י וְ קִ דַּשׁ ְתּ ֶ ם, אֵ ת שְׁ נַ ת הַ חֲ מִ שִּׁ ים שָׁ נָ ה, וּקְרָאתֶם דְּרוֹרבּ ָאָרֶץ, לְכָל - יֹשְׁבֶיהָ; יוֹבֵל הִוא, תִּהְיֶה לָכֶם, וְ שַׁ בְ תֶּ ם אִ ישׁ אֶ ל -אֲחֻזָּתוֹ, וְאִ ישׁ אֶ ל-מִ שְׁפּ ַ חְ תּ וֹתָּשׁ ֻ בוּ.
10 And ye shall hallow the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout 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.
(Based on article by Mitchell First)
Rashi notes that that the shofar is blown to proclaim the yovel year. He concludes that the year is called Yovel based on the shofar blowing, i.e. reads something like “year when the ram’s horn is blown.”
The word Yovel and words based on it (e.g. ha-yovel, ba-yovel, etc.) appear 27 times in Tanach. Twenty-one of these times the reference is to the Yovel year. But in Yehoshua Chapter 6, there are four references to shofaros yovlim. It appears clear that the work means “ram” as Rashi explained.
Ramban asks about the Mishnah (Rosh HaShana Chapter 3) that the shofar blown to declare the year of Yovel does not have to be a horn from a ram. The preferred animal for the shofar is a yael (goat). Moreover, the Yovel year would much more likely to have a name related to the fundamental aspect as a year of freedom.
Therefore, Ramban takes a different approach. He cites various verses [like “whose legs carried her off from afar” (Yeshiayahu 23,7) or “a gift is brought (Yeshiyahu 18,7)] where the root י -ב-ל often has something to do with an object being brought. Thus, the fundamental root of the root indicates that the plain sense of the Yovel is to return of the land to the original owner.
The translation in the text according Rabbi Shimshon R. Hirsch agrees, translating Yovel as “homebringer.” Further Rabbi Hirsch offers the following comment as a connection between the above two meanings. The ram is the leader of the flock, and the flock follows him, thus the ram is the one that “brings “them to their pasture, who goes in front and the flock follows, thus he “brings” them home.
What about the word yevulah in the second paragraph of the Shema? Most likely it could mean the produce of the land that is carried in or brought from the land, or that is produced (flows) from the land.
Finally, why is the Yovel year called the “jubilee” year in English? The first English translation of the Bible, The King James version, published in 1611, used the word “jubile.” (This was the spelling of the word “jubilee” at the time) But why did they select a word indicating a term for celebration? Usually, the translation would have transliterated such a word from the Latin and wrote “jobel.” Instead, they got a bit creative and use the word “jubilee”, which had a positive, celebrative connotation. Evidently, they created a connection between the fiftieth year and a jubilant celebration, even though such a connection is absent from the Tanach.
