21:24 So 12 Moses spoke these things 13 to Aaron, his sons, and all the Israelites.
21:1 The Lord said to Moses: “Say to the priests, the sons of Aaron – say to them, ‘For a dead person 14 no priest 15 is to defile himself among his people, 16 21:2 except for his close relative who is near to him: 17 his mother, his father, his son, his daughter, his brother, 21:3 and his virgin sister who is near to him, 18 who has no husband; he may defile himself for her. 21:4 He must not defile himself as a husband among his people so as to profane himself. 19 21:5 Priests 20 must not have a bald spot shaved on their head, they must not shave the corner of their beard, and they must not cut slashes in their body. 21
21:6 “‘They must be holy to their God, and they must not profane 22 the name of their God, because they are the ones who present the Lord’s gifts, 23 the food of their God. Therefore they must be holy. 24 21:7 They must not take a wife defiled by prostitution, 25 nor are they to take a wife divorced from her husband, 26 for the priest 27 is holy to his God. 28 21:8 You must sanctify him because he presents the food of your God. He must be holy to you because I, the Lord who sanctifies you all, 29 am holy. 21:9 If a daughter of a priest profanes herself by engaging in prostitution, she is profaning her father. She must be burned to death. 30
21:10 “‘The high 31 priest – who is greater than his brothers, on whose head the anointing oil is poured, who has been ordained 32 to wear the priestly garments – must neither dishevel the hair of his head nor tear his garments. 33 21:11 He must not go where there is any dead person; 34 he must not defile himself even for his father and his mother. 21:12 He must not go out from the sanctuary and must not profane 35 the sanctuary of his God, because the dedication of the anointing oil of his God is on him. I am the Lord. 21:13 He must take a wife who is a virgin. 36 21:14 He must not marry 37 a widow, a divorced woman, or one profaned by prostitution; he may only take a virgin from his people 38 as a wife. 21:15 He must not profane his children among his people, 39 for I am the Lord who sanctifies him.’”
21:16 The Lord spoke to Moses: 21:17 “Tell Aaron, ‘No man from your descendants throughout their generations 40 who has a physical flaw 41 is to approach to present the food of his God. 21:18 Certainly 42 no man who has a physical flaw is to approach: a blind man, or one who is lame, or one with a slit nose, 43 or a limb too long, 21:19 or a man who has had a broken leg or arm, 44 21:20 or a hunchback, or a dwarf, 45 or one with a spot in his eye, 46 or a festering eruption, or a feverish rash, 47 or a crushed testicle.
25:1 The Lord spoke to Moses at Mount Sinai: 25:2 “Speak to the Israelites and tell them, ‘When you enter the land that I am giving you, the land must observe a Sabbath 48 to the Lord. 25:3 Six years you may sow your field, and six years you may prune your vineyard and gather the produce, 49 25:4 but in the seventh year the land must have a Sabbath of complete rest 50 – a Sabbath to the Lord. You must not sow your field or 51 prune your vineyard. 25:5 You must not gather in the aftergrowth of your harvest and you must not pick the grapes of your unpruned 52 vines; the land must have a year of complete rest. 25:6 You may have the Sabbath produce 53 of the land to eat – you, your male servant, your female servant, your hired worker, the resident foreigner who stays with you, 54 25:7 your cattle, and the wild animals that are in your land – all its produce will be for you 55 to eat.
25:8 “‘You must count off 56 seven weeks of years, seven times seven years, 57 and the days of the seven weeks of years will amount to forty-nine years. 58 25:9 You must sound loud horn blasts 59 – in the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, on the Day of Atonement – you must sound the horn in your entire land. 25:10 So you must consecrate the fiftieth year, 60 and you must proclaim a release 61 in the land for all its inhabitants. That year will be your jubilee; 62 each one of you must return 63 to his property and each one of you must return to his clan. 25:11 That fiftieth year will be your jubilee; you must not sow the land, harvest its aftergrowth, or pick the grapes of its unpruned vines. 64 25:12 Because that year is a jubilee, it will be holy to you – you may eat its produce 65 from the field.
