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Leviticus 25-27
New English Translation

Regulations for the Sabbatical Year

25 The Lord spoke to Moses at Mount Sinai: 2 “Speak to the Israelites and tell them, ‘When you enter the land that I am giving you, the land must observe a Sabbath[a] to the Lord. 3 Six years you may sow your field, and six years you may prune your vineyard and gather the produce,[b] 4 but in the seventh year the land must have a Sabbath of complete rest[c]—a Sabbath to the Lord. You must not sow your field or[d] prune your vineyard. 5 You must not gather in the aftergrowth of your harvest and you must not pick the grapes of your unpruned vines;[e] the land must have a year of complete rest. 6 You may have the Sabbath produce[f] of the land to eat—you, your male servant, your female servant, your hired worker, the resident foreigner who stays with you,[g] 7 your cattle, and the wild animals that are in your land—all its produce will be for you[h] to eat.

Regulations for the Jubilee Year of Release

8 “‘You must count off[i] seven weeks of years, seven times seven years,[j] and the days of the seven weeks of years will amount to forty-nine years.[k] 9 You must sound loud horn blasts[l]—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. 10 So you must consecrate the fiftieth year,[m] and you must proclaim a release[n] in the land for all its inhabitants. That year will be your Jubilee;[o] each one of you must return[p] to his property and each one of you must return to his clan. 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.[q] 12 Because that year is a Jubilee, it will be holy to you—you may eat its produce[r] from the field.

Release of Landed Property

13 “‘In this Year of Jubilee you must each return[s] to your property. 14 If you make a sale[t] to your fellow citizen[u] or buy[v] from your fellow citizen, no one is to wrong his brother.[w] 15 You may buy it from your fellow citizen according to the number of years since[x] the last Jubilee; he may sell it to you according to the years of produce that are left.[y] 16 The more years there are,[z] the more you may make its purchase price, and the fewer years there are,[aa] the less you must make its purchase price, because he is only selling to you a number of years of[ab] produce. 17 No one is to oppress his fellow citizen,[ac] but you must fear your God, because I am the Lord your God. 18 You must obey my statutes and my regulations; you must be sure to keep them[ad] so that you may live securely in the land.[ae]

19 “‘The land will give its fruit and you may eat until you are satisfied,[af] and you may live securely in the land. 20 If you say, “What will we eat in the seventh year if we do not sow and gather our produce?” 21 I will command my blessing for you in the sixth year so that it may yield[ag] the produce[ah] for three years, 22 and you may sow the eighth year and eat from that sixth year’s produce[ai]—old produce. Until you bring in the ninth year’s produce,[aj] you may eat old produce. 23 The land must not be sold without reclaim[ak] because the land belongs to me, for you are foreign residents, temporary settlers, with me.[al] 24 In all your landed property[am] you must provide for the right of redemption of the land.[an]

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.[ao] 26 If a man has no redeemer, but he prospers[ap] and gains enough for its redemption,[aq] 27 he is to calculate the value of the years it was sold,[ar] refund the balance[as] to the man to whom he had sold it, and return to his property. 28 If he has not prospered enough to refund[at] a balance to him, then what he sold[au] will belong to[av] the one who bought it until the Jubilee year, but it must revert[aw] in the Jubilee and the original owner[ax] may return to his property.

Release of Houses

29 “‘If a man sells a residential house in a walled city,[ay] its right of redemption must extend[az] until one full year from its sale;[ba] its right of redemption must extend to a full calendar year.[bb] 30 If it is not redeemed before the full calendar year is ended,[bc] the house in the walled city[bd] will belong without reclaim[be] to the one who bought it throughout his generations; it will not revert in the Jubilee. 31 The houses of villages, however,[bf] which have no wall surrounding them[bg] must be considered as the field[bh] of the land; they will have the right of redemption and must revert in the Jubilee. 32 As for[bi] the cities of the Levites, the houses in the cities which they possess,[bj] the Levites must have a perpetual right of redemption. 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,[bk] because the houses of the cities of the Levites are their property in the midst of the Israelites. 34 Moreover,[bl] the open field areas of their cities[bm] must not be sold, because that is their perpetual possession.

Debt and Slave Regulations

35 “‘If your brother[bn] becomes impoverished and is indebted to you,[bo] you must support[bp] him; he must live[bq] with you like a foreign resident.[br] 36 Do not take interest or profit from him,[bs] but you must fear your God and your brother must live[bt] with you. 37 You must not lend him your money at interest and you must not sell him food for profit.[bu] 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.[bv]

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.[bw] 40 He must be with you as a hired worker, as a resident foreigner;[bx] he must serve with you until the Year of Jubilee, 41 but then[by] he may go free,[bz] he and his children with him, and may return to his family and to the property of his ancestors.[ca] 42 Since the Israelites[cb] are my servants whom I brought out from the land of Egypt, they must not be sold in a slave sale.[cc] 43 You must not rule over them harshly,[cd] but you must fear your God.

44 “‘As for your male and female slaves[ce] who may belong to you—you may buy male and female slaves from the nations all around you.[cf] 45 Also, you may buy slaves[cg] from the children of the foreigners who reside with you, and from their families that are[ch] with you, whom they have fathered in your land; they may become your property. 46 You may give them as an 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.[ci]

47 “‘If a resident foreigner who is with you prospers[cj] and your brother becomes impoverished with regard to him so that[ck] he sells himself to a resident foreigner who is with you or to a member[cl] of a foreigner’s family, 48 after he has sold himself he retains a right of redemption.[cm] One of his brothers may redeem him, 49 or his uncle or his cousin[cn] may redeem him, or any one of the rest of his blood relatives—his family[co]—may redeem him, or if[cp] he prospers he may redeem himself. 50 He must calculate with the one who bought him the number of years[cq] 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.[cr] 51 If there are still many years, in keeping with them[cs] he must refund most of the cost of his purchase for his redemption, 52 but if only a few years remain[ct] until the Jubilee, he must calculate for himself in keeping with the remaining years and refund it for his redemption. 53 He must be with the one who bought him[cu] like a yearly hired worker.[cv] The one who bought him[cw] must not rule over him harshly in your sight. 54 If, however,[cx] he is not redeemed in these ways, he must go free[cy] in the Jubilee year, he and his children with him, 55 because the Israelites are my own servants;[cz] they are my servants whom I brought out from the land of Egypt. I am the Lord your God.

Exhortation to Obedience

26 “‘You must not make for yourselves idols,[da] so you must not set up for yourselves a carved image or a pillar, and you must not place a sculpted stone in your land to bow down before[db] it, for I am the Lord your God. 2 You must keep my Sabbaths and reverence[dc] my sanctuary. I am the Lord.

The Benefits of Obedience

3 “‘If you walk in my statutes and are sure to obey my commandments,[dd] 4 I will give you your rains in their time so that[de] the land will give its yield and the trees of the field will produce their fruit.[df] 5 Threshing season will extend for you until the season for harvesting grapes,[dg] and the season for harvesting grapes will extend until sowing season, so[dh] you will eat your bread until you are satisfied,[di] and you will live securely in your land. 6 I will grant peace in the land so that[dj] you will lie down to sleep without anyone terrifying you.[dk] I will remove harmful animals[dl] from the land, and no sword of war[dm] will pass through your land. 7 You will pursue your enemies and they will fall before you by the sword.[dn] 8 Five of you will pursue a hundred, and a hundred of you will pursue ten thousand, and your enemies will fall before you by the sword. 9 I will turn to you, make you fruitful, multiply you, and maintain[do] my covenant with you. 10 You will still be eating stored produce from the previous year[dp] and will have to clean out what is stored from the previous year to make room for new.[dq]

11 “‘I will put my tabernacle[dr] in your midst and I will not abhor you.[ds] 12 I will walk among you, and I will be your God and you will be my people. 13 I am the Lord your God who brought you out from the land of Egypt, from being their slaves,[dt] and I broke the bars of your yoke and caused you to walk upright.[du]

The Consequences of Disobedience

14 “‘If, however,[dv] you do not obey me and keep[dw] all these commandments— 15 if you reject my statutes and abhor my regulations so that you do not keep[dx] all my commandments and you break my covenant— 16 I for my part[dy] will do this to you: I will inflict horror on you, consumption and fever, which diminish eyesight and drain away the vitality of life.[dz] You will sow your seed in vain because[ea] your enemies will eat it.[eb] 17 I will set my face against you. You will be struck down before your enemies, those who hate you will rule over you, and you will flee when there is no one pursuing you.

18 “‘If, in spite of all these things,[ec] you do not obey me, I will discipline you seven times more on account of your sins.[ed] 19 I will break your strong pride and make your sky like iron and your land like bronze. 20 Your strength will be used up in vain, your land will not give its yield, and the trees of the land[ee] will not produce their fruit.

21 “‘If you walk in hostility against me[ef] and are not willing to obey me, I will increase your affliction[eg] seven times according to your sins. 22 I will send the wild animals[eh] against you and they will bereave you of your children,[ei] annihilate your cattle, and diminish your population[ej] so that your roads will become deserted.

23 “‘If in spite of these things[ek] you do not allow yourselves to be disciplined and you walk in hostility against me,[el] 24 then I myself will also walk in hostility against you and strike you[em] seven times on account of your sins. 25 I will bring on you an avenging sword, a covenant vengeance.[en] Although[eo] you will gather together into your cities, I will send pestilence among you and you will be given into enemy hands.[ep] 26 When I break off your supply of bread,[eq] ten women will bake your bread in one oven; they will ration your bread by weight,[er] and you will eat and not be satisfied.

