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The Land and Social Ethics in the Old Testament: Focusing on Sabbath Year and Jubilee

  • The Korean Journal of Chiristian Social Ethics
  • Abbr : 기사윤
  • 2015, (32), pp.277-305
  • Publisher : The Society Of Korean Christian Social Ethics
  • Research Area : Humanities > Christian Theology

Sa-Ya Lee 1

1남서울대학교

Accredited

ABSTRACT

The land of Canaan is a gift from YHWH to Israelites in the Old Testament. It binds Israel in many ways to the giver YHWH, because they did not take the land either by their power but because YHWH had fulfilled the promise which had spoken to the fathers of Israel. The Old Testament and history of Israel has central memory that the land is given to them from God. At the same time, the land is a theological and social-ethical responsibility to them. The same land that is gift freely given from God is task sharply put in the Old Testament. Israel knows very early that the need to rework indentity in the land of gift can lead to a new identity that perverts Iaraelites as well as the land. The Old Testament commands Israelites to keep sabbath year to the Lord when they come into the land which he give them. They shall neither sow their field nor prune their vineyard. And they shall count seven sabbaths of years for theirselves, seven times seven years, because it shall be a Jubilee for them. Each of them shall return to their possession and to their family in addition to the command of sabbath year. The command to keep the sabbath year and jubilee shows social ethical thought well. The social ethics in the Old Testament emphasizes the dignity of man and simultaneously requires Israelites to excute for and love the social weak as the people of God who loves and executes justice for them. So in the Old Testament, matters of social ethics become theological issues. In this paper, I’m going to investigate the features of sabbath year and jubilee in order to prove that the ancient Israelites had the differences with other Near East community and then ascertain the messages of the prophets Amos, Hosea, Isaiah and Micah who told the words of God concerning the social violences and the historical and theological meaning of social ethics which uniquely the Old Testament social ethics preserve.

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