And: since what follows is in contrast with the idea of living in the land without any worries, it is perhaps better to use a conjunction that marks this contrast, as in Good News Translation.

If you say: this is a hypothetical situation where someone might wonder how the people would be fed during the Rest Year. It is not so much a question from one person to another, but a kind of “thinking out loud.” New Jerusalem Bible has “In case you should ask….” In many languages it will be more natural to avoid a direct quotation and to begin the verse “But if you are wondering….”

Quoted with permission from Péter-Contesse, René and Ellington, John. A Handbook on Leviticus. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1990. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .