shall hallow the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof: it shall be a jubile unto you; and ye shall return every man unto his possession, and ye shall return every man unto his family.
11A jubile shall that fiftieth year be unto you: ye shall not sow, neither reap that which groweth of itself in it, nor gather the grapes in it of thy vine undressed.
12For it is the jubile; it shall be holy unto you: ye shall eat the increase thereof out of the field.
13In the year of this jubile ye shall return every man unto his possession.
14And if thou sell ought unto thy neighbour, or buyest ought of thy neighbour's hand, ye shall not oppress one another:
15According to the number of years after the jubile thou shalt buy of thy neighbour, and according unto the number of years of the fruits he shall sell unto thee:
16According to the multitude of years thou shalt increase the price thereof, and according to the fewness of years thou shalt diminish the price of it: for according to the number of the years of the fruits doth he sell unto thee.
17Ye shall not therefore oppress one another; but thou shalt fear thy God:for I am the LORD your God.
18Wherefore ye shall do my statutes, and keep my judgments, and do them; and ye shall dwell in the land in safety.
19And the land shall yield her fruit, and ye shall eat your fill, and dwell therein in safety.
20And if ye shall say, What shall we eat the seventh year? behold, we shall not sow, nor gather in our increase:
21Then I will command my blessing upon you in the sixth year, and it shall bring forth fruit for three years.
22And ye shall sow the eighth year, and eat yet of old fruit until the ninth year; until her fruits come in ye shall eat of the old store.