27 “‘If in spite of this[es] you do not obey me but walk in hostility against me,[et] 28 I will walk in hostile rage against you[eu] and I myself will also discipline you seven times on account of your sins. 29 You will eat the flesh of your sons and the flesh of your daughters.[ev] 30 I will destroy your high places and cut down your incense altars,[ew] and I will stack your dead bodies on top of the lifeless bodies of your idols.[ex] I will abhor you.[ey] 31 I will lay your cities waste[ez] and make your sanctuaries desolate, and I will refuse to smell your soothing aromas. 32 I myself will make the land desolate and your enemies who live in it will be appalled. 33 I will scatter you among the nations and unsheathe the sword[fa] after you, so your land will become desolate and your cities will become a waste.

34 “‘Then the land will make up for[fb] its Sabbaths all the days it lies desolate while you are in the land of your enemies; then the land will rest and make up its Sabbaths. 35 All the days of the desolation it will have the rest it did not have[fc] on your Sabbaths when you lived on it.

36 “‘As for[fd] the ones who remain among you, I will bring despair into their hearts in the lands of their enemies. The sound of a blowing leaf will pursue them, and they will flee as one who flees the sword and will fall down even though there is no pursuer. 37 They will stumble over each other as those who flee before a sword, though[fe] there is no pursuer, and there will be no one to take a stand[ff] for you before your enemies. 38 You will perish among the nations; the land of your enemies will consume you.

Restoration through Confession and Repentance

39 “‘As for the ones who remain among you, they will rot away because of[fg] their iniquity in the lands of your enemies, and they will also rot away because of their ancestors’[fh] iniquities which are with them. 40 However, when[fi] they confess their iniquity and their ancestors’ iniquities which they committed by trespassing against me,[fj] by which they also walked[fk] in hostility against me[fl] 41 (and I myself will walk in hostility against them and bring them into the land of their enemies), and[fm] then their uncircumcised hearts become humbled and they make up for[fn] their iniquities, 42 I will remember my covenant with Jacob and also my covenant with Isaac and also my covenant with Abraham,[fo] and I will remember the land. 43 The land will be abandoned by them[fp] in order that it may make up for[fq] its Sabbaths while it is made desolate[fr] without them,[fs] and they will make up for their iniquity because[ft] they have rejected my regulations and have abhorred[fu] my statutes. 44 In spite of this, however, when they are in the land of their enemies I will not reject them and abhor them to make a complete end of them, to break my covenant with them, for I am the Lord their God. 45 I will remember for them the covenant with their ancestors[fv] whom I brought out from the land of Egypt in the sight of the nations to be their God. I am the Lord.’”

Summary Colophon

46 These are the statutes, regulations, and instructions which the Lord established[fw] between himself and the Israelites at Mount Sinai through[fx] Moses.

Redemption of Persons Given as Votive Offerings

27 The Lord spoke to Moses: 2 “Speak to the Israelites and tell them, ‘When a man makes a special votive offering[fy] based on the conversion value of a person to the Lord,[fz] 3 the conversion value of the male[ga] from twenty years old up to sixty years old[gb] is fifty shekels by the standard of the sanctuary shekel.[gc] 4 If the person is a female, the conversion value is thirty shekels. 5 If the person is from five years old up to twenty years old, the conversion value of the male is twenty shekels, and for the female ten shekels. 6 If the person is one month old up to five years old, the conversion value of the male is five shekels of silver,[gd] and for the female the conversion value is three shekels of silver. 7 If the person is from sixty years old and older, if he is a male the conversion value is fifteen shekels, and for the female ten shekels. 8 If the person making the votive offering[ge] is too poor to pay the conversion value, he must stand the person before the priest and the priest will establish his conversion value;[gf] according to what the man who made the votive offering can afford,[gg] the priest will establish his conversion value.

Redemption of Animals Given as Votive Offerings

9 “‘If what is vowed is a kind of animal from which an offering may be presented[gh] to the Lord, anything which he gives to the Lord from this kind of animal[gi] will be holy. 10 He must not replace or exchange it, good for bad or bad for good, and if he does indeed exchange one animal for another animal, then both the original animal[gj] and its substitute will be holy. 11 If what is vowed is an unclean animal from which an offering must not be presented to the Lord, then he must stand the animal before the priest, 12 and the priest will establish its conversion value,[gk] whether good or bad. According to the conversion value assessed by the priest, thus it will be. 13 If, however, the person who made the vow redeems the animal,[gl] he must add one-fifth to[gm] its conversion value.

Redemption of Houses Given as Votive Offerings

14 “‘If a man consecrates his house as holy to the Lord, the priest will establish its conversion value, whether good or bad. Just as the priest establishes its conversion value, thus it will stand.[gn] 15 If the one who consecrates it redeems his house, he must add to it one-fifth of its conversion value in silver, and it will belong to him.[go]

Redemption of Fields Given as Votive Offerings

16 “‘If a man consecrates to the Lord some of his own landed property, the conversion value must be calculated in accordance with the amount of seed needed to sow it,[gp] a homer of barley seed being priced at fifty shekels of silver.[gq] 17 If he consecrates his field in the Jubilee year,[gr] the conversion value will stand, 18 but if[gs] he consecrates his field after the Jubilee, the priest will calculate the price[gt] for him according to the years that are left until the next Jubilee year, and it will be deducted from the conversion value. 19 If, however, the one who consecrated the field redeems it,[gu] he must add to it one-fifth of the conversion price[gv] and it will belong to him.[gw] 20 If he does not redeem the field, but sells[gx] the field to someone else, he may never redeem it. 21 When it reverts[gy] in the Jubilee, the field will be holy to the Lord like a permanently dedicated field;[gz] it will become the priest’s property.[ha]

22 “‘If he consecrates to the Lord a field he has purchased,[hb] which is not part of his own landed property, 23 the priest will calculate for him the amount of its conversion value until the Jubilee year, and he must pay[hc] the conversion value on that Jubilee day as something that is holy to the Lord. 24 In the Jubilee year the field will return to the one from whom he bought it, the one to whom it belongs as landed property. 25 Every conversion value must be calculated by the standard of the sanctuary shekel;[hd] twenty gerahs to the shekel.

Redemption of the Firstborn

26 “‘Surely no man may consecrate a firstborn that already belongs to the Lord as a firstborn among the animals; whether it is an ox or a sheep, it belongs to the Lord.[he] 27 If, however,[hf] it is among the unclean animals, he may ransom it according to[hg] its conversion value and must add one-fifth to it, but if it is not redeemed it must be sold according to its conversion value.

Things Permanently Dedicated to the Lord

28 “‘Surely anything that a man permanently dedicates to the Lord[hh] from all that belongs to him, whether from people, animals, or his landed property, must be neither sold nor redeemed; anything permanently dedicated is most holy to the Lord. 29 Any human being who is permanently dedicated[hi] to the Lord[hj] must not be ransomed; such a person must be put to death.

Redemption of the Tithe

30 “‘Any tithe[hk] of the land, from the grain of the land or from the fruit of the trees, belongs to the Lord; it is holy to the Lord. 31 If a man redeems[hl] part of his tithe, however, he must add one-fifth to it.[hm] 32 All the tithe of herds or flocks, everything which passes under the rod, the tenth one will be holy to the Lord.[hn] 33 The owner[ho] must not examine the animals to distinguish between good and bad, and he must not exchange it. If, however, he does exchange it,[hp] both the original animal[hq] and its substitute will be holy[hr] and must not be redeemed.’”

