¹tn Heb “the land shall rest a Sabbath.”
²tn Heb “its produce,” but the feminine pronoun “its” probably refers to the “land” (a feminine noun in Hebrew; cf. v. 2), not the “field” or the “vineyard,” both of which are normally masculine nouns (see Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 170).
³tn Heb “and in the seventh year a Sabbath of complete rest shall be to the land.” The expression “a Sabbath of complete rest” is superlative, emphasizing the full and all inclusive rest of the seventh year of the sabbatical cycle.
⁴tn Heb “and.”
⁵tn Heb “consecrated, devoted, forbidden” (ryz]n`). The same term is used for the “consecration” of the “Nazirite” (and his hair, Num 6:2, 18, etc.), a designation which, in turn, derives from the very same root.
<sup>6</sup>tn The word “produce” is not in the Hebrew text but is implied.
<sup>7</sup>tn A “resident who stays” would be a foreign person who was probably residing as another kind of laborer in the household of a landowner (Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 170-171). See v. 35 below.
<sup>8</sup>tn The words “for you” are implied.
<sup>9</sup>tn Heb “And you shall count off for yourself.”
<sup>10</sup>tn Heb “seven years seven times.”
<sup>11</sup>tn Heb “and they shall be for you, the days of the seven Sabbaths of years, forty-nine years.”
<sup>12</sup>sn On the “loud horn blasts” see the note on Lev 23:24, but unlike the language there, the Hebrew term for “horn” (rp*ov) actually appears here in this verse (twice).
<sup>13</sup>tn Heb “the year of the fifty years,” or perhaps “the year, fifty years” (GKC §134.o, note 2).
<sup>14</sup>tn The characteristics of this “release” are detailed in the following verses. For substantial summaries and bibliography on the biblical and ancient Near Eastern material regarding such a “release” see Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 427-434 and Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 270-274.
<sup>15</sup>tn Heb “A jubilee that shall be to you.” See v. 11a on the pronoun “that.”
sn Although there has been some significant debate about the original meaning of the Hebrew word translated “jubilee” (lb@oy [yob@l], see the summary in Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 434), the term most likely means “ram” and can refer also to a “ram’s horn.” The fiftieth year would, therefore, be called the “jubilee” because of the associated sounding of the “ram’s horn” (see Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 172 and the literature cited there).
<sup>16</sup>tn Heb “you [plural] shall return, a man.”
<sup>17</sup>tn Heb “you shall not sow and you shall not…and you shall not….”
sn See v. 5 above and the notes there.
<sup>18</sup>tn That is, the produce of the land (fem.; cf. v. 7 above).
<sup>19</sup>tn Heb “you [plural] shall return, a man.”
<sup>20</sup>tn Heb “sell a sale.”
<sup>21</sup>tn Or “countryman” (NIV).
<sup>22</sup>tn The Hebrew infinitive absolute hn{q* (“buying”) substitutes for the finite verb here in sequence with the previous finite verb “sell” at the beginning of the verse (see GKC §113.z).
<sup>23</sup>tn Heb “do not oppress a man his brother.” Here “brother” does not refer only to a sibling, but to a fellow Israelite.
<sup>24</sup>tn Heb “in the number of years after.”
<sup>25</sup>tn The words “that are left” are not in the Hebrew text, but are implied.
sn That is, the person is buying the crops that the land will produce until the next jubilee, since the land will revert to the original owner at that time. The purchaser, therefore, is not actually buying the land itself.
<sup>26</sup>tn Heb “To the mouth of the many years.”
<sup>27</sup>tn Heb “to the mouth of the few years.”
<sup>28</sup>tn Heb “a number of produce”; the words “years of” are implied.
<sup>29</sup>tn Heb “And you shall not oppress a man his fellow citizen.”
<sup>30</sup>tn Heb “And you shall keep and do them.” This appears to be a kind of verbal hendiadys, where the first verb is a modifier of the action of the second verb (see GKC §120.d, although rmv “to keep” is not cited there; cf. Lev 20:8, etc.).
<sup>31</sup>tn Heb “and you shall dwell on the land to security.”
