Lev 25:13-17 | NETfull | STEP | “‘In this year of jubilee you must each return to your property.

Leviticus 25:13-17

Release of Landed Property

13 “‘In this year of jubilee you must each return ^{▼▼ Heb “you [plural] shall return, a man.”} to your property. 14 If you make a sale ^{▼▼ Heb “sell a sale.”} to your fellow citizen ^{▼▼ Or “to one of your countrymen” (NIV); NASB “to your friend.”} or buy ^{▼▼ 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).} from your fellow citizen, no one is to wrong his brother. ^{▼▼ Heb “do not oppress a man his brother.” Here “brother” does not refer only to a sibling, but to a fellow Israelite.} 15 You may buy it from your fellow citizen according to the number of years since ^{▼▼ Heb “in the number of years after.”} the last jubilee; he may sell it to you according to the years of produce that are left. ^{▼▼ The words “that are left” are not in the Hebrew text, but are implied.} ^{▼▼ 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.} 16 The more years there are, ^{▼▼ Heb “To the mouth of the many years.”} the more you may make its purchase price, and the fewer years there are, ^{▼▼ Heb “to the mouth of the few years.”} the less you must make its purchase price, because he is only selling to you a number of years of ^{▼▼ 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).} produce. 17 No one is to oppress his fellow citizen, ^{▼▼ Heb “And you shall not oppress a man his fellow citizen.”} but you must fear your God, because I am the Lord your God.