Final Colophon

34 These are the commandments which the Lord commanded Moses to tell the Israelites[hs] at Mount Sinai.

Footnotes

  1. Leviticus 25:2 tn Heb “the land shall rest a Sabbath.”
  2. Leviticus 25:3 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).
  3. Leviticus 25:4 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.”
  4. Leviticus 25:4 tn Heb “and.” Here the Hebrew conjunction ו (vav, “and”) has an alternative sense (“or”).
  5. Leviticus 25:5 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.
  6. Leviticus 25:6 tn The word “produce” is not in the Hebrew text but is implied; cf. NASB “the sabbath products.”
  7. Leviticus 25:6 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.
  8. Leviticus 25:7 tn The words “for you” are implied.
  9. Leviticus 25:8 tn Heb “And you shall count off for yourself.”
  10. Leviticus 25:8 tn Heb “seven years seven times.”
  11. Leviticus 25:8 tn Heb “and they shall be for you, the days of the seven Sabbaths of years, forty-nine years.”
  12. Leviticus 25:9 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).
  13. Leviticus 25:10 tn Heb “the year of the fifty years,” or perhaps “the year, fifty years” (GKC 435 §134.o, note 2).
  14. Leviticus 25:10 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.
  15. Leviticus 25:10 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).
  16. Leviticus 25:10 tn Heb “you [plural] shall return, a man.”
  17. Leviticus 25:11 tn Heb “you shall not sow and you shall not…and you shall not….”sn See v. 5 above and the notes there.
  18. Leviticus 25:12 tn That is, the produce of the land (fem.; cf. v. 7 above).
  19. Leviticus 25:13 tn Heb “you [plural] shall return, a man.”
  20. Leviticus 25:14 tn Heb “sell a sale.”
  21. Leviticus 25:14 tn Or “to one of your countrymen” (NIV); NASB “to your friend.”
  22. Leviticus 25:14 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).
  23. Leviticus 25:14 tn Heb “do not oppress a man his brother.” Here “brother” does not refer only to a sibling, but to a fellow Israelite.
  24. Leviticus 25:15 tn Heb “in the number of years after.”
  25. Leviticus 25:15 tn 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.
  26. Leviticus 25:16 tn Heb “To the mouth of the many years.”
  27. Leviticus 25:16 tn Heb “to the mouth of the few years.”
  28. Leviticus 25:16 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).
  29. Leviticus 25:17 tn Heb “And you shall not oppress a man his fellow citizen.”
  30. Leviticus 25:18 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.).
  31. Leviticus 25:18 tn Heb “and you shall dwell on the land to security.”
  32. Leviticus 25:19 tn Heb “eat to satisfaction”; KJV, ASV “ye shall eat your fill.”
  33. Leviticus 25:21 tn Heb “and it [i.e., the land] shall make the produce.” The Hebrew term וְעָשָׂת (veʿasat, “and it shall make”) is probably an older third feminine singular form of the verb (GKC 210 §75.m). Smr has the normal form.
  34. Leviticus 25:21 tn Smr and LXX have “its produce” (cf. 25:3, 7, etc.) rather than “the produce.”
  35. Leviticus 25:22 tn Heb “the produce,” referring to “the produce” of the sixth year of v. 21. The words “sixth year” are supplied for clarity.
  36. Leviticus 25:22 tn Heb “until the ninth year, until bringing [in] its produce.”
  37. Leviticus 25:23 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).
  38. Leviticus 25:23 tn The Hebrew terms ger (גֵּר; “resident foreigner”) and toshav (תּוֹשָׁב; “resident/dweller”) have similar meaning. The toshav was less integrated into Israelite society, had less rights, and had not fully committed to the religion of Israel. But in this context the terms are used simply to emphasize that Israel would be a guest on God’s land. They were attached to the Lord’s household. They did not own the land.sn Abraham refers to himself by these terms in Gen 23:4. Ps 39:12 and 1 Chron 29:15 take up this language from Lev 25:23.
  39. Leviticus 25:24 tn Heb “And in all the land of your property.”
  40. Leviticus 25:24 tn Heb “right of redemption you shall give to the land”; NAB “you must permit the land to be redeemed.”
  41. Leviticus 25:25 tn Heb “the sale of his brother.”
  42. Leviticus 25:26 tn Heb “and his hand reaches.”
  43. Leviticus 25:26 tn Heb “and he finds as sufficiency of its redemption.”
  44. Leviticus 25:27 tn Heb “and he shall calculate its years of sale.”
  45. Leviticus 25:27 tn Heb “and return the excess.”
  46. Leviticus 25:28 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).
  47. Leviticus 25:28 tn Heb “his sale.”
  48. Leviticus 25:28 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.
  49. Leviticus 25:28 tn Heb “it shall go out” (so KJV, ASV; see B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 176).
  50. Leviticus 25:28 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the original owner of the land) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  51. Leviticus 25:29 tn Heb “a house of a residence of a walled city.”
  52. Leviticus 25:29 tn Heb “shall be.”
  53. Leviticus 25:29 tn Heb “of its sale.”
  54. Leviticus 25:29 tn Heb “days its right of redemption shall be” (see B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 176).
  55. Leviticus 25:30 tn Heb “until fulfilling to it a complete year.’
  56. Leviticus 25:30 tn Heb “the house which [is] in the city which to it [is] a wall.” The Kethib has לֹא (loʾ, “no, not”) rather than לוֹ (lo, “to it”) which is the Qere.
  57. Leviticus 25:30 tn See the note on v. 23 above.
  58. Leviticus 25:31 tn Heb “And the houses of the villages.”
  59. Leviticus 25:31 tn Heb “which there is not to them a wall.”
  60. Leviticus 25:31 tn Heb “on the field.”
  61. Leviticus 25:32 tn Heb “And.”
  62. Leviticus 25:32 tn Heb “the houses of the cities of their property.”
  63. Leviticus 25:33 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.
  64. Leviticus 25:34 tn Heb “And.”
  65. Leviticus 25:34 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).
  66. Leviticus 25:35 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”).
  67. Leviticus 25:35 tn Heb “and his hand slips with you.”
  68. Leviticus 25:35 tn Heb “strengthen”; NASB “sustain.”
  69. Leviticus 25:35 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).
  70. Leviticus 25:35 tn Heb “a foreigner and resident,” which is probably to be combined (see B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 170-71). tn The Hebrew terms ger (גֵּר; “resident foreigner”) and toshav (תּוֹשָׁב; “resident/dweller”) have similar meaning. The toshav was less integrated into Israelite society, had less rights, and had not fully committed to the religion of Israel. Here the combination emphasizes the impoverished Israelites change in status. Note that the native born citizen and the resident foreigner (or naturalized citizen) were equal under the law (Exod 12:49; Lev 24:22; Num 9:14; 15:15, 16, 26, 29; 19:10; 35:15; Deut 1:16) or similar obligations (Exod 20:10; 23:12; Lev 16:29; 17:10, 12, 13; 18:26; 24:16; Num 15:14).
  71. Leviticus 25:36 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).
  72. Leviticus 25:36 tn In form the Hebrew term וְחֵי (vekhey, “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).
  73. Leviticus 25:37 tn Heb “your money” and “your food.” With regard to “interest” and “profit” see the note on v. 36 above.
  74. Leviticus 25:38 tn Heb “to be to you for a God.”
  75. Leviticus 25:39 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.
  76. Leviticus 25:40 tn See the note on Lev 25:6 above.
  77. Leviticus 25:41 tn Heb “and.” The Hebrew conjunction ו (vav, “and”) can be considered to have adversative force here.
  78. Leviticus 25:41 tn Heb “may go out from you.”
  79. Leviticus 25:41 tn Heb “fathers.”
  80. Leviticus 25:42 tn Heb “they”; the referent has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  81. Leviticus 25:42 tn Or perhaps reflexive Niphal rather than passive, “they shall not sell themselves [as in] a slave sale.”
  82. Leviticus 25:43 tn Heb “You shall not rule in him in violence”; cf. NASB “with severity”; NIV “ruthlessly.”
  83. Leviticus 25:44 tn Heb “And your male slave and your female slave.” Smr has these as plural terms, “slaves,” not singular.
  84. Leviticus 25:44 tn Heb “ from the nations which surround you, from them you shall buy male slave and female slave.”
  85. Leviticus 25:45 tn The word “slaves” is not in the Hebrew text, but is implied here.
  86. Leviticus 25:45 tn Heb “family which is” (i.e., singular rather than plural).
  87. Leviticus 25:46 tn Heb “and your brothers, the sons of Israel, a man in his brother you shall not rule in him in violence.”
  88. Leviticus 25:47 tn Heb “And if the hand of a foreigner and resident with you reaches” (cf. v. 26 for this idiom).
  89. Leviticus 25:47 tn Heb “and.” The Hebrew conjunction ו (vav, “and”) can be considered to have resultative force here.
  90. Leviticus 25:47 tn Heb “offshoot, descendant.”
  91. Leviticus 25:48 tn Heb “right of redemption shall be to him.”
  92. Leviticus 25:49 tn Heb “the son of his uncle.”
  93. Leviticus 25:49 tn Heb “or from the remainder of his flesh from his family.”
  94. Leviticus 25:49 tc The LXX, followed by the Syriac, actually has “if,” which is not in the MT.
  95. Leviticus 25:50 tn Heb “the years.”
  96. Leviticus 25:50 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.
  97. Leviticus 25:51 tn Heb “to the mouth of them.”
  98. Leviticus 25:52 tn Heb “but if a little remains in the years.”
  99. Leviticus 25:53 tn Heb “be with him”; the referent (the one who bought him) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  100. Leviticus 25:53 tn Heb “As a hired worker year in year.”
  101. Leviticus 25:53 tn Heb “He”; the referent (the one who bought him) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  102. Leviticus 25:54 tn Heb “And if.”
  103. Leviticus 25:54 tn Heb “go out.”
  104. Leviticus 25:55 tn Heb “because to me the sons of Israel are servants.”
  105. Leviticus 26:1 sn For the literature regarding the difficult etymology and meaning of the term for “idols” (אֱלִילִם, ʾelilim), see the literature cited in the note on Lev 19:4. It appears to be a diminutive play on words with אֵל (ʾel, “god, God”) and, perhaps at the same time, recalls a common Semitic word for “worthless, weak, powerless, nothingness.” Snaith suggests a rendering of “worthless godlings.”
  106. Leviticus 26:1 tn Heb “on.” The “sculpted stone” appears to be some sort of stone with images carved into (see B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 181, and J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 449).
  107. Leviticus 26:2 tn Heb “and my sanctuary you shall fear.” Cf. NCV “respect”; CEV “honor.”
  108. Leviticus 26:3 tn Heb “and my commandments 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; 25:18, etc.).
  109. Leviticus 26:4 tn Heb “and.” The Hebrew conjunction ו (vav, “and”) can be considered to have resultative force here.
  110. Leviticus 26:4 tn Heb “the tree of the field will give its fruit.” As a collective singular this has been translated as plural.
  111. Leviticus 26:5 tn Heb “will reach for you the vintage season.”
  112. Leviticus 26:5 tn Heb “and.” The Hebrew conjunction ו (vav, “and”) can be considered to have resultative force here.
  113. Leviticus 26:5 tn Heb “to satisfaction”; KJV, ASV, NASB “to the full.”
  114. Leviticus 26:6 tn Heb “and.” The Hebrew conjunction ו (vav, “and”) can be considered to have resultative force here.
  115. Leviticus 26:6 tn Heb “and there will be no one who terrifies.” The words “to sleep” have been supplied in the translation for clarity.
  116. Leviticus 26:6 tn Heb “harmful animal,” singular, but taken here as a collective plural (so almost all English versions).
  117. Leviticus 26:6 tn Heb “no sword”; the words “of war” are supplied in the translation to indicate what the metaphor of the sword represents.
  118. Leviticus 26:7 tn Heb “to the sword.”
  119. Leviticus 26:9 tn Heb “cause to arise,” but probably used here for the Lord’s intention of confirming or maintaining the covenant commitment made at Sinai. Cf. KJV “establish”; NASB “will confirm”; NAB “carry out”; NIV “will keep.”
  120. Leviticus 26:10 tn Heb “old [produce] growing old.”
  121. Leviticus 26:10 tn Heb “and old from the presence of new you will bring out.”
  122. Leviticus 26:11 tn LXX codexes Vaticanus and Alexandrinus have “my covenant” rather than “my tabernacle.” Cf. NAB, NASB, NRSV “my dwelling.”
  123. Leviticus 26:11 tn Heb “and my soul [נֶפֶשׁ, nefesh] will not abhor you.”
  124. Leviticus 26:13 tn Heb “from being to them slaves.”
  125. Leviticus 26:13 tn In other words, to walk as free people and not as slaves. Cf. NIV “with (+ your CEV, NLT) heads held high”; NCV “proudly.”
  126. Leviticus 26:14 tn Heb “And if.”
  127. Leviticus 26:14 tn Heb “and do not do.”
  128. Leviticus 26:15 tn Heb “to not do.”
  129. Leviticus 26:16 tn Or “I also” (see HALOT 76 s.v. אַף 6.b).
  130. Leviticus 26:16 tn Heb “soul.” These expressions may refer either to the physical effects of consumption and fever as the rendering in the text suggests (e.g., J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 452, 454, “diminishing eyesight and loss of appetite”), or perhaps the more psychological effects, “which exhausts the eyes” because of anxious hope “and causes depression” (Heb “causes soul [נֶפֶשׁ, nefesh] to pine away”), e.g., B. A. Levine, Leviticus (JPSTC), 185.
  131. Leviticus 26:16 tn Heb “and.” The Hebrew conjunction ו (vav, “and”) can be considered to have causal force here.
  132. Leviticus 26:16 tn That is, “your enemies will eat” the produce that grows from the sown seed.