25:13 “‘In this year of jubilee you must each return 66 to your property. 25:14 If you make a sale 67 to your fellow citizen 68 or buy 69 from your fellow citizen, no one is to wrong his brother. 70 25:15 You may buy it from your fellow citizen according to the number of years since 71 the last jubilee; he may sell it to you according to the years of produce that are left. 72 25:16 The more years there are, 73 the more you may make its purchase price, and the fewer years there are, 74 the less you must make its purchase price, because he is only selling to you a number of years of 75 produce. 25:17 No one is to oppress his fellow citizen, 76 but you must fear your God, because I am the Lord your God. 25:18 You must obey my statutes and my regulations; you must be sure to keep them 77 so that you may live securely in the land. 78
25:19 “‘The land will give its fruit and you may eat until you are satisfied, 79 and you may live securely in the land. 25:20 If you say, ‘What will we eat in the seventh year if we do not sow and gather our produce?’ 25:21 I will command my blessing for you in the sixth year so that it may yield 80 the produce 81 for three years, 25:22 and you may sow the eighth year and eat from that sixth year’s produce 82 – old produce. Until you bring in the ninth year’s produce, 83 you may eat old produce. 25:23 The land must not be sold without reclaim 84 because the land belongs to me, for you are foreigners and residents with me. 85 25:24 In all your landed property 86 you must provide for the right of redemption of the land. 87
25:25 “‘If your brother becomes impoverished and sells some of his property, his near redeemer is to come to you and redeem what his brother sold. 88 25:26 If a man has no redeemer, but he prospers 89 and gains enough for its redemption, 90 25:27 he is to calculate the value of the years it was sold, 91 refund the balance 92 to the man to whom he had sold it, and return to his property. 25:28 If he has not prospered enough to refund 93 a balance to him, then what he sold 94 will belong to 95 the one who bought it until the jubilee year, but it must revert 96 in the jubilee and the original owner 97 may return to his property.
25:29 “‘If a man sells a residential house in a walled city, 98 its right of redemption must extend 99 until one full year from its sale; 100 its right of redemption must extend to a full calendar year. 101 25:30 If it is not redeemed before the full calendar year is ended, 102 the house in the walled city 103 will belong without reclaim 104 to the one who bought it throughout his generations; it will not revert in the jubilee. 25:31 The houses of villages, however, 105 which have no wall surrounding them 106 must be considered as the field 107 of the land; they will have the right of redemption and must revert in the jubilee. 25:32 As for 108 the cities of the Levites, the houses in the cities which they possess, 109 the Levites must have a perpetual right of redemption. 25:33 Whatever someone among the Levites might redeem – the sale of a house which is his property in a city – must revert in the jubilee, 110 because the houses of the cities of the Levites are their property in the midst of the Israelites. 25:34 Moreover, 111 the open field areas of their cities 112 must not be sold, because that is their perpetual possession.
25:35 “‘If your brother 113 becomes impoverished and is indebted to you, 114 you must support 115 him; he must live 116 with you like a foreign resident. 117 25:36 Do not take interest or profit from him, 118 but you must fear your God and your brother must live 119 with you. 25:37 You must not lend him your money at interest and you must not sell him food for profit. 120 25:38 I am the Lord your God who brought you out from the land of Egypt to give you the land of Canaan – to be your God. 121
25:39 “‘If your brother becomes impoverished with regard to you so that he sells himself to you, you must not subject him to slave service. 122 25:40 He must be with you as a hired worker, as a resident foreigner; 123 he must serve with you until the year of jubilee, 25:41 but then 124 he may go free, 125 he and his children with him, and may return to his family and to the property of his ancestors. 126 25:42 Since they are my servants whom I brought out from the land of Egypt, they must not be sold in a slave sale. 127 25:43 You must not rule over him harshly, 128 but you must fear your God.
