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 B. A. 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. Cf. ASV “a sabbath of solemn rest”; NAB “a complete rest.”

4tn Heb “and.” Here the Hebrew conjunction ו (vav, “and”) has an alternative sense (“or”).

5tn 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.

6tn The word “produce” is not in the Hebrew text but is implied; cf. NASB “the sabbath products.”

7tn 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.

8tn The words “for you” are implied.

9tn Heb “And you shall count off for yourself.”

10tn Heb “seven years seven times.”

11tn Heb “and they shall be for you, the days of the seven Sabbaths of years, forty-nine years.”

12sn 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).

13tn Heb “the year of the fifty years,” or perhaps “the year, fifty years” (GKC 435 §134.o, note 2).

14tn 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.

15tn 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).

16tn Heb “you [plural] shall return, a man.”

17tn Heb “you shall not sow and you shall not…and you shall not….”

sn See v. 5 above and the notes there.

18tn That is, the produce of the land (fem.; cf. v. 7 above).

19tn Heb “you [plural] shall return, a man.”

20tn Heb “sell a sale.”

21tn Or “to one of your countrymen” (NIV); NASB “to your friend.”

22tn 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).

23tn Heb “do not oppress a man his brother.” Here “brother” does not refer only to a sibling, but to a fellow Israelite.

24tn Heb “in the number of years after.”

25tn The words “that are left” are not in the Hebrew text, but are implied.

sn The purchaser is actually buying only 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.

26tn Heb “To the mouth of the many years.”

27tn Heb “to the mouth of the few years.”

28tn 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).

29tn Heb “And you shall not oppress a man his fellow citizen.”

30tn 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.).

31tn Heb “and you shall dwell on the land to security.”

32tn Heb “eat to satisfaction”; KJV, ASV “ye shall eat your fill.”

33tn Heb “and it [i.e., the land] shall make the produce.” The Hebrew term וְעָשָׂת (v˙’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.

34tn Smr and LXX have “its produce” (cf. 25:3, 7, etc.) rather than “the produce.”

35tn Heb “the produce,” referring to “the produce” of the sixth year of v. 21. The words “sixth year” are supplied for clarity.

36tn Heb “until the ninth year, until bringing [in] its produce.”

37tn 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).

38tn 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.

39tn Heb “And in all the land of your property.”

40tn Heb “right of redemption you shall give to the land”; NAB “you must permit the land to be redeemed.”

41tn Heb “the sale of his brother.”

42tn Heb “and his hand reaches.”

43tn Heb “and he finds as sufficiency of its redemption.”

44tn Heb “and he shall calculate its years of sale.”

45tn Heb “and return the excess.”

46tn 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).

47tn Heb “his sale.”

48tn 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.

49tn Heb “it shall go out” (so KJV, ASV; see B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 176).

50tn Heb “he”; the referent (the original owner of the land) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

51tn Heb “a house of a residence of a walled city.”

52tn Heb “shall be.”

53tn Heb “of its sale.”

54tn Heb “days its right of redemption shall be” (see B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 176).

55tn Heb “until fulfilling to it a complete year.’

56tn 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.

57tn See the note on v. 23 above.

58tn Heb “And the houses of the villages.”

59tn Heb “which there is not to them a wall.”

60tn Heb “on the field.”

61tn Heb “And.”

62tn Heb “the houses of the cities of their property.”

63tn 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.

64tn Heb “And.”

65sn 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).

66tn 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”).

67tn Heb “and his hand slips with you.”

68tn Heb “strengthen”; NASB “sustain.”

69tn 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).

70tn Heb “a foreigner and resident,” which is probably to be combined (see B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 170-71).

71tn 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).

72tn In form the Hebrew term וְחֵי (v˙khey, “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).

73tn Heb “your money” and “your food.” With regard to “interest” and “profit” see the note on v. 36 above.

74tn Heb “to be to you for a God.”

75tn 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.

76tn See the note on Lev 25:6 above.

77tn Heb “and.” The Hebrew conjunction ו (vav, “and”) can be considered to have adversative force here.

78tn Heb “may go out from you.”

79tn Heb “fathers.”

80tn Or perhaps reflexive Niphal rather than passive, “they shall not sell themselves [as in] a slave sale.”

81tn Heb “You shall not rule in him in violence”; cf. NASB “with severity”; NIV “ruthlessly.”

82tn Heb “And your male slave and your female slave.” Smr has these as plural terms, “slaves,” not singular.

83tn Heb “ from the nations which surround you, from them you shall buy male slave and female slave.”

84tn The word “slaves” is not in the Hebrew text, but is implied here.

85tn Heb “family which is” (i.e., singular rather than plural).

86tn Heb “and your brothers, the sons of Israel, a man in his brother you shall not rule in him in violence.”

87tn Heb “And if the hand of a foreigner and resident with you reaches” (cf. v. 26 for this idiom).

88tn Heb “and.” The Hebrew conjunction ו (vav, “and”) can be considered to have resultative force here.

89tn Heb “offshoot, descendant.”

90tn Heb “right of redemption shall be to him.”

91tn Heb “the son of his uncle.”

92tn Heb “or from the remainder of his flesh from his family.”

93tc The LXX, followed by the Syriac, actually has “if,” which is not in the MT.

94tn Heb “the years.”

95tn 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.

96tn Heb “to the mouth of them.”

97tn Heb “but if a little remains in the years.”

98tn Heb “be with him”; the referent (the one who bought him) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

99tn Heb “As a hired worker year in year.”

100tn Heb “He”; the referent (the one who bought him) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

101tn Heb “And if.”

102tn Heb “go out.”

103tn Heb “because to me the sons of Israel are servants.”