  133. Leviticus 26:18 tn Heb “And if until these.”
  134. Leviticus 26:18 tn Heb “I will add to discipline you seven [times] on your sins.”
  135. Leviticus 26:20 tn Heb “the tree of the land will not give its fruit.” The collective singular has been translated as a plural. One Hebrew ms from Cairo Geniza, other medieval Hebrew mss, Smr, LXX, and Tg. Ps.-J. have “the field” as in v. 4, rather than “the land.”
  136. Leviticus 26:21 tn Heb “hostile with me,” but see the added preposition ב (bet) on the phrase “in hostility” in v. 24 and 27.
  137. Leviticus 26:21 tn Heb “your blow, stroke”; cf. TEV “punishment”; NLT “I will inflict you with seven more disasters.”
  138. Leviticus 26:22 tn Heb “the animal of the field.” This collective singular has been translated as a plural. The expression “animal of the field” refers to a wild (i.e., nondomesticated) animal.
  139. Leviticus 26:22 tn The words “of your children” are not in the Hebrew text, but are implied.
  140. Leviticus 26:22 tn Heb “and diminish you.”
  141. Leviticus 26:23 tn Heb “And if in these.”
  142. Leviticus 26:23 tn Heb “with me,” but see the added preposition ב (bet) on the phrase “in hostility” in vv. 24 and 27.
  143. Leviticus 26:24 tn Heb “and I myself will also strike you.”
  144. Leviticus 26:25 tn Heb “vengeance of covenant”; cf. NAB “the avenger of my covenant.”
  145. Leviticus 26:25 tn Heb “and.” The Hebrew conjunction ו (vav, “and”) has a concessive force in this context.
  146. Leviticus 26:25 tn Heb “in hand of enemy,” but Tg. Ps.-J. and Tg. Neof. have “in the hands of your enemies” (J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 454).
  147. Leviticus 26:26 tn Heb “When I break to you staff of bread” (KJV, ASV, and NASB all similar).
  148. Leviticus 26:26 tn Heb “they will return your bread in weight.”
  149. Leviticus 26:27 tn Heb “And if in this.”
  150. Leviticus 26:27 tn Heb “with me.”
  151. Leviticus 26:28 tn Heb “in rage of hostility with you”; NASB “with wrathful hostility”; NRSV “I will continue hostile to you in fury”; CEV “I’ll get really furious.”
  152. Leviticus 26:29 tn Heb “and the flesh of your daughters you will eat.” The phrase “you will eat” has not been repeated in the translation for stylistic reasons.
  153. Leviticus 26:30 sn Regarding these cultic installations, see the remarks in B. A. Levine, Leviticus (JPSTC), 188, and R. E. Averbeck, NIDOTTE 2:903. The term rendered “incense altars” might better be rendered “sanctuaries [of foreign deities]” or “stelae.”
  154. Leviticus 26:30 tn The translation reflects the Hebrew wordplay “your corpses…the corpses of your idols.” Since idols, being lifeless, do not really have “corpses,” the translation uses “dead bodies” for people and “lifeless bodies” for the idols.
  155. Leviticus 26:30 tn Heb “and my soul will abhor you.”
  156. Leviticus 26:31 tn Heb “And I will give your cities a waste”; NLT “make your cities desolate.”
  157. Leviticus 26:33 tn Heb “and I will empty sword” (see HALOT 1228 s.v. ריק 3).
  158. Leviticus 26:34 tn There are two Hebrew roots רָצָה (ratsah), one meaning “to be pleased with; to take pleasure” (HALOT 1280-81 s.v. רצה; cf. “enjoy” in NASB, NIV, NRSV, and J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 452), and the other meaning “to restore” (HALOT 1281-82 s.v. II רצה; cf. NAB “retrieve” and B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 189).
  159. Leviticus 26:35 tn Heb “it shall rest which it did not rest.”
  160. Leviticus 26:36 tn Heb “And.”
  161. Leviticus 26:37 tn Heb “and.” The Hebrew conjunction ו (vav, “and”) is used in a concessive sense here.
  162. Leviticus 26:37 tn The term rendered “to stand up” is a noun, not an infinitive. It occurs only here and appears to designate someone who would take a powerful stand for them against their enemies.
  163. Leviticus 26:39 tn Heb “in” (so KJV, ASV; also later in this verse).
  164. Leviticus 26:39 tn Heb “fathers’” (also in the following verse).
  165. Leviticus 26:40 tn Heb “And.” Many English versions take this to be a conditional clause (“if…”) though there is no conditional particle (see, e.g., NASB, NIV, NRSV; but see the very different rendering in B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 190). The temporal translation offered here (“when”) takes into account the particle אָז (ʾaz, “then”), which occurs twice in v. 41. The obvious contextual contrast between vv. 39 and 40 is expressed by “however” in the translation.
  166. Leviticus 26:40 tn Heb “in their trespassing which they trespassed in me.” See the note on Lev 5:15, although the term is used in a more technical sense there in relation to the “guilt offering.”
  167. Leviticus 26:40 tn Heb “and also which they walked.”
  168. Leviticus 26:40 tn Heb “with me.”
  169. Leviticus 26:41 tn Heb “or then,” although the LXX has “then” and the Syriac “and then.”
  170. Leviticus 26:41 tn Heb “and then they make up for.” On the verb “make up for” see the note on v. 34 above.
  171. Leviticus 26:42 tn Heb “my covenant with Abraham I will remember.” The phrase “I will remember” has not been repeated in the translation for stylistic reasons.
  172. Leviticus 26:43 tn Heb “from them.” The preposition “from” refers here to the agent of the action (J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 455).
  173. Leviticus 26:43 tn The jussive form of the verb with the simple vav (ו) here calls for a translation that expresses purpose.
  174. Leviticus 26:43 tn The verb is the Hophal infinitive construct with the third feminine singular suffix (GKC 182 §67.y; cf. v. 34).
  175. Leviticus 26:43 tn Heb “from them.”
  176. Leviticus 26:43 tn Heb “because and in because,” a double expression, which is used only here and in Ezek 13:10 (without the vav) for emphasis (GKC 492 §158.b).
  177. Leviticus 26:43 tn Heb “and their soul has abhorred.”
  178. Leviticus 26:45 tn Heb “covenant of former ones.” sn For similar expressions referring back to the ancestors who refused to follow the stipulations of the Mosaic covenant see, for example, Deut 19:14, Jer 11:10, and Ps 79:8 (see B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 192, and J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 471).
  179. Leviticus 26:46 tn Heb “gave” (so NLT); KJV, ASV, NCV “made.”
  180. Leviticus 26:46 tn Heb “by the hand of” (so KJV).
  181. Leviticus 27:2 tn Cf. the note on Lev 22:21. Some take this as an expression for fulfilling a vow, “to fulfill a vow” (e.g., HALOT 927-28 s.v. פלא piel and NASB; cf. NRSV “in fulfillment of a vow”) or, alternatively, “to make a vow” or “for making a vow” (HALOT 928 s.v. פלא piel [II פלא]). Perhaps it refers to the making a special vow, from the verb פָלָא (palaʾ, “to be wonderful; to be remarkable”), cf. Milgrom, Numbers [JPSTC], 44. B. A. Levine, Leviticus (JPSTC), 151 and 193, suggests that this is a special term for “setting aside a votive offering” (related to פָלָה, palah, “to set aside”). In general, the point of the expression seems to be that this sacrifice is a special gift to God that arose out of special circumstances in the life of the worshiper.
  182. Leviticus 27:2 tn Heb “in your valuation, persons to the Lord,” but “in your valuation” is a frozen form and, therefore, the person (“your”) does not figure into the translation (see J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 73). Instead of offering a person to the Lord one could redeem that person with the appropriate amount of money delineated in the following verses (see the note on Lev 5:15 above and the explanation in Hartley, 480-81).
  183. Leviticus 27:3 tn Heb “your conversion value shall be [for] the male.”
  184. Leviticus 27:3 tn Heb “from a son of twenty years and until a son of sixty years.”
  185. Leviticus 27:3 tn See the note on Lev 5:15.
  186. Leviticus 27:6 tn Heb “five shekels silver.”
  187. Leviticus 27:8 tn Heb “if he.”
  188. Leviticus 27:8 tn Heb “and the priest shall cause him to be valued.”
  189. Leviticus 27:8 tn Heb “on the mouth which the hand of the one who vowed reaches.”
  190. Leviticus 27:9 tn Heb “which they may present from it an offering.” The plural active verb is sometimes best rendered in the passive (GKC 460 §144.f, g). Some medieval Hebrew mss, Smr, a ms of the Targum, and the Vulgate all have the singular verb instead (cf. similarly v. 11).
  191. Leviticus 27:9 tn Heb “from it.” The masculine suffix “it” here is used for the feminine in the MT, but one medieval Hebrew ms, some mss of Smr, the LXX, and the Syriac have the feminine. The referent (this kind of animal) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  192. Leviticus 27:10 tn Heb “it and its substitute.” The referent (the original animal offered) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  193. Leviticus 27:12 tn Heb “and the priest shall cause it to be valued.” See the note on v. 8 above.
  194. Leviticus 27:13 tn Heb “And if redeeming [infinitive absolute] he redeems it [finite verb].” For the infinitive absolute used to highlight contrast rather than emphasis see GKC 343 §113.p. The referent of “he” (the person who made the vow) and “it” (the animal) have both been specified in the translation for clarity.
  195. Leviticus 27:13 tn Heb “on,” meaning “on top of, in addition to” (likewise in v. 15).
  196. Leviticus 27:14 tn The expression “it shall stand” may be a technical term for “it shall be legally valid”; cf. NLT “assessment will be final.”
  197. Leviticus 27:15 tn Heb “and it shall be to him.”
  198. Leviticus 27:16 tn Heb “a conversion value shall be to the mouth of its seed.”
  199. Leviticus 27:16 tn Heb “seed of a homer of barley in fifty shekels of silver.”
  200. Leviticus 27:17 tn Heb “from the year of the jubilee.” For the meaning of “jubilee,” see the note on Lev 25:10 above.
  201. Leviticus 27:18 tn Heb “And if.” The Hebrew conjunction ו (vav, “and”) can be considered to have adversative force here.
  202. Leviticus 27:18 tn Heb “the silver.”
  203. Leviticus 27:19 tn Heb “And if redeeming [infinitive absolute] he redeems [finite verb] the field, the one who consecrated it.” For the infinitive absolute used to highlight contrast rather than emphasis see GKC 343 §113.p.
  204. Leviticus 27:19 tn Heb “the silver of the conversion value.”
  205. Leviticus 27:19 tn Heb “and it shall rise to him.” See HALOT 1087 s.v. קום 7 for the rendering offered here, but see also the note on the end of v. 14 above (cf. J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 476, 478).
  206. Leviticus 27:20 tn Heb “and if he sells.”
  207. Leviticus 27:21 tn Heb “When it goes out” (cf. Lev 25:25-34).
  208. Leviticus 27:21 tn Heb “like the field of the permanent dedication.” The Hebrew word חֵרֶם (kherem) is a much discussed term. In this and the following verses it refers in a general way to the fact that something is permanently devoted to the Lord and therefore cannot be redeemed (cf. v. 20b). See J. A. Naudé, NIDOTTE 2:276-77; N. Lohfink, TDOT 5:180-99, esp. pp. 184, 188, and 198-99; and the numerous explanations in J. E. Hartley, Leviticus (WBC), 483-85.
  209. Leviticus 27:21 tn Heb “to the priest it shall be his property.”
  210. Leviticus 27:22 tn Heb “his field of purchase,” which is to be distinguished from his own ancestral “landed property” (cf. v. 16 above).
  211. Leviticus 27:23 tn Heb “give” (so KJV, ASV, NASB, NLT).
  212. Leviticus 27:25 tn See the note on Lev 5:15.
  213. Leviticus 27:26 tn Heb “to the Lord it is.”
  214. Leviticus 27:27 tn Heb “And if.”
  215. Leviticus 27:27 tn Heb “in” or “by.”
  216. Leviticus 27:28 tn Heb “Surely, any permanently dedicated [thing] which a man shall permanently dedicate to the Lord.” The Hebrew term חֵרֶם (kherem) refers to things that are devoted permanently to the Lord (see the note on v. 21 above).
  217. Leviticus 27:29 tn Heb “permanently dedicated from among men.”
  218. Leviticus 27:29 tn The words “to the Lord” are not in the Hebrew text but have been supplied for clarity.
  219. Leviticus 27:30 tn On the “tithe” system in Israel, see R. E. Averbeck, NIDOTTE 2:1035-55 and esp. pp. 1041-42 on Lev 27:30-33.
  220. Leviticus 27:31 tn Heb “And if redeeming [infinitive absolute] a man redeems [finite verb].” For the infinitive absolute used to highlight contrast rather than emphasis see GKC 343 §113.p.
  221. Leviticus 27:31 tn Heb “its one-fifth on it.”
  222. Leviticus 27:32 sn The tithed animal was the tenth one that passed under the shepherd’s rod or staff as they were being counted (see J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 485, and B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 200).
  223. Leviticus 27:33 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the owner of the animal) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  224. Leviticus 27:33 tn Heb “And if exchanging [infinitive absolute] he exchanges it [finite verb].” For the infinitive absolute used to highlight contrast rather than emphasis see GKC 343 §113.p.
  225. Leviticus 27:33 tn Heb “it and its substitute.” The referent (the original animal offered) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  226. Leviticus 27:33 tn Heb “it shall be and its substitute shall be holy.”
  227. Leviticus 27:34 tn Most of the commentaries and English versions translate, “which the Lord commanded Moses for the children of Israel.” The preposition אֶל (ʾel), however, does not usually mean “for.” In this book it is commonly used when the Lord commands Moses “to speak [un]to” a person or group of persons (see, e.g., Lev 1:2; 4:2, etc.). The translation “to tell” here reflects this pattern in the book of Leviticus.
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Jeremiah 16:19-17:14
New English Translation

