John Sietze Bergsma, «The Jubilee: A Post-Exilic Priestly Attempt to Reclaim Lands?», Vol. 84 (2003) 225-246

The article examines the hypothesis that the jubilee legislation of Lev 25 was a post-exilic attempt on the part of returning Judean exiles — particularly the priests — to provide legal justification for the reclamation of their former lands. This hypothesis is found to be dubious because (1) the jubilee did not serve the interests of the socio-economic classes that were exiled, and (2) Lev 25 does not show signs of having been redacted with the post-exilic situation in mind. A comparison with Ezekiel’s vision of restoration points out the differences between Lev 25 and actual priestly land legislation for the post-exilic period.

returning exiles and non-exiled Israelites¹⁵. Was Lev 25 meant as binding law to be produced in court to verify one’s land rights? Or was it only for "internal" use, to provide intellectual reasoning for those who already believed in the priests’ and exiles’ position? Lack of specificity on matters like this makes the hypothesis difficult to subject to analysis. Moreover, the different proponents of this same general position differ among themselves in the specifics they do supply. For example, some scholars argue that the legislation was produced in early restoration Judea¹⁶, while others insist a post-exilic redaction is impossible due to the lack of correspondence between the jubilee legislation and the actual restoration situation¹⁷.

        No direct evidence — biblical or extra-biblical, textual or archeological — has yet been produced to substantiate this hypothesis¹⁸. Our sources do not indicate that the exiles attempted to regain ancestral lands upon their return and met opposition, much less that Lev 25 was put forward as a legal basis for such an attempt. The sources do not even indicate that the exiles made a serious attempt to return to the exact property held by their ancestors¹⁹. Therefore, the