If Jubilee year arrived and the field had not been redeemed, there are three diametrically opposed possible outcomes. One is described by Rabbi Yehudah: the Kohanim take possession of the field, but they must pay the full redemption price of fifty silver shekels per measure of barley to the treasury. Why? Because a consecrated field is similar to a consecrated house (the Torah uses the same word, “holy”), and the house is never redeemed without a payment.
Rabbi Shimon says that the Kohanim take the possession of the field without a payment, because it is similar to the two lambs of Shavuot, about which the Torah also said “holy,” and which belong to the Kohanim without a payment. And Rabbi Yehudah? – Better to compare consecrated field to a house – both are real estate. And Rabbi Shimon? – Better to compare field to a sacrifice – both are presents to Kohanim.
According to Rabbi Elazar, nobody takes possession of the field, it is called “abandoned,” and remains in the Temple treasury until the next Jubilee. Why? – Normally, when one sells a field, it comes back to him (“goes out of the hands of the buyer”) at Jubilee; but why should it “go out of the hands of the Temple?"
Art: Paul Gauguin - Abandoned Garden in Rouen
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