19 Then I said,[a]

“Lord, you give me strength and protect me.
You are the one I can run to for safety when I am in trouble.[b]
Nations from all over the earth
will come to you and say,
‘Our ancestors had nothing but false gods—
worthless idols that could not help them at all.’[c]
20 Can people make their own gods?
No, what they make are not gods at all.”[d]

21 The Lord said,[e]

“So I will now let this wicked people know—
I will let them know my mighty power in judgment.
Then they will know that my name is the Lord.[f]
17 [g] “The sin of Judah is engraved with an iron chisel
on their stone-hard[h] hearts.
It is inscribed with a diamond[i] point
on the horns of their altars.[j]
2 Their children are always thinking about[k] their[l] altars
and their sacred poles dedicated to the goddess Asherah,[m]
set up beside the green trees on the high hills
3 and on the mountains and in the fields.[n]
I will give your wealth and all your treasures away as plunder.
I will give it away as the price[o] for the sins you have committed throughout your land.
4 You will lose your hold on the land[p]
that I gave to you as a permanent possession.
I will make you serve your enemies in a land that you know nothing about.
For you have made my anger burn like a fire that will never be put out.”[q]

Individuals Are Challenged to Put Their Trust in the Lord[r]

5 The Lord says,

“I will put a curse on people
who trust in mere human beings,
who depend on mere flesh and blood for their strength,[s]
and whose hearts[t] have turned away from the Lord.
6 They will be like a shrub[u] in the arid rift valley.[v]
They will not experience good things even when they happen.
It will be as though they were growing in the stony wastes in the wilderness,[w]
in a salt land where no one can live.
7 My blessing is on those people who trust in me,
who put their confidence in me.[x]
8 They will be like a tree planted near a stream
whose roots spread out toward the water.
It has nothing to fear when the heat comes.
Its leaves are always green.
It has no need to be concerned in a year of drought.
It does not stop bearing fruit.
9 The human mind is more deceitful than anything else.
It is incurably bad.[y] Who can understand it?
10 I, the Lord, probe into people’s minds.
I examine people’s hearts.[z]
I deal with each person according to how he has behaved.
I give them what they deserve based on what they have done.
11 The person who gathers wealth by unjust means
is like the partridge that broods over eggs but does not hatch them.[aa]
Before his life is half over he will lose his ill-gotten gains.[ab]
At the end of his life it will be clear he was a fool.”[ac]

Jeremiah Appeals to the Lord for Vindication

12 Then I said,[ad]

“Lord, from the very beginning
you have been seated on your glorious throne on high.
You are the place where we can find refuge.
13 You are the one in whom Israel may find hope.[ae]
All who leave you will suffer shame.
Those who turn away from you[af] will be consigned to the netherworld.[ag]
For they have rejected you, the Lord, the fountain of life.[ah]
14 Lord, grant me relief from my suffering
so that I may have some relief;
rescue me from those who persecute me
so that I may be rescued,[ai] for you give me reason to praise![aj]

