You shall count: literally “you shall count for yourself.” The two pronouns are singular in form but should be understood collectively as referring to the people of Israel as a whole. In some languages the verb here will be better translated “wait,” as in the similar passage in 15.13.

Seven weeks of years: the word translated weeks is actually translated elsewhere as “sabbaths” and has the root meaning “seven” (see 16.31). So the phrases seven weeks of years (used twice) and “seven times seven years” have exactly the same meaning and can be translated once, if the repetition is stylistically unacceptable in the receptor language.

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 .

Note that this verse has been restructured in Good News Translation. This may be a good model for other languages to follow.

A bull or a lamb: the first word used here is not restricted in meaning to the male of the species, but may also include females. New International Version has “cow,” and both Good News Translation and Moffatt have the still more general word “animal” to cover both terms used here.

A part too long or too short: see 21.18. The first term indicates a limb that is overgrown or out of proper proportion. The meaning of the second term is uncertain. Both the Greek and Latin versions have “which have their tail cut off,” but this seems far too limited. It probably carries the meaning of retarded or arrested growth of any body part. These two terms seem to refer to conditions due to birth defects rather than resulting from accidents as alluded to in the previous verse.

It cannot be accepted: see verse 20.

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 .

You shall do no work: instead of repeating word-for-word the prohibition found in verse 28 and alluded to in verse 30, good style may require that it be phrased in a different way here. One may consider a general statement like “All work is forbidden” or “No work is allowed.” Good News Translation chooses to leave it implicit in this case.

It: the pronoun is translated “This regulation” in Good News Translation and refers to the prohibition of work on the Sabbath, which is stated in verse 28 and repeated again at the beginning of this verse.

A statute for ever …: see 3.17 and 10.9.

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 .

A sabbath of solemn rest: see 16.31 and 23.3.

For the land: in some languages the verb “to rest” will be inappropriate to use with land. So it may be more natural to say something like “a year when the land is not cultivated at all.”

You: as in the previous verse, the pronouns here are singular but should be translated as plurals in most languages, since they refer to the whole people of Israel.

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 .

Then: while the Hebrew text has only the common conjunction usually translated “and,” most versions recognize that the context requires something stronger at this point. Good News Translation has “At that time,” referring to the Year of Restoration.

He and his children: the children are not necessarily slaves with their father. They may be children born during the time that the father was serving as a slave.

Go back to his own family: this does not simply indicate a change of address or a moving from one house to another. It involves the liberation from slavery (however benevolent that slavery may have been) and a return to the status of a free person. Compare verse 10.

Return to the possession of his fathers: the word fathers is to be understood in the more general sense of all those who have gone before in the family line. Hence Good News Translation has “ancestors.” The possession refers to the family property. New English Bible translates the last two phrases as “he shall … go back to his family and to his ancestral property.”

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 .

Your strength shall be spent in vain: a literal rendering of this phrase may be misleading in some languages. Another way of saying this is “No matter how hard you work, it will be for nothing…” or “You will wear yourselves out and become exhausted, but you efforts will be worthless.”

Yield its increase … their fruit: compare verse 4.

Of the land: some texts read “of the field,” but this is of minor significance in a dynamic-equivalent translation. Several versions, including Good News Translation, simply leave this detail implicit, since land has already been mentioned earlier in this same verse.

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 .

But: there seems to be no reason for a strong contrasting conjunction here. In most versions this word is either translated “and” or omitted altogether.

Wishes to redeem it: or “wants to buy it back.” Compare 25.25. This is intended to respond to the question of what to do in case the person offering such an animal changes his mind and decides he wants it back.

Add a fifth: see 5.16 and 22.14.

The valuation: that is, the price. See verse 2.

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 .