25:44 “‘As for your male and female slaves 129 who may belong to you – you may buy male and female slaves from the nations all around you. 130 25:45 Also you may buy slaves 131 from the children of the foreigners who reside with you, and from their families that are 132 with you, whom they have fathered in your land, they may become your property. 25:46 You may give them as inheritance to your children after you to possess as property. You may enslave them perpetually. However, as for your brothers the Israelites, no man may rule over his brother harshly. 133
25:47 “‘If a resident foreigner who is with you prospers 134 and your brother becomes impoverished with regard to him so that 135 he sells himself to a resident foreigner who is with you or to a member 136 of a foreigner’s family, 25:48 after he has sold himself he retains a right of redemption. 137 One of his brothers may redeem him, 25:49 or his uncle or his cousin 138 may redeem him, or anyone of the rest of his blood relatives – his family 139 – may redeem him, or if 140 he prospers he may redeem himself. 25:50 He must calculate with the one who bought him the number of years 141 from the year he sold himself to him until the jubilee year, and the cost of his sale must correspond to the number of years, according to the rate of wages a hired worker would have earned while with him. 142 25:51 If there are still many years, in keeping with them 143 he must refund most of the cost of his purchase for his redemption, 25:52 but if only a few years remain 144 until the jubilee, he must calculate for himself in keeping with the remaining years and refund it for his redemption. 25:53 He must be with the one who bought him 145 like a yearly hired worker. 146 The one who bought him 147 must not rule over him harshly in your sight. 25:54 If, however, 148 he is not redeemed in these ways, he must go free 149 in the jubilee year, he and his children with him, 25:55 because the Israelites are my own servants; 150 they are my servants whom I brought out from the land of Egypt. I am the Lord your God.
1 tn Heb “to their generations.”
2 tn Heb “who in him is a flaw”; cf. KJV, ASV “any blemish”; NASB, NIV “a defect.” The rendering “physical flaw” is used to refer to any birth defect or physical injury of the kind described in the following verses (cf. the same Hebrew word also in Lev 24:19-20). The same term is used for “flawed” animals, which must not be offered to the
3 tn The particle כִּי (ki) in this context is asseverative, indicating absolutely certainty (GKC 498 §159.ee).
4 tn Lexically, the Hebrew term חָרֻם (kharum) seems to refer to a split nose or perhaps any number of other facial defects (HALOT 354 s.v. II חרם qal; cf. G. J. Wenham, Leviticus [NICOT], 292, n. 7); cf. KJV, ASV “a flat nose”; NASB “a disfigured face.” The NJPS translation is “a limb too short” as a balance to the following term which means “extended, raised,” and apparently refers to “a limb too long” (see the explanation in B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 146).
5 tn Heb “who there is in him a broken leg or a broken arm,” or perhaps “broken foot or broken hand.” The Hebrew term רֶגֶל (regel) is commonly rendered “foot,” but it can also refer to the “leg,” and the Hebrew יָד (yad) is most often translated “hand,” but can also refer to the “[fore]arm” (as opposed to כַּף, kaf, “palm of the hand” or “hand”). See HALOT 386 s.v. יָד and 1184 s.v. רֶגֶל respectively (cf. the NJPS translation). In this context, these terms probably apply to any part of the limb that was broken, including hand and the foot. B. A. Levine (Leviticus [JPSTC], 146) points out that such injuries often did not heal properly in antiquity because they were not properly set and, therefore, remained a “physical flaw” permanently.
7 tn Heb “thin”; cf. NAB “weakly.” This could refer to either an exceptionally small (i.e., dwarfed) man (B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 146) or perhaps one with a “withered limb” (J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 342, 344).
8 tn The term rendered “spot” derives from a root meaning “mixed” or “confused” (cf. NAB “walleyed”). It apparently refers to any kind of marked flaw in the eye that can be seen by others. Smr, Syriac, Tg. Onq., and Tg. Ps.-J. have plural “his eyes.”
