Lexical Summary
yobel: Jubilee, ram's horn, trumpet
Original Word: יוֹבֵל
Part of Speech: Noun Masculine
Transliteration: yowbel
Pronunciation: yoh-BAYL
Phonetic Spelling: (yo-bale')
KJV: jubile, ram's horn, trumpet
NASB: jubilee, rams' horns, ram's, ram's horn
Word Origin: [apparently from H2986 (יָבַל - bring)]
1. the blast of a horn (from its continuous sound)
2. specifically, the signal of the silver trumpets
3. (hence) the instrument itself and the festival thus introduced
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance
jubile, ram's horn, trumpet
Or yobel {yob-ale'}; apparently from yabal; the blast of a horn (from its continuous sound); specifically, the signal of the silver trumpets; hence, the instrument itself and the festival thus introduced -- jubile, ram's horn, trumpet.
see HEBREW yabal
NAS Exhaustive Concordance
Word Originfrom
yabalDefinitiona ram, ram's horn (a wind instrument)
NASB Translationjubilee (21), ram's (1), ram's horn (1), rams' horns (4).
Brown-Driver-Briggs
,
Numbers 36:4 (Phoenician
ram; compare Di
Leviticus 25:10 Dl
Pr 124) — absolute
Joshua 6:5 7t.;
Exodus 19:13 13t.; plural
Joshua 6:4 2t.;
Joshua 6:13; —
ram, only in combination: Joshua 6:5 the ram's horn, as wind-instrument; so Joshua 6:4,6,8,13 rams' horns (see BenzArchäol. 276); alone, Exodus 19:13 at the sounding of the ram ('s horn).
, marked by blowing of cornets, AV 'jubile' (so Late Hebrew , , as loan-word); originally no doubt year of the ram ('s horn), as Leviticus 25:13,28,40,50,52,54 (all H), Leviticus 27:17,18,23,24 (all P), but then, without , as Leviticus 25:10 a ram ('s horn blowing) shall it be to you; so Leviticus 25:11; Leviticus 25:12; Leviticus 25:15; Leviticus 25:28; Leviticus 25:30; Leviticus 25:31; Leviticus 25:33 (all H), Leviticus 27:18; Numbers 36:4 (both P).
Topical Lexicon
Ram’s Horn Usage Exodus 19:13 introduces yōvēl as the specific ram’s horn whose prolonged blast summoned Israel to the foot of Mount Sinai: “When the ram’s horn sounds a long blast, they shall come up the mountain”. Unlike the general term shophar, yōvēl highlights the horn as a herald of covenant revelation. In Joshua 6 the same instrument marked the victorious entry into the land (Joshua 6:4-13). Seven priests carried “seven trumpets of ram’s horns before the ark of the LORD,” and at the final blast the walls of Jericho fell. Thus yōvēl bookends deliverance—first at Sinai, then at the first conquered city of Canaan—underlining that triumph belongs to the LORD who speaks and acts for His people.
The Year of Jubilee
Leviticus 25 employs yōvēl fourteen times to delineate the fiftieth year, the climactic sabbatical cycle. On the Day of Atonement “you shall sound the ram’s horn throughout your land” (Leviticus 25:9). The same horn that once summoned Israel to covenant now announces a nation-wide reset.
Key provisions:
• Release: Israelite debt-slaves returned home (Leviticus 25:40, 54).
• Restoration: Ancestral land that had been sold reverted to the original clan (Leviticus 25:28, 33).
• Rest: Fields lay fallow; the people lived on what the land produced freely (Leviticus 25:11-12).
Leviticus 27:17-24 links the Jubilee to vows and valuations, ensuring that consecrated property could not be permanently removed from tribal inheritance. Numbers 36:4 shows the social ripple: dowry lands transferred by marriage would also return at the Jubilee so that tribal boundaries remained intact.
Ministry Principles
1. Divine ownership. “The land is Mine; you are but foreigners and sojourners with Me” (Leviticus 25:23). Jubilee reminded Israel that stewardship, not unrestricted possession, governed life.
2. Social mercy. Jubilee institutionalised compassion without eroding personal responsibility; redemption was encouraged before the fiftieth year (Leviticus 25:25-28).
3. Faith in providence. Observing two fallow years consecutively (the seventh-year Sabbath plus Jubilee) required trust that “I will command My blessing on you in the sixth year” (Leviticus 25:21).
Historical Observance
Scripture never records a national Jubilee actually kept, and Israel’s later exile is tied to sabbatical neglect (2 Chronicles 36:21). The prophetic literature laments debt slavery (Jeremiah 34:8-17; Nehemiah 5) and land monopolies (Isaiah 5:8; Micah 2:2), suggesting failure to implement Jubilee ideals. Yet Ezekiel 40:1 notes a vision dated “in the twenty-fifth year of our exile, at the beginning of the year,” language many scholars see as Jubilee allusion, offering hope of future restoration.
Christological Fulfilment
Isaiah 61 weaves Jubilee imagery—liberty, return, and proclamation—into messianic hope. Jesus read this passage in Nazareth and declared, “Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing” (Luke 4:21). In Him the spiritual realities underlying Jubilee reach their goal:
• Liberation from sin’s debt (John 8:36).
• Restoration of inheritance as co-heirs with Christ (Romans 8:17).
• Eternal rest (Hebrews 4:9-10).
The Jericho narrative also prefigures this fulfilment: seven trumpets, seven days, and a climactic blast echo the consummation imagery of Revelation 8-11 where trumpet series heralds the final victory of God’s kingdom.
Contemporary Application
• Preaching: Like the Sinai horn, Gospel proclamation summons hearers to approach God through the Mediator.
• Community life: Churches embody Jubilee principles through generous charity, debt relief, and advocacy for the oppressed.
• Eschatology: The “last trumpet” (1 Corinthians 15:52) assures believers that definitive release and restoration await Christ’s return.
Summary
Yōvēl unites instrument and institution. The ram’s horn heralds decisive acts of God, while the Jubilee year embeds those acts in Israel’s calendar, pointing beyond itself to the perfect redemption accomplished and yet to be fully manifested in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Forms and Transliterations
בַּיֹּבֵ֑ל בַּיֹּבֵ֔ל בַּיֹּבֵֽל׃ בַיֹּבֵ֗ל ביבל ביבל׃ הַיֹּבְלִ֗ים הַיֹּבֵ֑ל הַיֹּבֵ֔ל הַיֹּבֵ֖ל הַיֹּבֵל֮ הַיּֽוֹבְלִים֙ הַיּוֹבֵ֑ל הַיּוֹבֵ֔ל הַיּוֹבֵ֖ל הַיּוֹבֵ֗ל הַיּוֹבֵל֙ היבל היבלים היובל היובלים וּבַיֹּבֵ֖ל וביבל יוֹבְלִ֔ים יוֹבֵ֣ל יוֹבֵ֥ל יובל יובלים baiyoVel bay·yō·ḇêl ḇay·yō·ḇêl bayyōḇêl ḇayyōḇêl haiyoeLim haiyoVel haiyovLim hay·yō·ḇə·lîm hay·yō·ḇêl hay·yō·w·ḇêl hay·yō·wḇ·lîm hayyōḇêl hayyōḇəlîm hayyōwḇêl hayyōwḇlîm ū·ḇay·yō·ḇêl ūḇayyōḇêl uvaiyoVel vaiyoVel yō·w·ḇêl yō·wḇ·lîm yoVel yovLim yōwḇêl yōwḇlîm
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