Get the Ricochet app
Ricochet will work fine in a browser on your mobile devices, but for the best experience please download our app.
And ye shall hallow the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof. It shall be a jubilee unto you; and ye shall return every man unto his possession, and ye shall return every man unto his family. - Leviticus 25:10, KJV
"Proclaim LIBERTY throughout all the Land unto all the Inhabitants thereof Lev. XXV X" is the inscription on the Liberty Bell, originally in the steeple of Pennsylvania State House, now known as Independence Hall. It was cast in its present form in 1753 and was used to announce the start of Pennsylvania Assembly sessions. It is most associated with the signing of the Declaration of Independence in July 1776.
It had been ordered in 1751, the 50th anniversary, the jubilee year, of the founding of Pennsylvania. The choice of inscription was probably inspired by the parts of the verse not included in the inscription: "And ye shall hallow the fiftieth year" and "It shall be a jubilee unto you. . ." The jubilee was the year in which slaves were to be free — a sentiment expressed in the chorus of "Marching Through Georgia" (we bring the jubilee).
Yet rarely has a bell's inscription more fitted the bell on which it was placed. The United States was conceived in liberty. The founders fought to make it a representative republic. Liberty was the founding principle of this nation. What better place to put the word than on the bell that proclaimed its independence?
Yet while liberty was the gift of our founders, it is a gift that must be renewed every generation or it will be lost forever. The Liberty Bell is cracked, and has been for a long time, a symbol of how fragile liberty is.
Discussion (3)
To read this bio, please join Ricochet.
This is a good example of taking a Bible verse out of context, and applying it to mean something entirely different than what the Bible teaches.
The Bible verse is about the jubilee year. It's not about liberty. In fact, the jubilee law prevented the permanent sale of land. Land could be sold temporarily, amounting to more of a long-term lease, but it had to be given back during the jubilee year.
The jubilee law was contrary to freedom of movement. In the jubilee year, everyone was to return to their ancestral land and home. This is because people were supposed to stay put.
The jubilee law didn't really abolish slavery. Rather, it made slavery, something more like indentured servitude, with a limited term.
The jubilee law was also anti-production, in a way. The land was to have a year of rest, in which crops were not to be sown, and what grew anyway was not to be harvested.
To read this bio, please join Ricochet.
Killjoy. Does your interpretation of G-d dislike happiness? If so, that would explain your theology.
CHARTER MEMBER
To read this bio, please join Ricochet.
Wrong.
Leviticus 25:12 NASB1995
[12] For it is a jubilee; it shall be holy to you. You shall eat its crops out of the field.
bible.com
Open link
Emphasis added.