9 tn The exact meaning and medical reference of the terms rendered “festering eruption” and “feverish rash” is unknown, but see the translations and remarks in B. A. Levine, Leviticus (JPSTC), 146; J. E. Hartley, Leviticus (WBC), 342, 344, 349-50; and R. K. Harrison, NIDOTTE 1:890 and 2:461.
9 tn Or “shall approach” (see HALOT 670 s.v. נגשׁ).
11 sn See the note on Lev 16:2 for the rendering “veil-canopy.”
12 tn Heb “And.” The Hebrew conjunction ו (vav, “and”) can be considered to have resultative force here.
13 tn Heb “And.” The Hebrew conjunction ו (vav, “and”) introduces a concluding statement for all the preceding material.
14 tn The words “these things” are not in the Hebrew text, but have been supplied in the translation for clarity.
15 tn The Hebrew term נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh, “soul, person, life”) can sometimes refer to a “dead person” (cf. Lev 19:28 above and the literature cited there).
16 tn Heb “no one,” but “priest” has been used in the translation to clarify that these restrictions are limited to the priests, not to the Israelites in general (note the introductory formula, “say to the priests, the sons of Aaron”).
17 tc The MT has “in his peoples,” but Smr, LXX, Syriac, Targum, and Tg. Ps.-J. have “in his people,” referring to the Israelites as a whole.
17 tn Heb “except for his flesh, the one near to him.”
19 tn Cf. v. 2a.
21 tn Heb “He shall not defile himself a husband in his peoples, to profane himself.” The meaning of the line is disputed, but it appears to prohibit a priest from burying any relative by marriage (as opposed to the blood relatives of vv. 2-3), including his wife (compare B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 142-43 with J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 343, 348).
23 tn Heb “they”; the referent (priests, see the beginning of v. 1) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
24 tn Heb “and in their body they shall not [cut] slash[es]” (cf. Lev 19:28). The context connects these sorts of mutilations with mourning rites (cf. Lev 19:27-28 above).
25 sn Regarding “profane,” see the note on Lev 10:10 above.
26 sn Regarding the Hebrew term for “gifts,” see the note on Lev 1:9 above (cf. also 3:11 and 16 in combination with the word for “food” that follows in the next phrase here).
27 tc Smr and all early versions have the plural adjective “holy” rather than the MT singular noun “holiness.”
27 tn Heb “A wife harlot and profaned they shall not take.” The structure of the verse (e.g., “wife” at the beginning of the two main clauses) suggests that “harlot and profaned” constitutes a hendiadys, meaning “a wife defiled by harlotry” (see the explanation in B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 143, as opposed to that in J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 343, 348; cf. v. 14 below). Cf. NASB “a woman who is profaned by harlotry.”
28 sn For a helpful discussion of divorce in general and as it relates to this passage see B. A. Levine, Leviticus (JPSTC), 143-44.
29 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the priest) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
30 tn The pronoun “he” in this clause refers to the priest, not the former husband of the divorced woman.
29 tn The three previous second person references in this verse are all singular, but this reference is plural. By adding “all” this grammatical distinction is preserved in the translation.
31 tn See the note on “burned to death” in 20:14.
33 tn The adjective “high” has been supplied in the translation for clarity, as in many English versions.
34 tn Heb “and he has filled his hand.” For this expression see the note on Lev 8:33.
35 tn Regarding these signs of mourning see the note on Lev 10:6. His head had been anointed (v. 10a) so it must not be unkempt (v. 10b), and his garments were special priestly garments (v. 10a) so he must not tear them (v. 10b). In the translation “garments” has been employed rather than “clothes” to suggest that the special priestly garments are referred to here; cf. NRSV “nor tear his vestments.”
35 tc Although the MT has “persons” (plural), the LXX and Syriac have the singular “person” corresponding to the singular adjectival participle “dead” (cf. also Num 6:6).
37 sn Regarding “profane,” see the note on Lev 10:10 above.
39 tn Heb “And he, a wife in her virginity he shall take.”
41 tn Heb “take.” In context this means “take as wife,” i.e., “marry.”
