Sharon H. Ringe, beginning with this Lukan text, addresses the Jubilee images and traditions in the Synoptic Gospels, especially in Jesus' proclamation of the reign of God. She illuminates how the Jubilee traditions served as a source for early Christian ethics and Christology: to confess Jesus as the Christ - herald of the Jubilee, messenger, and enactor of liberation - is to participate in acts of liberation. Ringe concludes that the agenda of liberation constitutes the very core of both the gospel message and biblical faith: the word of God fulfilled in the presence of Jesus of Nazareth is alive with images of liberation. In the final chapter, In Christ We Are Set Free, she explores further the implications of her findings for contemporary ethical and christological reflection.

What if the kingdom of God is not a place, but a person? In this timely monograph, Christian T. Collins Winn argues that the kingdom of God is Jesus himself. Drawing on a wide breadth of liberation theology, Jesus, Jubilee, and the Politics of God’s Reign amplifies the echoes of salvation history in contemporary struggles for social justice. Collins Winn demonstrates how the institution of the Jubilee year exemplifies the kingdom of God. A semicentennial celebration prescribed in the book of Leviticus, Jubilee prescribed the redistribution of wealth and freeing of prisoners. Hope for Jubilee persists in apocalyptic rhetoric, from the exhortations of Old Testament prophets to those of modern progressives. Likewise, Jesus’s ministry, passion, and resurrection convey the justice of Jubilee and urgency of apocalypse. His conquest over death represents the ultimate vindication of the oppressed in the kingdom of God, an “outpouring of Spirit” seen today in continuing restorative efforts by oppressed communities in the face of death-dealing institutions. Historically informed and passionately written, Jesus, Jubilee, and the Politics of God’s Reign challenges readers to find Jesus in the marginalized persons of our own time.

The biblical jubilee represents one of the most radical programmes for land reform from the ancient Near East, yet it was never practised in ancient Israel. What then is the meaning of this sacred law that was never enforced? This cogently argued book attempts to answer that question by using the tools of sociological analysis. Fager examines three levels of meaning within the jubilee legislation, which was produced by the priestly intellectuals during the period of exile. The actual words of the text carry one meaning and the priests intended a slightly different meaning, but underlying both was a moral world view that guided them. The laws of the biblical jubilee thus enable us to examine the deepest level of the ancient Israelites' understanding of land and justice.

How can creatures made from dust become members of God's household "forever"? In this New Studies in Biblical Theology volume, Michael Morales explores the narrative context, literary structure and theology of Leviticus, following its dramatic movement from the tabernacle to the temple—and from the earthly to the heavenly Mount Zion in the New Testament.

An essential guide for Christians on how to achieve personal, ecclesial, and social transformation in the year of Jubilee.

R. David Kaylor believes that Jesus' vision of a just society and his prophetic engagement with social, political, and economic conditions led to his execution by the Romans. Here, he presents Jesus' message of a just society based on Israel's covenant tradition. He shows the prophetic background and social content of Jesus' ethical teaching and demonstrates that the parables (especially those with economic and agricultural associations) critiqued the social conditions and called for a restructuring of community life. He provides evidence that Jesus' vision remains, offering criticism of the present and promise of a future.

The Word Biblical Commentary delivers the best in biblical scholarship, from the leading scholars of our day who share a commitment to Scripture as divine revelation. This series emphasizes a thorough analysis of textual, linguistic, structural, and theological evidence. The result is judicious and balanced insight into the meanings of the text in the framework of biblical theology. These widely acclaimed commentaries serve as exceptional resources for the professional theologian and instructor, the seminary or university student, the working minister, and everyone concerned with building theological understanding from a solid base of biblical scholarship. Overview of Commentary Organization Introduction—covers issues pertaining to the whole book, including context, date, authorship, composition, interpretive issues, purpose, and theology. Each section of the commentary includes: Pericope Bibliography—a helpful resource containing the most important works that pertain to each particular pericope. Translation—the author’s own translation of the biblical text, reflecting the end result of exegesis and attending to Hebrew and Greek idiomatic usage of words, phrases, and tenses, yet in reasonably good English. Notes—the author’s notes to the translation that address any textual variants, grammatical forms, syntactical constructions, basic meanings of words, and problems of translation. Form/Structure/Setting—a discussion of redaction, genre, sources, and tradition as they concern the origin of the pericope, its canonical form, and its relation to the biblical and extra-biblical contexts in order to illuminate the structure and character of the pericope. Rhetorical or compositional features important to understanding the passage are also introduced here. Comment—verse-by-verse interpretation of the text and dialogue with other interpreters, engaging with current opinion and scholarly research. Explanation—brings together all the results of the discussion in previous sections to expose the meaning and intention of the text at several levels: (1) within the context of the book itself; (2) its meaning in the OT or NT; (3) its place in the entire canon; (4) theological relevance to broader OT or NT issues. General Bibliography—occurring at the end of each volume, this extensive bibliographycontains all sources used anywhere in the commentary.