Behar–Bechukotai: Leviticus 25:1–27:34

This week’s Torah portion is known as Behar–Bechukotai and covers Leviticus 25:1–27:34. These are the final two Torah portions in the book of Leviticus.

In Leviticus 25, the concept of the Jubilee is introduced as the ultimate expression of God’s sovereignty over the land and time. It functions as a “super-Sabbath,” occurring after seven cycles of seven years.

Moses instructs the nation to count off seven cycles of sabbatical years—seven years seven times. In the fiftieth year, the people are to hallow the Year of Jubilee. During that year, on the Day of Atonement, a shofar is blown all across the land to announce the moment of redemption.
The Jubilee year is defined by three primary mandates that reset the economic and social structure of Israelite society. The most significant aspect of the Jubilee is the restoration of property. In the biblical framework, land could not be sold permanently. Instead, it was leased based on the number of years remaining until the next Jubilee. Families who sold their land due to poverty or debt received it back. The practice reinforced the idea that the land belongs to God. The Israelites were merely tenants or stewards of his property. Any Israelite who had sold himself into servitude to pay off debts was set free. These individuals were permitted to return to their ancestral clans and their own family land. The Jubilee transformed the concept of “ownership” into “stewardship.”

Ask

Transcript

This week’s Torah portion is known as Behar–Bechukotai and covers Leviticus 25:1–27:34. These are the final two Torah portions in the book of Leviticus. In the Jewish liturgical calendar, they are often read together as a double portion.

The word Behar translates to “on the mountain.” It is an abbreviated form of the opening phrase of Leviticus 25:1: “The Lord spoke to Moses on Mount Sinai.” This portion focuses on laws given at Sinai regarding the land of Israel, specifically the Sabbatical year and the Jubilee year. At this point in Leviticus, the people of Israel are still camped at the foot of Mount Sinai. They are a nation-in-waiting, eager to take possession of the land promised to them. Yet, God reminds them, “for the land is mine; with me you are but aliens and tenants” (25:23). Before they fought a single battle, God wanted to remind them that the land is a gift under God’s sovereignty; it was a gift with stipulations.

Shmitah

Once they settled the land, they would begin counting off years. Every seventh year, the land was to observe a sabbatical. The Hebrew word for the land’s sabbatical is shmitah, which means “to release.” During the Sabbath year, the people were forbidden from cultivating their fields, pruning their vineyards, or reaping their crops. While the land rested, farmers ceased all cultivation. The land’s natural produce became free for anyone—including the poor and wild animals. 

The purpose of the land sabbatical was also a matter of teaching God’s people reliance. The people asked Moses, “If we do not sow or gather in our crop, what shall we eat in the seventh year?” (25:20). But God assured them that he would provide enough of a harvest in the sixth year to last two additional years, both the year of the shmitah and the eighth year. Although the daily miracle of manna in the desert was set to expire, they would still witness God’s miraculous provision every sabbatical year. In the biblical framework, shmitah reminds them that the land belongs to God, not the people. It forces a break from the pursuit of profit and encourages a communal reliance on the land’s natural abundance, which is a gift of God and not just a reward for work ethic.

While the commandment is a religious and social statute, it functions as an ancient form of sustainable agriculture. The practice aligns with several modern ecological principles. By letting the land lie fallow, the soil undergoes a period of natural restoration. Continuous farming depletes essential minerals. A fallow year allows organic matter to decompose and replenish these nutrients. Because the land is not weeded or manicured during shmitah, native plant species often return. This supports local pollinators and creates a more resilient ecosystem.

Jubilee

In Leviticus 25, the concept of the Jubilee is introduced as the ultimate expression of God’s sovereignty over the land and time. It functions as a “super-Sabbath,” occurring after seven cycles of seven years.

Moses instructs the nation to count off seven cycles of sabbatical years—seven years seven times. In the fiftieth year, the people are to hallow the Year of Jubilee. During that year, on the Day of Atonement, a shofar is blown all across the land to announce the moment of redemption.

The Jubilee year is defined by three primary mandates that reset the economic and social structure of Israelite society. The most significant aspect of the Jubilee is the restoration of property. In the biblical framework, land could not be sold permanently. Instead, it was leased based on the number of years remaining until the next Jubilee. Families who sold their land due to poverty or debt received it back. The practice reinforced the idea that the land belongs to God. The Israelites were merely tenants or stewards of his property. Any Israelite who had sold himself into servitude to pay off debts was set free. These individuals were permitted to return to their ancestral clans and their own family land. The Jubilee transformed the concept of “ownership” into “stewardship.”

With the blowing of the shofar on the Day of Atonement, debt was canceled and slaves were set free. Leviticus states: “Proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants” (25:10 ). This verse is most famously known in American history for its inscription on the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia. The Liberty Bell was originally commissioned to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of Pennsylvania’s constitution. Although it hung in the State House during the founding of the country, the abolitionist movement of the 1830s first named it the Liberty Bell. They seized upon the Leviticus 25:10 inscription as a divine indictment of American slavery. They recognized that the “liberty” promised in the Bible and inscribed on the bell had not yet been extended to “all the inhabitants” of the land.