<sup>32</sup>tn Heb “eat to satisfaction.”
<sup>33</sup>tn Heb “and it [i.e., the land] shall make the produce.” The Hebrew term tc*u*w+ (“and it shall make”) is probably an older third feminine singular form of the verb (GKC §75.m). The Samaritan Pentateuch has the normal form.
<sup>34</sup>tn The Samaritan Pentateuch and LXX have “its produce” (cf. 25:3, 7, etc.) rather than “the produce.”
<sup>35</sup>tn Heb “the produce,” referring to “the produce” of the sixth year of v. 21. The words “sixth year” are supplied for clarity.
<sup>36</sup>tn Heb “until the ninth year, until bringing [in] its produce.”
<sup>37</sup>tn The term rendered “without reclaim” means that the land has been bought for the full price and is, therefore, not subject to reclaim under any circumstances. This was not to be done with land in ancient Israel (contrast the final full sale of houses in v. 30; see the evidence cited in Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 174).
<sup>38</sup>tn That is, the Israelites were strangers and residents who were attached to the Lord’s household. They did not own the land. Note the parallel to the “priest’s lodger” in Lev 22:10.
<sup>39</sup>tn Heb “And in all the land of your property.”
<sup>40</sup>tn Heb “right of redemption you shall give to the land.’
<sup>41</sup>tn Heb “the sale of his brother.”
<sup>42</sup>tn Heb “and his hand reaches.”
<sup>43</sup>tn Heb “and he finds as sufficiency of its redemption.”
<sup>44</sup>tn Heb “and he shall calculate its years of sale.”
<sup>45</sup>tn Heb “and return the excess.”
<sup>46</sup>tn Heb “And if his hand has not found sufficiency of returning.” Although some versions take this to mean that he has not made enough to regain the land (e.g., NASB, NRSV; see also Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 176), the combination of terms in Hebrew corresponds to the portion of v. 27 that it refers specifically to refunding the money (cf. v. 27; see NIV and Wenham, Leviticus, NICOT, 315).
<sup>47</sup>tn Heb “his sale.”
<sup>48</sup>tn Heb “and it shall go out” (see Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 176).
<sup>49</sup>tn Heb “a house of a residence of a walled city.”
<sup>50</sup>tn Heb “shall be.”
<sup>51</sup>tn Heb “of its sale.”
<sup>52</sup>tn Heb “days its right of redemption shall be” (see Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 176).
<sup>53</sup>tn Heb “until fulfilling to it a complete year.’
<sup>54</sup>tn Heb “the house which [is] in the city which to it [is] a wall.” The Kethib has aO (“no; not”) rather than ol (“to it”) which is the Qere.
<sup>55</sup>tn See the note on v. 23 above.
<sup>56</sup>tn Heb “And the houses of the villages.”
<sup>57</sup>tn Heb “which there is not to them a wall.”
<sup>58</sup>tn Heb “on the field.”
<sup>59</sup>tn Heb “And.”
<sup>60</sup>tn Heb “the houses of the cities of their property.”
<sup>61</sup>tn Heb “And which he shall redeem from the Levites shall go out, sale of house and city, his property in the jubilee.” Although the end of this verse is clear, the first part is notoriously difficult. There are five main views. (1) The first clause of the verse actually attaches to the previous verse, and refers to the fact that their houses retain a perpetual right of redemption (v. 32b), “which any of the Levites may exercise” (v. 33a; Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 418, 421). (2) It refers to property that one Levite sells to another Levite, which is then redeemed by still another Levite (v. 33a). In such cases, the property reverts to the original Levite owner in the jubilee year (v. 33b; Wenham, Leviticus, NICOT, 321). (3) It refers to houses in a city that had come to be declared as a Levitical city but had original non-Levitical owners. Once the city was declared to belong to the Levites, however, an owner could only sell his house to a Levite, and he could only redeem it back from a Levite up until the time of the first jubilee after the city was declared to be a Levitical city. Thus, the first part of the verse translates, “Such property as may be redeemed from the Levites” (NRSV and NJPS). At the first jubilee, however, all such houses became the property of the Levites (v. 33b; Budd, Leviticus, NCBC, 353). (4) It refers to property “which is appropriated from the Levites” (not ‘redeemed from the Levites,’ v. 33a) by those who have bought it or taken it as security for debts owed to them by Levites who had fallen on bad times. Again, such property reverts back to the original Levite owners at the jubilee (Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 177). (5) It simply refers to the fact that a Levite has the option of redeeming his house (i.e., the prefix form of the verb is taken to be subjunctive, “may or might redeem”), which he had to sell because he had fallen into debt or perhaps even become destitute. Even if he never gained the resources to do so, however, it would still revert to him in the jubilee year. The rendering offered in the main text above is intended to reflect this latter view.