42 tc The MT has literally, “from his peoples,” but Smr, LXX, Syriac, Targum, and Tg. Ps.-J. have “from his people,” referring to the Israelites as a whole.
43 tc The MT has literally, “in his peoples,” but Smr, LXX, Syriac, Targum, and Tg. Ps.-J. have “in his people,” referring to the Israelites as a whole.
45 tn Heb “to their generations.”
46 tn Heb “who in him is a flaw”; cf. KJV, ASV “any blemish”; NASB, NIV “a defect.” The rendering “physical flaw” is used to refer to any birth defect or physical injury of the kind described in the following verses (cf. the same Hebrew word also in Lev 24:19-20). The same term is used for “flawed” animals, which must not be offered to the
47 tn The particle כִּי (ki) in this context is asseverative, indicating absolutely certainty (GKC 498 §159.ee).
48 tn Lexically, the Hebrew term חָרֻם (kharum) seems to refer to a split nose or perhaps any number of other facial defects (HALOT 354 s.v. II חרם qal; cf. G. J. Wenham, Leviticus [NICOT], 292, n. 7); cf. KJV, ASV “a flat nose”; NASB “a disfigured face.” The NJPS translation is “a limb too short” as a balance to the following term which means “extended, raised,” and apparently refers to “a limb too long” (see the explanation in B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 146).
49 tn Heb “who there is in him a broken leg or a broken arm,” or perhaps “broken foot or broken hand.” The Hebrew term רֶגֶל (regel) is commonly rendered “foot,” but it can also refer to the “leg,” and the Hebrew יָד (yad) is most often translated “hand,” but can also refer to the “[fore]arm” (as opposed to כַּף, kaf, “palm of the hand” or “hand”). See HALOT 386 s.v. יָד and 1184 s.v. רֶגֶל respectively (cf. the NJPS translation). In this context, these terms probably apply to any part of the limb that was broken, including hand and the foot. B. A. Levine (Leviticus [JPSTC], 146) points out that such injuries often did not heal properly in antiquity because they were not properly set and, therefore, remained a “physical flaw” permanently.
51 tn Heb “thin”; cf. NAB “weakly.” This could refer to either an exceptionally small (i.e., dwarfed) man (B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 146) or perhaps one with a “withered limb” (J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 342, 344).
52 tn The term rendered “spot” derives from a root meaning “mixed” or “confused” (cf. NAB “walleyed”). It apparently refers to any kind of marked flaw in the eye that can be seen by others. Smr, Syriac, Tg. Onq., and Tg. Ps.-J. have plural “his eyes.”
53 tn The exact meaning and medical reference of the terms rendered “festering eruption” and “feverish rash” is unknown, but see the translations and remarks in B. A. Levine, Leviticus (JPSTC), 146; J. E. Hartley, Leviticus (WBC), 342, 344, 349-50; and R. K. Harrison, NIDOTTE 1:890 and 2:461.
53 tn Heb “the land shall rest a Sabbath.”
55 tn 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 B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 170).
57 tn 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. Cf. ASV “a sabbath of solemn rest”; NAB “a complete rest.”
58 tn Heb “and.” Here the Hebrew conjunction ו (vav, “and”) has an alternative sense (“or”).
59 tn Heb “consecrated, devoted, forbidden” (נָזִיר, nazir). 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.
61 tn The word “produce” is not in the Hebrew text but is implied; cf. NASB “the sabbath products.”
62 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 (B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 170-71). See v. 35 below.
63 tn The words “for you” are implied.
65 tn Heb “And you shall count off for yourself.”
66 tn Heb “seven years seven times.”
67 tn Heb “and they shall be for you, the days of the seven Sabbaths of years, forty-nine years.”
67 sn On the “loud horn blasts” see the note on Lev 23:24, but unlike the language there, the Hebrew term for “horn” (שׁוֹפָר, shofar) actually appears here in this verse (twice).
69 tn Heb “the year of the fifty years,” or perhaps “the year, fifty years” (GKC 435 §134.o, note 2).
