SABBATH YEAR - every seventh year in Israel was to be a Sabbath Year (Lev. 25:1-7, Deut. 15:1-11. Three things were to occur in the Sabbath Year:

• Fields were to lie fallow. The preceding year's crop would last for two years.
• Slaves were to be freed.
• Debts were forgiven.

Israel may have practiced this concept once under duress (Jer. 34:8-22). Otherwise it was never practiced.

SAMARITAN PENTATEUCH - the Samaritan version of the Hebrew Bible Torah (Genesis through Deuteronomy). The text is in Hebrew and comprised the entire canon of the Samaritan community. While the text is early, it is of limited value in textual analysis for the following reasons:

• corrupted by scribal errors
• was modernized to reflect later Hebrew grammar and writing
• removed grammatical difficulties and replaced rare constructions with more common ones
• has additions to supplement and clarify the text
• corrected to remove historical problems and objectionable passages
• adapted to promulgate Samaritan theology

SEPTUAGINT - the general designation for the Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible and the Apocrypha. The Septuagint includes the Hebrew Bible, additions to some of the Hebrew Bible books, and other books not included in the Hebrew Bible. According to tradition, 72 (some traditions mention 70 or 5) scholars translated the Torah into Greek and thus the translation came to be known as the Septuagint from the Latin word septuaginta meaning "seventy." Many scholars believe the Torah translation was completed in the 3rd century B.C.E. and the remainder of the translation was completed by the first part of the 1st century B.C.E. The Septuagint remains an important witness to the early Hebrew text and is often used in textual analysis of the Hebrew text.

SITZ IM LEBEN - a German phrase meaning "setting in life." In Form Analysis scholars will determine not only the type of form used but also the form's setting in life. Did the form derive from the cult (e.g., hymn)? From the legal system (e.g., controversy speech)? From the events of everyday life (e.g., lament)? The setting helps us better understand the form which also sheds light on the lives of people in biblical times.

SONG OF THANKSGIVING - a type of psalm which praises God for specific action in the life of the individual (e.g., Pss. 30, 138) or the nation (e.g., Ps. 67). In many cases a song of thanksgiving would have been sung by a worshiper after God had answered the worshiper's lament by bringing deliverance. The general form of a song of thanksgiving is:

• Worshiper's intent to praise God
• Description of worshiper's experience of suffering followed by deliverance
• Concluding testimony

SONG OF TRUST - a type of psalm which expresses a worshiper's or community's trust in God (e.g., Pss. 23, 91)

SONG OF ZION - a type of psalm which celebrates Jerusalem as the place of God's revelation of His presence and activity in the universe (e.g., Pss. 76, 84).

SOURCE ANALYSIS - analyzing a biblical book to determine the sources, if any, that the author or editor(s) wove together to create the finished text. The recognition in the Book of Genesis of differences in literary style and vocabulary and the occurrences of repetitions and contradictions led to the development of the Documentary Hypothesis theory of the authorship of the Torah. The method has applied in every Hebrew Bible book sometimes with helpful results and sometimes not.

SYNCRETISM - the mixing together of various elements from various religions which forms a new religion or a hybrid religion.