While the bell has become a symbol of liberty, many often forget that the bell’s name was inspired by a quote inscribed on it. The words, drawn from the biblical book of Leviticus, chapter 25, verse 10, state, “Proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof.”
In its context in Leviticus, this verse details a particular vision of liberty. Leviticus 25 legislates a number of ancient Israelite economic practices. The chapter mandates that Israelites should let their land lie fallow every seven years, resulting in a sabbatical year. At the end of seven of those seven-year cycles, on the fiftieth year, land is to be returned to its original, ancestral owners. This fiftieth year is known as the jubilee year, a name that comes from the Hebrew term for the year (Yovel). The jubilee proclamation of liberty is made at the end of the fall New Year’s festival, on the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur). This proclamation of liberty is accompanied by the sounding of trumpets throughout the land.
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