70 tn Cf. KJV, ASV, NAB, NIV, NRSV “liberty”; TEV, CEV “freedom.” 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 J. E. Hartley, Leviticus (WBC), 427-34, and B. A. Levine, Leviticus (JPSTC), 270-74.
71 tn Heb “A jubilee that shall be to you.” Although there has been some significant debate about the original meaning of the Hebrew word translated “jubilee” (יוֹבֵל, yovel; see the summary in J. E. 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 B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 172, and the literature cited there).
72 tn Heb “you [plural] shall return, a man.”
71 tn Heb “you shall not sow and you shall not…and you shall not….”
73 tn That is, the produce of the land (fem.; cf. v. 7 above).
75 tn Heb “you [plural] shall return, a man.”
77 tn Heb “sell a sale.”
78 tn Or “to one of your countrymen” (NIV); NASB “to your friend.”
79 tn The Hebrew infinitive absolute קָנֹה (qanoh, “buying”) substitutes for the finite verb here in sequence with the previous finite verb “sell” at the beginning of the verse (see GKC 345 §113.z).
80 tn Heb “do not oppress a man his brother.” Here “brother” does not refer only to a sibling, but to a fellow Israelite.
79 tn Heb “in the number of years after.”
80 tn The words “that are left” are not in the Hebrew text, but are implied.
81 tn Heb “To the mouth of the many years.”
82 tn Heb “to the mouth of the few years.”
83 tn Heb “a number of produce”; the words “years of” are implied. As an alternative this could be translated “a number of harvests” (cf. NRSV, NLT).
83 tn Heb “And you shall not oppress a man his fellow citizen.”
85 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 386 §120.d, although שָׁמַר [shamar, “to keep”] is not cited there; cf. Lev 20:8, etc.).
86 tn Heb “and you shall dwell on the land to security.”
87 tn Heb “eat to satisfaction”; KJV, ASV “ye shall eat your fill.”
89 tn Heb “and it [i.e., the land] shall make the produce.” The Hebrew term וְעָשָׂת (vÿ’asat, “and it shall make”) is probably an older third feminine singular form of the verb (GKC 210 §75.m). Smr has the normal form.
90 tn Smr and LXX have “its produce” (cf. 25:3, 7, etc.) rather than “the produce.”
91 tn Heb “the produce,” referring to “the produce” of the sixth year of v. 21. The words “sixth year” are supplied for clarity.
92 tn Heb “until the ninth year, until bringing [in] its produce.”
93 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 B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 174).
94 tn That is, the Israelites were strangers and residents who were attached to the
95 tn Heb “And in all the land of your property.”
96 tn Heb “right of redemption you shall give to the land”; NAB “you must permit the land to be redeemed.”
97 tn Heb “the sale of his brother.”
99 tn Heb “and his hand reaches.”
100 tn Heb “and he finds as sufficiency of its redemption.”
101 tn Heb “and he shall calculate its years of sale.”
102 tn Heb “and return the excess.”
103 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 B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 176), the combination of terms in Hebrew corresponds to the portion of v. 27 that refers specifically to refunding the money (cf. v. 27; see NIV and G. J. Wenham, Leviticus [NICOT], 315).
104 tn Heb “his sale.”
105 tn Heb “will be in the hand of.” This refers to the temporary control of the one who purchased its produce until the next year of jubilee, at which time it would revert to the original owner.
106 tn Heb “it shall go out” (so KJV, ASV; see B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 176).
107 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the original owner of the land) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
105 tn Heb “a house of a residence of a walled city.”
106 tn Heb “shall be.”
107 tn Heb “of its sale.”
108 tn Heb “days its right of redemption shall be” (see B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 176).
107 tn Heb “until fulfilling to it a complete year.’
108 tn Heb “the house which [is] in the city which to it [is] a wall.” The Kethib has לֹא (lo’, “no, not”) rather than לוֹ (lo, “to it”) which is the Qere.