<sup>62</sup>tn Heb “And.”
<sup>63</sup>sn This refers to the region of fields just outside and surrounding the city where cattle were kept and garden crops were grown (Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 177).
<sup>64</sup>tn Heb “and his hand slips with you.”
<sup>65</sup>tn Heb “strengthen.”
<sup>66</sup>tn The form yj^w` (“and shall live”) looks like the adjective “living,” but the MT form is simply the same verb written as a double ayin verb (see HALOT 309 [a] and GKC §76.i; cf. Lev 18:5).
⁶⁷tn Heb “a foreigner and resident,” which is probably to be combined (see Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 171 remark on Lev 25:6, and the note there above).
⁶⁸tn The meaning of the terms rendered “interest” and “profit” is much debated (see the summaries in Budd, Leviticus, NCBC, 354-355 and Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 178). Verse 37, however, suggests that the first refers to a percentage of money and the second percentage of produce (see Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 421).
⁶⁹tn In form the Hebrew term yj@w+ (“shall live”) is the construct plural noun (i.e., “the life of”), but here it is used as the finite verb (cf. v. 35 and GKC §76.i).
⁷⁰tn Heb “your money” and “your food.” With regard to “interest” and “profit” see the note on v. 36 above.
⁷¹tn Heb “to be to you for a God.”
⁷²tn Heb “you shall not serve against him service of a slave.”
⁷³tn See the note on Lev 25:6 above.
⁷⁴tn Heb “and.”
⁷⁵tn Heb “may go out from you.”
⁷⁶tn Heb “fathers.”
⁷⁷tn Or perhaps reflexive Niphal rather than passive, “they shall not sell themselves [as in] a slave sale.”
⁷⁸tn Heb “You shall not rule in him in violence.”
⁷⁹tn Heb “And your male slave and your female slave.” The Samaritan Pentateuch has these as plural terms, “slaves,” not singular.
⁸⁰tn Heb “ from the nations which surround you, from them you shall buy male slave and female slave.”
⁸¹tn The word “slaves” is not in the Hebrew text, but is implied here.
⁸²tn Heb “family which is,” singular.
⁸³tn Heb “and your brothers, the sons of Israel, a man in his brother you shall not rule in him in violence.”
⁸⁴tn Heb “And if the hand of a foreigner and resident with you reaches” (cf. v. 26 for this idiom).
⁸⁵tn Heb “and.”
⁸⁶tn Heb “offshoot, descendant.”
⁸⁷tn Heb “right of redemption shall be to him.”
⁸⁸tn Heb “the son of his uncle.”
⁸⁹tn Heb “or from the remainder of his flesh from his family.”
⁹⁰tc The LXX, followed by the Syriac, actually has “if,” which is not in the MT.
⁹¹tn Heb “the years.”
⁹²tn Heb “as days of a hired worker he shall be with him.” For this and the following verses see the explanation in Budd, Leviticus, NCBC, 358-359.
⁹³tn Heb “to the mouth of them.”
⁹⁴tn Heb “but if a little remains in the years.”
⁹⁵tn Heb “be with him”; the referent (the one who bought him) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
⁹⁶tn Heb “As a hired worker year in year.”
⁹⁷tn Heb “He”; the referent (the one who bought him) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
⁹⁸tn Heb “And if.”
⁹⁹tn Heb “go out.”
¹⁰⁰tn Heb “because to me the sons of Israel are servants.”