Footnotes

  1. Jeremiah 16:19 tn The words “Then I said” are not in the text. They are supplied in the translation to show the shift from God, who has been speaking to Jeremiah, to Jeremiah, who here addresses God.sn The shift here is consistent with the interruptions that have taken place in chapters 14 and 15 and in Jeremiah’s response to God’s condemnation of the people of Judah’s idolatry in chapter 10 (note especially vv. 6-16).
  2. Jeremiah 16:19 tn Heb “O Lord, my strength and my fortress, my refuge in the day of trouble.” The literal reading, which piles up attributes, is of course more forceful than the predications. However, piling up poetic metaphors like this adds to the length of the English sentence and risks lack of understanding on the part of some readers. Some rhetorical force has been sacrificed for the sake of clarity.
  3. Jeremiah 16:19 tn Once again the translation has sacrificed some of the rhetorical force for the sake of clarity and English style: Heb “Only falsehood did our ancestors possess, vanity and [things in which?] there was no one profiting in them.”sn This passage offers some rather forceful contrasts. The Lord is Jeremiah’s source of strength, security, and protection. The idols are false gods, worthless idols, that can offer no help at all.
  4. Jeremiah 16:20 tn Heb “and they are ‘no gods.’” For the construction here compare 2:11 and a similar construction in 2 Kgs 19:18, and see BDB 519 s.v. לֹא 1.b(b).
  5. Jeremiah 16:21 tn The words “The Lord said” are not in the text. However, it is obvious that he is the speaker. These words are supplied in the translation for clarity.
  6. Jeremiah 16:21 tn Or “So I will make known to those nations, I will make known to them at this time my power and my might. Then they will know that my name is the Lord.” There is a decided ambiguity in this text about the identity of the pronoun “them.” Is it his wicked people he has been predicting judgment upon or the nations that have come to recognize the folly of idolatry? The nearer antecedent would argue for the latter. However, usage of “hand” (translated here “power”) in 6:12; 15:6; and later in 21:5, and especially the threatening motif of “at this time” (or “now”) in 10:18, suggest that the “So” goes back logically to vv. 16-18, following a grounds of judgment with the threatened consequence, as it has in at least 16 out of 18 occurrences thus far. Moreover, it makes decidedly more sense that the Jews will know that his name is the Lord as the result of the present (“at this time”) display of his power in judgment than that the idolaters will at some later (cf. Isa 2:2-4 for possible parallel) time. There has been a decided emphasis that the people of Israel do not “know” him (cf. 2:8; 4:22; 9:3, 6). Now they will, but in a way they did not wish to. There is probably an allusion (and an ironic reversal) here to Exod 3:13-15; 34:5-7. They have presumed upon his graciousness and forgotten that his name not only involves being with them to help but being against them to punish sin. Even if the alternate translation is followed, the reference is still to God’s mighty power made known in judging the wicked Judeans. The words “power” and “might” are an example of hendiadys, in which two nouns joined by “and” function as a unit.
  7. Jeremiah 17:1 tn The chapter division, which was not a part of the original text but was added in the Middle Ages, obscures the fact that there is no new speech here. The division may have resulted from the faulty identification of “them” in the preceding verse. See the translator’s note on that verse.
  8. Jeremiah 17:1 tn The adjective “stone-hard” is not in the Hebrew text. It is implicit in the metaphor and is supplied in the translation for clarity (cf. Ezek 11:19; 36:26; and Job 19:24 for the figure).
  9. Jeremiah 17:1 tn Heb “adamant.” The word “diamond” is an accommodation to modern times. There is no evidence that diamond was known in ancient times. This hard stone (perhaps emery) became metaphorical for hardness; see Ezek 3:9 and Zech 7:12. For discussion see W. E. Staples, “Adamant,” IDB 1:45.
  10. Jeremiah 17:1 tn This verse has been restructured for the sake of the English poetry: Heb “The sin of Judah is engraved [or written] with an iron pen, inscribed with a point of a diamond [or adamant] upon the tablet of their hearts and on the horns of their altars.”sn There is biting sarcasm involved in the use of the figures here. The law was inscribed on the tablets of stone by the “finger” of God (Exod 31:18; 32:16). Later under the new covenant it would be written on their hearts (Jer 31:33). Blood was to be applied to the horns of the altar in offering the sin offering (cf., e.g., Lev 4:7, 18, 25, 20) and on the bronze altar to cleanse it from sin on the Day of Atonement (Lev 16:18). Here their sins are engraved (permanently written; cf. Job 19:24) on their hearts (i.e., control their thoughts and actions) and on their altars (permanently polluting them).
  11. Jeremiah 17:2 tn It is difficult to convey in good English style the connection between this verse and the preceding. The text does not have a finite verb but a temporal preposition with an infinitive: Heb “while their children remember their altars…” It is also difficult to translate the verb “literally” (i.e., what does “remember” their altars mean?). Hence it has been rendered “always think about.” Another possibility would be “have their altars…on their minds.”sn There is possibly a sarcastic irony involved here as well. The Israelites were to remember the Lord and what he had done and were to commemorate certain days, e.g., the Passover and the Sabbath, that recalled their deliverance. Instead they resorted to the pagan altars and kept them in mind.
  12. Jeremiah 17:2 tc This reading follows many Hebrew mss and ancient versions. Many other Hebrew mss read “your” [masc. pl.].
  13. Jeremiah 17:2 sn Sacred poles dedicated to…Asherah. A leading deity of the Canaanite pantheon was Asherah, wife/sister of El and goddess of fertility. She was commonly worshiped at shrines in or near groves of evergreen trees, or, failing that, at places marked by wooden poles (Hebrew אֲשֵׁרִים [ʾasherim], plural). They were to be burned or cut down (Deut 7:5; 12:3; 16:21; Judg 6:25, 28, 30; 2 Kgs 18:4).
  14. Jeremiah 17:3 tc This reading follows some of the ancient versions. The MT reads, “hills. My mountain in the open field [alluding to Jerusalem] and your wealth…I will give.” The vocalization of the noun plus pronoun and the unusual form of the expression to allude to Jerusalem calls into question the originality of the MT. The MT has הֲרָרִי (harari), which combines the suffix for a singular noun with a pointing of the noun in the plural, a form which would be without parallel (compare the forms in Ps 30:8 for the singular noun with suffix and Deut 8:9 for the plural noun with suffix). Likewise, Jerusalem was not “in the open field.” For a similar expression compare Jer 13:27.
  15. Jeremiah 17:3 tc Or “I will give away your wealth, all your treasures, and your places of worship…” The translation follows the emendation suggested in the footnote in BHS, reading בִּמְחִיר (bimkhir) in place of בָּמֹתֶיךָ (bamotekha). The forms are graphically very close, and one could explain the origin of either from the other. The parallel in 15:13-14 reads לֹא בִּמְחִיר (loʾ bimkhir). The text here may be a deliberate play on that one. The emended text makes decidedly better sense contextually than the MT unless some sardonic reference to their idolatry is intended.
  16. Jeremiah 17:4 tc Or “Through your own fault you will lose the land…” As W. McKane (Jeremiah [ICC], 1:386) notes, the ancient versions do not appear to be reading וּבְךָ (uvekha) as in the MT but possibly לְבַדְּךָ (levaddekha). The translation follows the suggestion in BHS that יָדְךָ (yadekha, literally “your hand”) be read for MT וּבְךָ. This has the advantage of fitting the idiom of this verb with “hand” in Deut 15:2 (see also v. 3 there). The Hebrew text thus reads, “You will release your hand from your heritage.”
  17. Jeremiah 17:4 tc A few Hebrew mss and two Greek mss read, “a fire is kindled in my anger” (reading קָדְחָה, qodkha), as in 15:14, in place of, “you have kindled a fire in my anger” (reading קָדַחְתֶּם, qadakhtem), as in the majority of Hebrew mss and versions. The variant may be explained on the basis of harmonization with the parallel passage. tn Heb “you have started a fire in my anger which will burn forever.”
  18. Jeremiah 17:5 sn Verses 5-11 are a collection of wisdom-like sayings (cf. Ps 1) that set forth the theme of the two ways and their consequences. It has as its background the blessings and the curses of Deut 28 and the challenge to faith in Deut 29-30, which climaxes in Deut 30:15-20. The nation is sinful, and God is weary of showing them patience. However, there is hope for individuals within the nation if they will trust in him.
  19. Jeremiah 17:5 tn Heb “who make flesh their arm.” The “arm” is the symbol of strength, and the flesh is the symbol of mortal man in relation to the omnipotent God. The translation “mere flesh and blood” reflects this.
  20. Jeremiah 17:5 sn In the psychology of ancient Hebrew thought the heart was the center not only of the emotions but of the thoughts and motivations. It was also the seat of moral conduct (cf. its placement in the middle of the discussion of moral conduct in Prov 4:20-27, i.e., in v. 23).
  21. Jeremiah 17:6 tn This word occurs only here and in Jer 48:6. It has been identified as a kind of juniper, which is a short shrub with minute leaves that look like scales. For a picture and more discussion see Fauna and Flora of the Bible, 131.
  22. Jeremiah 17:6 tn The עֲרָבָה (ʿaravah) refers to the rift valley. As a geographic feature it extends from Galilee to the Gulf of Aqaba, but individual passages typically refer to only a portion of it. The areas of the rift valley around the Dead Sea and to the south are known to be arid and inhospitable.
  23. Jeremiah 17:6 tn A מִדְבָּר (midbar, “wilderness”) receives less than twelve inches of rain per year and therefore cannot support trees and has little plant life.
  24. Jeremiah 17:7 tn Heb “Blessed is the person who trusts in the Lord, and whose confidence is in the Lord.” However, because this is a statement of the Lord and the translation chooses to show that the blessing comes from him, the first person is substituted for the divine name.
  25. Jeremiah 17:9 tn Or “incurably deceitful”; Heb “It is incurable.” For the word “deceitful” compare the usage of the verb in Gen 27:36 and a related noun in 2 Kgs 10:19. For the adjective “incurable” compare the usage in Jer 15:18. It is most commonly used with reference to wounds or of pain. In Jer 17:16 it is used metaphorically for a “woeful day” (i.e., day of irreparable devastation).sn The background for this verse is Deut 29:18-19 (29:17-18 HT) and Deut 30:17.
  26. Jeremiah 17:10 tn The term rendered “mind” here and in the previous verse is actually the Hebrew word for “heart.” However, in combination with the word rendered “heart” in the next line, which is the Hebrew for “kidneys,” it is best rendered “mind” because the “heart” was considered the center of intellect, conscience, and will, and the “kidneys,” the center of emotions.sn For an earlier reference to this motif see Jer 11:20. For a later reference see Jer 20:12. See also Ps 17:2-3.
  27. Jeremiah 17:11 tn The meaning of this line is somewhat uncertain. The word translated “broods over” occurs only here and Isa 34:15. It is often defined on the basis of an Aramaic cognate that means “to gather,” with an extended meaning of “to gather together under her to hatch.” Many commentators go back to a rabbinic explanation that the partridge steals the eggs of other birds and hatches them out only to see the birds depart when they recognize that she is not the mother. Modern studies question the validity of this zoologically. Moreover, W. L. Holladay contests the validity on the basis of the wording “and she does not hatch them” (Heb “bring them to birth”). See W. L. Holladay, Jeremiah (Hermeneia), 1:498, and see also P. C. Craigie, P. H. Kelley, J. F. Drinkard, Jeremiah 1-25 (WBC), 229. The point of the comparison is that the rich gather their wealth but they do not get to see the fruits of it.
  28. Jeremiah 17:11 tn The Hebrew text merely says “it.” But the antecedent might be ambiguous in English, so the reference to wealth gained by unjust means is here reiterated for clarity.
  29. Jeremiah 17:11 tn Heb “he will be [= prove to be] a fool.”
  30. Jeremiah 17:12 tn The words “Then I said” are not in the text. They are supplied in the translation for clarity to show the shift in speaker.sn The Lord is no longer threatening judgment but is being addressed. For a similar doxological interruption, compare Jer 16:19-20.
  31. Jeremiah 17:13 tn Heb “O glorious throne, O high place from the beginning, O place of our sanctuary, O hope of Israel, Lord.” Commentators and translators generally understand these four lines of verses 12-13a as two predications, one eulogizing the temple and the other eulogizing God. However, that does not fit the context very well and does not take into account the nature of Jeremiah’s doxology in Jeremiah 16:19-20 (and compare also 10:6-7). There the doxology is context-motivated, is focused on God, and calls on relevant attributes in the form of metaphorical epithets. That fits nicely here as well. For the relevant parallel passages see the study note.sn As King and Judge seated on his heavenly throne on high, the Lord metes out justice (for examples of this motif see Jer 25:30; Pss 9:4, 7 [9:5, 8 HT]; 11:4). As the place of sanctuary he offers refuge for those who are fleeing for safety (Ezek 11:16 and Isa 8:14 are examples of passages using that motif). Finally, the Lord has been referred to earlier as the object of Israel’s hope (Jer 14:8). All these facts are relevant to the choices that the Lord has placed before them, trust or turn away, and to the threat that as all-knowing Judge he will reward people according to their behavior.
  32. Jeremiah 17:13 tc The translation is based on an emendation suggested in W. L. Holladay, Jeremiah (Hermeneia), 1:500, n. b-b. The emendation involves following the reading preferred by the Masoretes (the Qere) and understanding and emending the preposition ב on the following word as the suffix ך on the word that precedes it. Thus the present translation reads וּסוּרֶיךָ אֶרֶץ (usurekha ʾerets) instead of וּסוּרַי בָּאֶרֶץ (usuray baʾerets, “and those who leave me will be written in the earth”), a reading which is highly improbable since all the other pronouns are second singular.
  33. Jeremiah 17:13 tn Or “to the world of the dead.” An alternative interpretation is, “will be as though their names were written in the dust”; Heb “will be written in the dust.” The translation follows the nuance of “earth” listed in HALOT 88 s.v. אֶרֶץ 4 and found in Jonah 2:6 (2:7 HT); Job 10:21-22. For the nuance of “enrolling, registering among the number” for the verb translated here “consign,” see BDB 507 s.v. כָּתַב Qal.3 and 508 s.v. Niph.2, and compare usage in Ezek 13:9 and Ps 69:28 (69:29 HT).
  34. Jeremiah 17:13 tn Heb “The fountain of living water.” For an earlier use of this metaphor and the explanation of it, see Jer 2:13 and the notes there. There does not appear to be any way to retain this metaphor in the text without explaining it. In the earlier text the context would show that literal water was not involved. Here it might still be assumed that the Lord merely gives life-giving water.
  35. Jeremiah 17:14 tn The translation fills in the details of the metaphor from a preceding context (15:18) and from the following context (17:18). The literal translation, “Heal me, and I will be healed; rescue me, and I will be rescued,” does not make much sense if these details are not filled in. The metaphor is filled in for clarity for the average reader.
  36. Jeremiah 17:14 tn Heb “you are my praise.”
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Jeremiah 18
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Matthew 21:33-46
New English Translation

