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.

multiple deportations, opportunistic appropriations, and the influx of foreign settlers in the exile rendered completely unworkable a simplistic return to pre-exilic land possessions. Moreover, the priest Ezekiel, so closely associated with the Holiness School⁶², did not approve of the way the land was distributed before the exile (45,7-9; 46,16-18), his biggest complaint being the expropriation of private lands by the royal house⁶³.

        What was needed was a fresh start, an entirely new re-allocation of the land. This is what Ezekiel provides, giving extensive instructions for the redistribution of the land (Ezek 45,1-8; 47,13–48,29) according to the tribes of Israel, giving the borders (47,15-20), explicit authorization to reallocate the land (47,21-22), provision for the foreigners that had been settled in it by Assyria and Babylon (47,22-23); and including space for the Levites (45,5; 48,13-14), the priests (45,3-4; 48,9-12), the sanctuary (45,2; 48,8), the holy city (45,1; 48,15-20) and the royal house (45,7-8; 48,21-22).

        Interestingly, so far from desiring the return of lands to the priests themselves, the priest Ezekiel forbids the possession of lands to the priests (Ezek 44,28-31). He knows of the jubilee, mentioning it in