Leviticus 25:2–5
Every seventh year the land itself rests, a sabbath for YHWH
Study it word by word2“Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them: When you come into the land that I am giving you, the land shall cease, a Sabbath to YHWH.
3Six years you shall sow your field, and six years you shall prune your vineyard and gather its produce;
4but in the seventh year there shall be a Sabbath of solemn rest for the land, a Sabbath to YHWH; your field you shall not sow, and your vineyard you shall not prune.
5What grows by itself from your harvest you shall not reap, and the grapes of your unpruned vine you shall not gather; it shall be a year of solemn rest for the land.
In its context
1And YHWH spoke to Moses on Mount Sinai, saying,
…
6And the Sabbath of the land shall be for you for food: for you and for your male slave and for your female slave and for your hired worker and for your temporary resident, those who reside with you,
7and for your beasts and for the animals that are in your land all its produce shall be for food.
Its words in the original
- דַּבֵּרdaber· speak
Speak, talk, say; also promise or command.
- בְּנֵיbene· son
Son. In the plural it can include sons and daughters, and also grandsons and descendants. "Son of..." also says what group someone belongs to ("sons of Israel" = Israelites).
- יִשְׂרָאֵלyisrael· Israel
Israel, the new name Jacob received from God, explained as "you have striven with God" (Genesis 32:28); then the name of the people that came from him and, after the division, of the northern kingdom.
- אָמַרְתָּamarta· say
Say, speak. The most common verb for bringing in what someone says; sometimes "think" (say to oneself) or "command".
- תָבֹאוּtavou· come, go in, bring
Come, arrive, go in, enter. In the causative form, "bring" or "carry in". "Go in to" a woman is to have marital relations with her.
- אָרֶץarets· earth, land
The earth, in two senses: the whole world in contrast with the heavens, or a particular country or region ("the land of Egypt").
- נֹתֵןnoten· give, put, set
Give, in a very wide sense: hand over, put, place, grant, allow, make something be.
- שָׁבְתָהshavta· cease, rest
Cease, stop doing something; from there "rest". When God ceased from his work it was because he had finished it, not from weariness. The word "Sabbath" comes from this verb.
- שַׁבָּתshabat· Sabbath
Sabbath: the seventh day, when work stops because it is set apart for God. The word comes from the verb "cease". It can also mean a week, or a sabbatical year (the land's rest).
- יהוָהyhva· YHWH
The personal name of the God of Israel, written in Hebrew with four letters, Y-H-W-H, without vowels. Out of reverence Jews stopped pronouncing it and read "Adonai" (Lord), so many Bibles put "the LORD" or "Jehovah". This translation keeps the four letters. The name is related to the verb "to be" (Exodus 3:14-15). He is not a god other than Elohim: "YHWH Elohim" is the same Creator God, called by his name.
- שֵׁשׁshesh· six
Six; also "sixth".
- שָׁנִיםshanim· year
Year.
- תִּזְרַעtizra· sow
Sow; produce seed.
- שָׂדֶsade· field
Field: open country, cultivated or not.
- תִּזְמֹרtizmor· prune
Prune: cut back the branches of the vine so that it bears more fruit.
- כַּרְמֶkarme· vineyard
Vineyard.
- אָסַפְתָּasafta· gather
Gather, bring together; store up; take away. "Be gathered to one's people" is to die.
- תְּבוּאָתָtevuata· produce, yield
Harvest, what the land produces; income.
- שְּׁבִיעִתsheviit· seventh
Seventh.
- שַׁבָּתוֹןshabaton· solemn rest
Solemn rest: a day when all work is laid aside.
- יִהְיֶהyihye· be, become, happen
Be, exist; also "become" or "happen". It is the verb of "there was", "it was" and "it came to pass".
- סְפִיחַsefiach· what grows by itself
What grows by itself without being sown, from the grain dropped in the previous harvest.
- קְצִירְketsir· harvest
Harvest, reaping; the crop and its season; also a branch.
- תִקְצוֹרtiktsor· reap, be short
Reap: cut the grain; harvest. Also be short, be shortened ("is the hand of YHWH too short?").
- עִנְּבֵיinve· grape
Grape.
- נְזִירֶnezire· Nazirite; consecrated
Nazirite: a person set apart for God by a vow. The word means "set apart, consecrated"; so it is also said of one who is distinguished among his brothers, and of a vine left unpruned.
- תִבְצֹרtivtsor· be impossible; fortify
Be impossible, out of reach. Elsewhere, fortify; also gather grapes.