The Parable of the Tenants

33 “Listen to another parable: There was a landowner[a] who planted a vineyard.[b] He put a fence around it, dug a pit for its winepress, and built a watchtower. Then[c] he leased it to tenant farmers[d] and went on a journey. 34 When the harvest time was near, he sent his slaves[e] to the tenants to collect his portion of the crop.[f] 35 But the tenants seized his slaves, beat one,[g] killed another, and stoned another. 36 Again he sent other slaves, more than the first, and they treated them the same way. 37 Finally he sent his son to them,[h] saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ 38 But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, ‘This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him and get his inheritance!’ 39 So[i] they seized him,[j] threw him out of the vineyard,[k] and killed him. 40 Now when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?” 41 They said to him, “He will utterly destroy those evil men! Then he will lease the vineyard to other tenants who will give him his portion at the harvest.”

42 Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the scriptures:

‘The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.[l]
This is from the Lord, and it is marvelous in our eyes’?[m]

43 For this reason I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a people[n] who will produce its fruit. 44 The one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces, and the one on whom it falls will be crushed.”[o] 45 When[p] the chief priests and the Pharisees[q] heard his parables, they realized that he was speaking about them. 46 They wanted to arrest him, but they were afraid of the crowds, because the crowds[r] regarded him as a prophet.

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Footnotes

  1. Matthew 21:33 tn The term here refers to the owner and manager of a household.
  2. Matthew 21:33 sn The vineyard is a figure for Israel in the OT (Isa 5:1-7). The nation and its leaders are the tenants, so the vineyard here may well refer to the promise that resides within the nation. The imagery is like that in Rom 11:11-24.
  3. Matthew 21:33 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.
  4. Matthew 21:33 sn The leasing of land to tenant farmers was common in this period.
  5. Matthew 21:34 tn See the note on the word “slave” in 8:9.sn These slaves represent the prophets God sent to the nation, who were mistreated and rejected.
  6. Matthew 21:34 tn Grk “to collect his fruits.”
  7. Matthew 21:35 sn The image of the tenants mistreating the owner’s slaves pictures the nation’s rejection of the prophets and their message.
  8. Matthew 21:37 sn The owner’s decision to send his son represents God sending Jesus.
  9. Matthew 21:39 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of the tenants’ decision to kill the son in v. 38.
  10. Matthew 21:39 tn Grk “seizing him.” The participle λαβόντες (labontes) has been translated as attendant circumstance.
  11. Matthew 21:39 sn Throwing the heir out of the vineyard pictures Jesus’ death outside of Jerusalem.
  12. Matthew 21:42 tn Or “capstone,” “keystone.” Although these meanings are lexically possible, the imagery in Eph 2:20-22 and 1 Cor 3:11 indicates that the term κεφαλὴ γωνίας (kephalē gōnias) refers to a cornerstone, not a capstone.sn The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. The use of Ps 118:22-23 and the “stone imagery” as a reference to Christ and his suffering and exaltation is common in the NT (see also Mark 12:10; Luke 20:17; Acts 4:11; 1 Pet 2:6-8; cf. also Eph 2:20). The irony in the use of Ps 118:22-23 here is that in the OT, Israel was the one rejected (or perhaps her king) by the Gentiles, but in the NT it is Jesus who is rejected by Israel.
  13. Matthew 21:42 sn A quotation from Ps 118:22-23.
  14. Matthew 21:43 tn Or “to a nation” (so KJV, NASB, NLT).
  15. Matthew 21:44 tc A few witnesses, especially of the Western text (D 33 it sys Irlat Or Eussyr), do not contain 21:44. However, the verse is found in א B C L W Z Δ (Θ) 0102 ƒ1, 13 565 579 700 1241 1424 M lat syc,p,h co. The NA27 and NA28 put this verse in brackets, which normally indicates some doubt as to its authenticity, but Metzger’s Textual Commentary claims that the committee concluded that the verse was an “accretion,” including it not because of authenticity but because of its longstanding role in the textual tradition (TCGNT 47). Some scholars see the verse as scribally borrowed from the parallel in Luke 20:18, but both the wording and word order are different enough that such an imperfect assimilation cannot account for the great variety of witnesses that have a uniform reading here. In light of the lack of adequate explanation for the rise of this verse as it is written, the longer reading should be preferred.tn Grk “on whomever it falls, it will crush him.”sn This proverb basically means that the stone crushes, without regard to whether it falls on someone or someone falls on it. On the stone as a messianic image, see Isa 28:16 and Dan 2:44-45.
  16. Matthew 21:45 tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated.
  17. Matthew 21:45 sn See the note on Pharisees in 3:7.
  18. Matthew 21:46 tn Grk “they”; the referent (the crowds) has been specified in the translation for clarity. Both previous occurrences of “they” in this verse refer to the chief priests and the Pharisees.
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Matthew 22
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Luke 24:44-53
New English Translation

Jesus’ Final Commission

44 Then[a] he said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me[b] in the law of Moses and the prophets and the psalms[c] must be fulfilled.” 45 Then he opened their minds so they could understand the scriptures,[d] 46 and said to them, “Thus it stands written that the Christ[e] would suffer[f] and would rise from the dead on the third day, 47 and repentance[g] for the forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed[h] in his name to all nations,[i] beginning from Jerusalem.[j] 48 You are witnesses[k] of these things. 49 And look, I am sending you[l] what my Father promised.[m] But stay in the city[n] until you have been clothed with power[o] from on high.”

