Jubilee

Zechariah 2 contains several references to the Jubilee.  Jerusalem, the Lord says, will become like an unwalled city (2:4), the kind of city where the Jubilee rules do apply (Leviticus 25).  At the end of the passage, the prophet learns that Yahweh will inherit Jerusalem, a unique usage in the Old Testament, which never uses Yahweh as the subject of “inherit.”  but the Jubilee is again behind that promise, since the whole rationale of the Jubilee legislation is that the land belongs to Yahweh, not Israel.

Isaiah also uses Jubilee to describe Israel’s return from exile, her return to her “ancestral property.”  Zechariah gives a twist on that theme.  Jerusalem is going to be treated like an unwalled city, which means that it will be restored to its original owner.  And that original ower, v. 12 tells us, is Yahweh Himself.  The return from exile here is not simply Israel’s return to the land, but Yahweh’s recovery of His own city and dwelling place.