What does יוֹבֵל (ywōbēl) mean in the Bible?
The selected passages use this word in horn-signal settings and in the designation of the Jubilee. Exodus gives a horn signal within the boundaries set at Sinai.
Hebrew · H3104
יוֹבֵל
The selected passages use this word in horn-signal settings and in the designation of the Jubilee. Exodus gives a horn signal within the boundaries set at Sinai.
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יוֹבֵלH3104
Pronunciationywōbēl
What does יוֹבֵל (ywōbēl) mean in the Bible?
Reader summary
Full entry for יוֹבֵל (H3104) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render H3104?
The BSB source-word alignment has 27 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include of Jubilee (10), In the Jubilee (5), rams’ horns (4), a Jubilee (2), the Jubilee (2).
Where does יוֹבֵל (ywōbēl) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Exodus 19:13. Its strongest book concentrations include Leviticus (20), Joshua (5), Exodus (1), Numbers (1).
What This Word Actually Means
The selected passages use this word in horn-signal settings and in the designation of the Jubilee. Exodus gives a horn signal within the boundaries set at Sinai. Joshua describes ram's horns in the particular instructions for Jericho. Leviticus names the fiftieth year as a Jubilee and joins it to liberty, return to family and return to property. These scenes should be explained through their own commands and circumstances.
A horn signal at one event is not a ritual that promises the same result whenever someone repeats its sound. Likewise, the Jubilee instructions are not an automatic schedule for predicting present events. Notice what the signal permits or announces and what the surrounding law actually requires.
How the Bible Uses It
Sinai's boundary signal, Jericho's commanded horn blast and Leviticus's fiftieth-year Jubilee retain different narrative and legal purposes rather than becoming one repeatable mechanism.
- Exod.19.13
No hand shall touch him, but he shall surely be stoned or shot with arrows—whether man or beast, he must not live.’ Only when the ram’s horn sounds a long blast may they approach the mountain.”
The long horn blast is a specified signal within the Sinai boundary instructions; it must be read with the preceding restriction on approaching the mountain.
- Josh.6.5
And when there is a long blast of the ram’s horn and you hear its sound, have all the people give a mighty shout. Then the wall of the city will collapse and all your people will charge straight into the city.”
The long blast and the people's shout belong to the Lord's particular instructions for Jericho, not an independent promise attached to any horn sound.
- Lev.25.10
So you are to consecrate the fiftieth year and proclaim liberty in the land for all its inhabitants. It shall be your Jubilee, when each of you is to return to his property and to his clan.
The fiftieth year is named Jubilee and associated with proclaimed liberty and return to property and family within Israel's stated land instructions.
Source Word Evidence
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders Itof Jubilee10×Leviticus 25:13, Leviticus 25:28, Leviticus 25:40, Leviticus 25:50
In the Jubilee5×Leviticus 25:28, Leviticus 25:30, Leviticus 25:31, Leviticus 25:33
rams’ horns4×Joshua 6:4, Joshua 6:6, Joshua 6:8, Joshua 6:13
a Jubilee2×Leviticus 25:11, Leviticus 25:12
the Jubilee2×Leviticus 27:18, Numbers 36:4
Jubilee1×Leviticus 25:10
of the ram’s1×Joshua 6:5
Only when the ram’s horn1×Exodus 19:13
the last Jubilee1×Leviticus 25:15
Show sample aligned rows
Exodus 19:13הַיֹּבֵ֔לtoOnly when the ram’s hornArticle | Noun - masculine singularLeviticus 25:10יוֹבֵ֥לtoJubileeNoun - masculine singularLeviticus 25:11יוֹבֵ֣לtoa JubileeNoun - masculine singularLeviticus 25:12יוֹבֵ֣לtoa JubileeNoun - masculine singularLeviticus 25:13הַיּוֹבֵ֖לtoof JubileeArticle | Noun - masculine singularLeviticus 25:15הַיּוֹבֵ֔לtothe last JubileeArticle | Noun - masculine singularLeviticus 25:28הַיּוֹבֵ֑לtoof JubileeArticle | Noun - masculine singularLeviticus 25:28בַּיֹּבֵ֔לtoIn the JubileePreposition-b, Article | Noun - masculine singularLeviticus 25:30בַּיֹּבֵֽל׃toin the JubileePreposition-b, Article | Noun - masculine singularLeviticus 25:31וּבַיֹּבֵ֖לtoin the JubileeConjunctive waw, Preposition-b, Article | Noun - masculine singular