Jesus’ Departure

50 Then[p] Jesus[q] led them out as far as Bethany,[r] and lifting up his hands, he blessed them. 51 Now[s] during the blessing[t] he departed[u] and was taken up into heaven.[v] 52 So[w] they worshiped[x] him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy,[y] 53 and were continually in the temple courts[z] blessing[aa] God.[ab]

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Footnotes

  1. Luke 24:44 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.
  2. Luke 24:44 sn Everything written about me. The divine plan, events, and scripture itself are seen here as being one.
  3. Luke 24:44 sn For a similar threefold division of the OT scriptures, see the prologue to Sirach, lines 8-10, and from Qumran, the epilogue to 4QMMT, line 10.
  4. Luke 24:45 sn Luke does not mention specific texts here, but it is likely that many of the scriptures he mentioned elsewhere in Luke-Acts would have been among those he had in mind.
  5. Luke 24:46 tn Or “Messiah”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”
  6. Luke 24:46 tn Three Greek infinitives are the key to this summary: (1) to suffer, (2) to rise, and (3) to be preached. The Christ (Messiah) would be slain, would be raised, and a message about repentance would go out into all the world as a result. All of this was recorded in the scripture. The remark shows the continuity between Jesus’ ministry, the scripture, and what disciples would be doing as they declared the Lord risen.
  7. Luke 24:47 sn This repentance has its roots in declarations of the Old Testament. It is the Hebrew concept of a turning of direction.
  8. Luke 24:47 tn Or “preached,” “announced.”
  9. Luke 24:47 sn To all nations. The same Greek term (τὰ ἔθνη, ta ethnē) may be translated “the Gentiles” or “the nations.” The hope of God in Christ was for all the nations from the beginning.
  10. Luke 24:47 sn Beginning from Jerusalem. See Acts 2, which is where it all starts.
  11. Luke 24:48 sn You are witnesses. This becomes a key concept of testimony in Acts. See Acts 1:8.
  12. Luke 24:49 tn Grk “sending on you.”
  13. Luke 24:49 tn Grk “the promise of my Father,” with τοῦ πατρός (tou patros) translated as a subjective genitive. This is a reference to the Holy Spirit and looks back to how one could see Messiah had come with the promise of old (Luke 3:15-18). The promise is rooted in Jer 31:31 and Ezek 36:26.
  14. Luke 24:49 sn The city refers to Jerusalem.
  15. Luke 24:49 sn Until you have been clothed with power refers to the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. What the Spirit supplies is enablement. See Luke 12:11-12; 21:12-15. The difference the Spirit makes can be seen in Peter (compare Luke 22:54-62 with Acts 2:14-41).
  16. Luke 24:50 tn Here δέ (de) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.
  17. Luke 24:50 tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  18. Luke 24:50 sn Bethany was village on the Mount of Olives about 2 mi (3 km) from Jerusalem; see John 11:1, 18.
  19. Luke 24:51 tn Grk “And it happened that while.” The introductory phrase ἐγένετο (egeneto, “it happened that”), common in Luke (69 times) and Acts (54 times), is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.
  20. Luke 24:51 tn Grk “while he blessed them.”
  21. Luke 24:51 tn Grk “he departed from them.”
  22. Luke 24:51 tc The reference to the ascension (“and was taken up into heaven”) is lacking in א* D it sys, but it is found in P75 and the rest of the ms tradition. The authenticity of the statement here seems to be presupposed in Acts 1:2, for otherwise it is difficult to account for Luke’s reference to the ascension there. For a helpful discussion, see TCGNT 162-63.tn For the translation of ἀνεφέρετο (anephereto) as “was taken up” see BDAG 75 s.v. ἀναφέρω 1.sn There is great debate whether this event equals Acts 1:9-11 so that Luke has telescoped something here that he describes in more detail later. The text can be read in this way because the temporal marker in v. 50 is vague.
  23. Luke 24:52 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the result of Jesus’ ascension and the concluding summary of Luke’s Gospel.
  24. Luke 24:52 tc The reference to worship is lacking in the Western ms D, its last major omission in this Gospel.
  25. Luke 24:52 sn Joy is another key theme for Luke: 1:14; 2:10; 8:13; 10:17; 15:7, 10; 24:41.
  26. Luke 24:53 tn Grk “in the temple.”sn Luke’s gospel story proper ends where it began, in the temple courts (Luke 1:4-22). The conclusion is open-ended, because the story continues in Acts with what happened from Jerusalem onwards, once the promise of the Father (v. 49) came.
  27. Luke 24:53 tc The Western text (D it) has αἰνοῦντες (ainountes, “praising”) here, while the Alexandrian mss (P75 א B C* L) have εὐλογοῦντες (eulogountes, “blessing”). Most mss, especially the later Byzantine mss, evidently combine these two readings with αἰνοῦντες καὶ εὐλογοῦντες (A C2 W Θ Ψ ƒ1,13 33 M lat). It is more difficult to decide between the two earlier readings. Internal arguments can go either way, but what seems decisive in this instance are the superior witnesses for εὐλογοῦντες.
  28. Luke 24:53 tc The majority of Greek mss, some of which are significant witnesses (A B C2 Θ Ψ ƒ13 M lat), add “Amen” to note the Gospel’s end. Such a conclusion is routinely added by scribes to NT books because a few of these books originally had such an ending (cf. Rom 16:27; Gal 6:18; Jude 25). A majority of Greek witnesses have the concluding ἀμήν in every NT book except Acts, James, and 3 John (and even in these books, ἀμήν is found in some witnesses). It is thus a predictable variant. Further, since significant witnesses lack the word (P75 א C* D L W 1 33 it co), it is evidently not original.
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Luke 23
John 1
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Acts 1:9-11
New English Translation

9 After[a] he had said this, while they were watching, he was lifted up and a cloud hid him from their sight. 10 As[b] they were still staring into the sky while he was going, suddenly[c] two men in white clothing stood near them 11 and said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand here[d] looking up into the sky? This same Jesus who has been taken up from you into heaven[e] will come back in the same way you saw him go into heaven.”

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Footnotes

  1. Acts 1:9 tn Grk “And after.” Because of the difference between Greek style, which often begins sentences or clauses with “and,” and English style, which generally does not, καί (kai) has not been translated here.
  2. Acts 1:10 tn Grk “And as.” Because of the difference between Greek style, which often begins sentences or clauses with “and,” and English style, which generally does not, καί (kai) has not been translated here.
  3. Acts 1:10 tn Grk “behold.”
  4. Acts 1:11 tn The word “here” is not in the Greek text, but is implied. Direct objects were frequently omitted in Greek when clear from the context, but must be supplied for the modern English reader.
  5. Acts 1:11 tc Codex Bezae (D) and several other witnesses lack the words εἰς τὸν οὐρανόν (eis ton ouranon, “into heaven”) here, most likely by way of accidental deletion. In any event, it is hardly correct to suppose that the Western text has intentionally suppressed references to the ascension of Christ here, for the phrase is solidly attested in the final clause of the verse.tn Or “into the sky.” The Greek word οὐρανός (ouranos) may be translated “sky” (vv. 10, 11a) or “heaven” (twice in v. 11b) depending on the context.
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John 21
Acts 2
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Ephesians 4:8
New English Translation

8 Therefore it says, “When he ascended on high he captured[a] captives; he gave gifts to men.”[b]

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Footnotes

  1. Ephesians 4:8 tn Grk “he led captive captivity.”
  2. Ephesians 4:8 sn A quotation which is perhaps ultimately derived from Ps 68:18. However, the wording here differs from that of Ps 68 in both the Hebrew text and the LXX in a few places, the most significant of which is reading “gave gifts to” in place of “received gifts from” as in HT and LXX. It has sometimes been suggested that the author of Ephesians modified the text he was citing in order to better support what he wanted to say here. Such modifications are sometimes found in rabbinic exegesis from this and later periods, but it is also possible that the author was simply citing a variant of Ps 68 known to him but which has not survived outside its quotation here (W. H. Harris, The Descent of Christ [AGJU 32], 104). Another possibility is that the words here, which strongly resemble Ps 68:19 HT and LXX (68:18 ET), are actually part of an early Christian hymn quoted by the author.
Ephesians 4:8 in all English translations
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Ephesians 3
Ephesians 5
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