Calum Carmichael, «The Sabbatical/Jubilee Cycle and the Seven-Year Famine in Egypt», Vol. 80 (1999) 224-239

The comparative method is of limited value in locating the Sabbatical/Jubilee cycle of Leviticus 25 within the framework of similar institutions in the ancient Near East. Not only is the character of the biblical institution distinctively Israelite, but so is the manner in which the Levitical lawgiver devised the entire cycle. The lawgiver formulated rules to ensure that the Israelites do not do what the Egyptians did in their land (Lev 18,3). Borrowing details from the Genesis account of the seven-year famine in Egypt, the lawgiver set out Yahweh’s scheme for his people’s welfare. The scheme stands opposed to the pharaoh’s for the Egyptians at the time of the famine.

openly cite the other major period of time in focus, namely, the preceding era, Joseph’s time, when a severe famine afflicted the land. Characteristic of the presentation of the laws of Moses is that he openly refers to the past only when the event, the slavery in Egypt, for example, took place in his own lifetime. He does not cite events before and after his time, for example, the problem of primogeniture posed by Jacob’s marriage to a hated and a loved wife (Deut 21,15-17), and the institution of the monarchy when Solomon’s excesses are taken account of (Deut 17,14-20). The fictional character of the laws with their attribution to a legendary figure, Moses, accounts for this reticence.

        In light of my claim that the Levitical laws about the Sabbatical and Jubilee years hark back to Egyptian history in Joseph’s time, it is worth noting how commentators evaluate the narrative in Genesis 47 about the contrast between the Israelites and the Egyptians at the time of the famine. J.B. Skinner observes that "the interest of the biblical account [Gen 47,18-27] is aetiological. The Hebrews were impressed by the vast difference between the land-tenure of Egypt and that under which they themselves lived"¹⁶. B.A. Levine and G.J. Wenham actually compare developments in Genesis 47 with some of the rules in Leviticus 25 but they do not explain why they do so¹⁷. In their assessments, these critics, implicitly in one instance, explicitly in the other two, are contrasting the contents of Genesis 47 with the substance of the rules in Leviticus 25.

        Every seventh year the land experiences famine-like conditions¹⁸. These are brought on, not by nature but by people’s ceasing to work the land. Indeed, not only are sowing and reaping prohibited, even the natural aftergrowth of the previous year’s harvest may not