Home › Glossary › Letter J

Jubilee

Biblical
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

Want to hear it? Click the Listen button to hear the browser speak the word using text-to-speech!

The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

A fiftieth-year release involving restored land, freedom, and forgiveness of debts.

Detailed Definition
The biblical Jubilee is a recurring year of release in which land returns to ancestral families, enslaved people are freed, and debts are relieved. Poets use it as an image of social renewal and time breaking the habits of accumulation. The word can promise that no possession is permanent, no bondage absolute, and no debt beyond reckoning. Its music is celebratory, but its justice is concrete: fields, bodies, names, and futures are returned to those from whom they were taken.
Example
Example in poetry:
Jubilee can symbolize release, forgiveness, and the restoration of debts or land; “At Jubilee, the locked fields opened to the poor” uses the Biblical practice as a vision of justice; A poet may call a long-awaited reunion a personal Jubilee; The term can give a poem a celebratory tone while emphasizing social repair and freedom
Additional Notes
Jubilee is the fiftieth-year observance described in Leviticus, involving release, restored land, and freedom from certain forms of debt and servitude. In poetry, it often symbolizes social justice, renewal, liberation, and the healing of inherited inequality. It should not be confused with a general anniversary celebration.
Other Meanings of “Jubilee”
Also Known As
Year of Jubilee Jubilee Year
Skip to main content