year of Jubilee

The Hebrew that is translated as “(year of) Jubilee” in English is translated in Kwere as mwaka wa kubweleza or “year of return.” (Source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)

complete verse (Leviticus 25:15)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Leviticus 25:15:

  • Kupsabiny: “If you buy a field from another person, you (plur.) should agree about it in a way that is in accordance with the days that have passed from the year of release. The person who sells a field to you should pay back/refund to you according to the years which remain before the year of release arrives.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “When you settle on the price for a field, agree upon it, keeping account of the time [you] have done field work since the last Year of Jubilee. The price is to be set according to the number of years the land can produce crops before the next Year of Jubilee.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “The price of the land must (be) according-to the number of years which it can-produce before/[lit. not yet] the next Year of the Setting-Free and Returning.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “If you buy land, the price that you will pay will depend on the number of years there will be until the next Year of Celebration. If someone sells land to you, he will charge a price that is determined by the number of years until the next Year of Celebration.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Leviticus 25:15

For the sake of clarity it will probably be necessary to restructure this entire verse. The two parts are simply different ways of saying the same thing. According to the number of years after the jubilee is essentially the same as according to the number of years for crops. Also the phrases you shall buy… and he shall sell… refer to the same business transaction. Since this whole chapter is addressed to the people of Israel in general, it may be wise in some languages to say something like “Take into account the number of years since the last (or, until the next) Year of Restoration, when you buy or sell land.” Good News Translation may also provide a helpful model for some languages.

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 .