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned rowExodus 19:13
Aligned rows27
Books represented4
Exodus1Leviticus20Numbers1Joshua5
Source forms
הַיֹּבֵ֖ל3xhay·yō·ḇêlLeviticus 25:40, Leviticus 25:52, Leviticus 27:17
הַיֹּבֵ֑ל3xhay·yō·ḇêlLeviticus 25:50, Leviticus 27:18, Leviticus 27:23
הַיֹּבֵ֔ל2xhay·yō·ḇêlExodus 19:13, Leviticus 25:54
הַיֹּבֵל֮2xhay·yō·ḇêlLeviticus 27:18, Numbers 36:4
הַיּֽוֹבְלִים֙2xhay·yō·wḇ·lîmJoshua 6:4, Joshua 6:8
יוֹבֵ֣ל2xyō·w·ḇêlLeviticus 25:11, Leviticus 25:12
בַיֹּבֵ֗ל1xḇay·yō·ḇêlLeviticus 27:21
בַּיֹּבֵ֔ל1xbay·yō·ḇêlLeviticus 25:28
Parsing patterns
Article | Noun - masculine singular15xExodus 19:13, Leviticus 25:13, Leviticus 25:15, Leviticus 25:28
Preposition-b, Article | Noun - masculine singular4xLeviticus 25:28, Leviticus 25:30, Leviticus 25:33, Leviticus 27:21
Article | Noun - masculine plural3xJoshua 6:4, Joshua 6:8, Joshua 6:13
Noun - masculine singular3xLeviticus 25:10, Leviticus 25:11, Leviticus 25:12
Conjunctive waw, Preposition-b, Article | Noun - masculine singular1xLeviticus 25:31
Noun - masculine plural1xJoshua 6:6
Using This Word Well
Be careful not to...
- Avoid promising spiritual victory through a repeated horn-blowing practice.
- Do not use Jubilee speculation to prescribe current legal or financial outcomes.
Avoid claiming...
- Do not claim any horn blast guarantees victory; Joshua describes a particular divine instruction for Jericho.
- Do not claim this noun predicts present dates; Leviticus specifies Israel's fiftieth-year practices rather than a modern event schedule.
Evidence Summary
Hebrew word. A sustained blast signaling liberation: the jubilee horn announces year-long freedom and land restoration
Source Gloss
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
Extended definitionSource: Open Scriptures Hebrew Lexicon + Brown-Driver-Briggs
A sustained blast signaling liberation: the jubilee horn announces year-long freedom and land restoration
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 BDB: ram Usage: jubile, ram's horn, trumpet.
Grammatical Forms
How this word appears across different grammatical cases and numbers.
Word Origins
יוֹבֵל is built from this root:
For the Preacher and Teacher
Leviticus gives Jubilee a concrete shape. The proclaimed liberty is followed by return to property and family, and the surrounding instructions regulate transactions in view of that return. Later in the chapter, release provisions and the prohibition on harsh rule address people in vulnerable circumstances. Those details deserve more attention than speculative calendar parallels.
The horn scenes also have limits: Exodus places its signal inside a commanded boundary, while Joshua gives a particular instruction for a particular city. Neither scene teaches that a sound possesses power apart from God's narrated command. Explain the stated action and its setting first. That approach honors both the material detail of a horn and the practical responsibilities of Jubilee without converting them into an unrestricted spiritual technique.
Anchor passage
Lev.25.10
Doctrinal connections
- Exodus 19:13 places the horn signal within the stated boundaries around Sinai.
- Joshua 6:4 specifies priests and ram's horns within the particular instructions for Jericho.
- Joshua 6:5 joins the long horn blast and shout to the promised outcome at that city.
- Leviticus 25:10 names the fiftieth year and joins proclaimed liberty to family and property return.
- Leviticus 25:13 places return to property within the Jubilee year and its transaction setting.
- Leviticus 25:53-54 prohibits harsh rule and specifies release for the person and children.
The attributed comparison includes horn and festival language. The direct BSB witnesses say ram's horns in Joshua and Jubilee in Leviticus; those contextual translations do not establish the material or purpose of every biblical trumpet.
From Old to New Testament
Liberty and release can be compared thematically with Christian proclamation, but a claimed quotation or fulfillment must be established from its own text. This word alone neither fixes a modern Jubilee calendar nor turns the Jericho horn instructions into a Christian method for obtaining victory.