Pine away: this expression is used twice in this verse and indicates a gradual but sure deterioration. It may be rendered “decay,” “rot,” or “waste away.”

In your enemies’ lands: there is a minor textual problem here. Some texts have the singular “in an enemy land” (so New English Bible and Jerusalem Bible), but since the meaning is virtually the same, this should have no effect on the receptor-language translation.

Their fathers: that is, “your ancestors,” as in Good News Translation.

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 .