According to the statutes of Jubilee, every slave is to be released, all debt is forgiven, and all family property is available for redemption. God understood that economic misfortune happened; in many cases, people sold their home, land, or even themselves out of poverty. But God also wanted to create regulations so that the poor and vulnerable could not be exploited. Jubilee ensured that no state of deprivation was permanent or multigenerational. Every fiftieth year, social law provides for a new start at dignity. 

Practicality

The modern State of Israel continues to observe the Sabbatical year, though the Jubilee has not been formally practiced for over 2,000 years. Because these laws involve complex religious, economic, and legal frameworks, their application in a modern sovereign state is a major topic of debate. There is significant discussion regarding the practicality of the shmitah and Jubilee laws, particularly since Israel is once again a nation-state with a global agricultural sector and a modern banking system. While there are rabbinic provisions for keeping the law of shmitah, these generally do not involve banks canceling debts or Galilee farmers letting their fields lie fallow for a year.

The most recent shmitah year began in September 2021, and the next will begin in late 2028. In modern Israel, the law is observed through several different legal mechanisms. To avoid economic collapse, the land is “sold” to a non-Jew for the duration of the year. This allows Jewish farmers to continue working the land under certain conditions, as the land technically no longer “belongs” to a Jewish person during that time. Some strictly observant communities refuse to eat produce grown in Israel during shmitah and instead rely entirely on imports from abroad.

While shmitah is an active part of Israeli life, the Jubilee is not currently observed. According to most rabbinic authorities, the Jubilee is only biblically mandated when all twelve tribes of Israel are living in their designated territories within the land. The practice essentially ceased with the exile of the northern tribes by the Assyrians around 722 BCE. Because the genealogical records of the tribes were lost and the majority of the world’s Jewish population does not live in the land under the ancient tribal divisions, the Jubilee remains a theoretical concept.

Ancient Israel also struggled to uphold these laws. Throughout the prophet Jeremiah’s career, he repeatedly warned the people that punishment was coming if they did not follow God’s commands. Jeremiah predicted that the fall of Jerusalem and the subsequent exile were direct consequences of social and economic injustice, specifically the failure to observe the laws of the Sabbatical and Jubilee years. King Zedekiah even pushed for a national covenant to keep the shmitah, but the people rebelled against it. Jeremiah warned:

You have not obeyed me by proclaiming a release to your neighbors and friends; I am going to proclaim a release to you, says the Lord—a release to the sword, to pestilence, and to famine. I will make you a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth. (Jeremiah 34:17)

Jesus and the Jubilee

The prophet Isaiah also speaks about the year of Jubilee but, true to his style, he wraps the ideals of Jubilee in a messianic frame. Isaiah 61:1–2 says:

The spirit of the Lord God is upon me because the Lord has anointed me; he has sent me to bring good news to the oppressed, to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and release to the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor. 

When Isaiah speaks of “proclaiming liberty to the captives” and “the year of the Lord’s favor,” he is using the specific Hebrew terminology referencing the fiftieth-year celebration. The “year of favor” is a direct synonym for the Jubilee. At the time of Isaiah’s prophecy, the nation was often suffering under the weight of foreign oppression and internal corruption. The prophet takes the mechanical laws of Leviticus 25 and applies them to the future of Israel. While the original Jubilee dealt with physical land and financial debt, Isaiah expands the scope. He includes a promise of freedom to the “brokenhearted” and those in “darkness.” He is spiritualizing the Jubilee ideal. The ultimate Jubilee—the messianic arrival—will cancel not just financial debt but spiritual debt.

This passage is famously the text that Jesus reads in the synagogue at Nazareth at the beginning of his public ministry. After Jesus was baptized in the Jordan River by his cousin John, he returned to his hometown of Nazareth and attended a local synagogue. He was called to the bema, or the pulpit, and unfurled the scroll of the prophet Isaiah. Whether he chose the scripture or it was the pre-selected passage for the week, he read aloud from Isaiah 61. He describes his messianic mission in Jubilee language:

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor. (Luke 4:18–19)

According to the Gospel of Luke, Jesus told everyone present, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing” (4:21). Many miracles and healings follow in the coming days and weeks.

Jesus was not saying that it was technically the year of Jubilee on the religious calendar. He was announcing his messiahship, saying, “I am the one. I have come to provide a ransom for many.” It was the spiritual Jubilee in its highest ideals and formulations. Jubilee is here because Jesus came. He has redeemed all those who believe and canceled our spiritual debts. We are no longer slaves to sin; the Lord’s favor is upon us. What better way for Jesus to paint his plan and purpose in messianic kingdom terms already clearly understood by the Jewish people from Leviticus. Jubilee is the ultimate rest and the highest form of freedom, known to us through the death and resurrection of our Savior.

In both Leviticus and Jeremiah, the implementation of the Jubilee is not presented as an automatic occurrence but as a heavy moral obligation placed directly on the people. With the arrival of Jesus, however, the structure of the Jubilee undergoes a profound shift. In his reading of Isaiah at the synagogue in Nazareth, Jesus moves the onus of the Jubilee from the people to himself. He does not simply command the people to try harder to keep the law; he announces that he is the one who will bring the Jubilee to pass. The highest ideals of the Jubilee—the total reset of debt and the restoration of the person—are now guaranteed through his work rather than the flawed efforts of the community.