Bible Strands
Leviticus 25:23
The land must not be sold permanently, because it is Mine, and you are but foreigners and residents with Me.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Moses delivers this directive to Israel during the wilderness period, positioned between instructions on eighth-year harvests (Leviticus 25:22) and procedures for land redemption (Leviticus 25:24).
The words — The phrase לֹא תִמָּכֵר לִצְמִתוּת (lo ti'maker litzmitut) literally means "not will-be-sold to-perpetuity," and גֵרִים (gerim) identifies the people as "sojourners."
The thread — The designation of the people as sojourners appears in 1 Chronicles 29:15 and 1 Peter 2:11, while the absolute ban on alienating consecrated territory aligns with Ezekiel 48:14.
Why it lands — The passage states that land cannot be permanently transferred because God claims ultimate ownership, and Israel occupies it only as temporary residents.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
The land shall not be sold for ever: for the land is mine; for ye are strangers and sojourners with me.
Cross-references
- 1 Peter 2:11 Beloved, I urge you, as foreigners and exiles, to abstain from the desires of the flesh, which war against your soul.
- Ezekiel 48:14 They must not sell or exchange any of it, and they must not transfer this best part of the land, for it is holy to the LORD.
- 1 Chronicles 29:15 For we are foreigners and strangers in Your presence, as were all our forefathers. Our days on earth are like a shadow, without hope.
- Psalms 24:1 A Psalm of David. The earth is the LORD’s, and the fullness thereof, the world and all who dwell therein.
- Psalms 39:12 Hear my prayer, O LORD, and give ear to my cry for help; do not be deaf to my weeping. For I am a foreigner dwelling with You, a stranger like all my fathers.
- Genesis 23:4 “I am a foreigner and an outsider among you. Give me a burial site among you so that I can bury my dead.”
- Exodus 19:5 Now if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, you will be My treasured possession out of all the nations—for the whole earth is Mine.
- Deuteronomy 32:43 Rejoice, O heavens, with Him, and let all God’s angels worship Him. Rejoice, O nations, with His people; for He will avenge the blood of His children. He will take vengeance on His adversaries and repay those who hate Him; He will cleanse His land and His people.
- Genesis 47:9 “My travels have lasted 130 years,” Jacob replied. “My years have been few and hard, and they have not matched the years of the travels of my fathers.”
- Leviticus 25:10 So you are to consecrate the fiftieth year and proclaim liberty in the land for all its inhabitants. It shall be your Jubilee, when each of you is to return to his property and to his clan.