109 tn See the note on v. 23 above.
109 tn Heb “And the houses of the villages.”
110 tn Heb “which there is not to them a wall.”
111 tn Heb “on the field.”
111 tn Heb “And.”
112 tn Heb “the houses of the cities of their property.”
113 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; J. E. 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; G. J. 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. In this case the first part of the verse would be translated, “Such property as may be redeemed from the Levites” (NRSV, NJPS). At the first jubilee, however, all such houses became the property of the Levites (v. 33b; P. J. 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 (B. A. 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 present translation is intended to reflect this latter view.
115 tn Heb “And.”
116 sn This refers to the region of fields just outside and surrounding the city where cattle were kept and garden crops were grown (B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 177).
117 tn It is not clear to whom this refers. It is probably broader than “sibling” (cf. NRSV “any of your kin”; NLT “any of your Israelite relatives”) but some English versions take it to mean “fellow Israelite” (so TEV; cf. NAB, NIV “countrymen”) and others are ambiguous (cf. CEV “any of your people”).
118 tn Heb “and his hand slips with you.”
119 tn Heb “strengthen”; NASB “sustain.”
120 tn The form וָחַי (vakhay, “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 s.v. חיה qal, and GKC 218 §76.i; cf. Lev 18:5).
121 tn Heb “a foreigner and resident,” which is probably to be combined (see B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 170-71).
119 tn The meaning of the terms rendered “interest” and “profit” is much debated (see the summaries in P. J. Budd, Leviticus [NCBC], 354-55 and B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 178). Verse 37, however, suggests that the first refers to a percentage of money and the second percentage of produce (see J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 421).
120 tn In form the Hebrew term וְחֵי (vÿkhey, “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 218 §76.i).
121 tn Heb “your money” and “your food.” With regard to “interest” and “profit” see the note on v. 36 above.
123 tn Heb “to be to you for a God.”
125 tn Heb “you shall not serve against him service of a slave.” A distinction is being made here between the status of slave and indentured servant.
127 tn See the note on Lev 25:6 above.
129 tn Heb “and.” The Hebrew conjunction ו (vav, “and”) can be considered to have adversative force here.
130 tn Heb “may go out from you.”
131 tn Heb “fathers.”
131 tn Or perhaps reflexive Niphal rather than passive, “they shall not sell themselves [as in] a slave sale.”
133 tn Heb “You shall not rule in him in violence”; cf. NASB “with severity”; NIV “ruthlessly.”
135 tn Heb “And your male slave and your female slave.” Smr has these as plural terms, “slaves,” not singular.
136 tn Heb “ from the nations which surround you, from them you shall buy male slave and female slave.”
137 tn The word “slaves” is not in the Hebrew text, but is implied here.
138 tn Heb “family which is” (i.e., singular rather than plural).
139 tn Heb “and your brothers, the sons of Israel, a man in his brother you shall not rule in him in violence.”
141 tn Heb “And if the hand of a foreigner and resident with you reaches” (cf. v. 26 for this idiom).
142 tn Heb “and.” The Hebrew conjunction ו (vav, “and”) can be considered to have resultative force here.
143 tn Heb “offshoot, descendant.”
143 tn Heb “right of redemption shall be to him.”
145 tn Heb “the son of his uncle.”
146 tn Heb “or from the remainder of his flesh from his family.”
147 tc The LXX, followed by the Syriac, actually has “if,” which is not in the MT.
147 tn Heb “the years.”
148 tn Heb “as days of a hired worker he shall be with him.” For this and the following verses see the explanation in P. J. Budd, Leviticus (NCBC), 358-59.
149 tn Heb “to the mouth of them.”
151 tn Heb “but if a little remains in the years.”
153 tn Heb “be with him”; the referent (the one who bought him) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
154 tn Heb “As a hired worker year in year.”
155 tn Heb “He”; the referent (the one who bought him) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
155 tn Heb “And if.”
156 tn Heb “go out.”
157 tn Heb “because to me the sons of Israel are servants.”