JUBILEE, amongst the Jews, denotes every fiftieth year, being 'that following the revolution of seven weeks of years, at which time all the slaves were made free, and all lands reverted to their ancient owners. But the jubilees were disregarded after the Babylonian captivity. The word, according to some authors, comes from the Hebrew, jobel, which signifies fifty ; but this must be a mistake, for the Hebrew, jobel, does not signify fifty, neither do its letters, taken as ciphers, or according to their numerical powers, make up that number, these being 10, 6, 2, and 30, or in all 48. Others say, thatjoM signifies a ram, and that the jubilee was so called, because proclaimed with a ram’s horn, in memory of the ram which appeared to Abraham in the thicket. Masius chooses to derive the word from Jubal, the first inventor of musical instruments, which for that reason were called by his name; and hence the words jο-bel and jubilee came to signify the year of deliverance and remission, because proclaimed with the sound of one of those instruments, which at first was no other than the horn of a ram. Others derive jobel from q□', jabal, in hiphil, ⅛ s Ξrτ, hobil, which signifies to recall or return; because this year restored all slaves to their liberty, and recalled exiles to their native land. The institution of this festival is to be found in Leviticus (chap. xxv. v. 8-17).

The learned are divided about the year of jubilee; some maintaining that it occurred every forty-ninth, and others that it took place every fiftieth year. The ground of the former opinion is chiefly this, that the forty-ninth year being of course a sabbatical year, if the jubilee had been observed on the fiftieth, the land must have had two sabbaths, or have lain fallow two years, which, without a miracle, would have produced a scarcity. On the other hand, it is alleged, that the Scripture expressly declares for the fiftieth year (Levit, xxv. 10, 11): and, besides, if the jubilee and sabbatical year had been the same, there would have been no need for a prohibition against sowing or reaping, because this kind of labour was prohibited by the law of the sabbatical year (Levit, xxv. 4, 5). The authors of the Universal History (book i. chap. 7, note R) endeavour to reconcile these opinions, by observing, that as the jubilee began in the first month of the civil year, which was the seventh of the ecclesiastical, it might be said to be either the forty-ninth or fiftieth, according as one or other of these computations was followed. The political design of the law of the jubilee was to prevent the oppression of the poor, as well as to obviate their being liable to perpetual slavery. By this means a kind of equality was preserved amongst all the families of Israel, and the distinction of tribes was also preserved, that they might be able, when there was occasion, on the jubilee year, to prove their right to the inheritance of their ancestors. It served also, like the olympiads of the Greeks, and the lustra of the Romans, for the computation of time. The jubilee has likewise been supposed to be typical of the gospel state and dispensation, described by Isaiah (lxi. ver. 1, 2, in reference to this period) as the “acceptable year of the Lord.”

Jubilee, in a more modern sense, denotes a grand solemnity or ceremony, celebrated at Rome, in which the pope grants a plenary indulgence, at least to as many as visit the churches of St Peter and St Paul.

The jubilee was first established by Boniface VII. in the year 1300, in favour of those who should proceed ad limina apostolorum ; and it was only to return every hundred years. But the first celebration brought in such store of wealth to Rome, that the Germans called this the golden year ; a circumstance which induced Clement VI. in 1343, to reduce the period of the jubilee to fifty years. Urban VI. in 1389 appointed it to be held every thirty-five years, that being the age of our Saviour; and Paul II. and Sixtus IV. in 1475 brought it down to every twenty-five years, that all persons might have the benefit of it once in their lifetime. Boniface IX. granted the privilege of holding jubilees to several princes and monasteries; for instance, to the monks of Canterbury, who had a jubilee every fifty years, when people flocked from all parts to visit the tomb of St Thomas-a-Becket. Jubilees are now become more frequent, and the pope grants them as often as the church or himself has occasion for them. There is usually one at the inauguration of a new pope. To be entitled to the privileges of the jubilee, the bull enjoins fastings, alms, and prayers. It gives the priests full power to absolve in all cases, even those otherwise reserved to the pope, to make commutations of vows, and to perform other functions, in which it differs from a plenary indulgence. During the time of jubilee all other indulgences are suspended.

One of our kings, Edward HL, caused his birth-day to be observed in the manner of a jubilee when he became fifty years of age, in 1362, but never before nor after; and this he did by releasing prisoners, pardoning all offences except treason, making good laws, and granting many privileges to the people.

There are particular jubilees in certain cities, when several of their feasts fall upon the same day; at Puy-en-Velay, for instance, when the feast of the Annunciation happens on Good Friday; and at Lyons, when the feast of St John Baptist concurs with the feast of Corpus Christi. The Jesuits celebrated a solemn jubilee at Rome in 1640, that being the centenary or hundredth year from their institution; and the same ceremony was observed in all their houses throughout the world.