Compare Exodus 20.8-10.

Six days shall work be done: the meaning of this passive expression is well translated by “There are six days when you may work” (New International Version) or “You will work for six days” (New Jerusalem Bible). This, in fact, corresponds to the rendering of the Greek Septuagint.

On the seventh day is a sabbath of solemn rest: the words translated sabbath and rest have the same root in Hebrew, and the word for seventh is also very similar (see 16.31). The whole phrase seems to emphasize that the day must be set aside for religious observance, and that ordinary daily occupations were to be avoided. The latter expression, a sabbath to the LORD, serves to emphasize the sacred character of the day of rest. It belongs to the LORD.

Holy convocation: note that this is again rendered as the verbal expression “gather for worship” in Good News Translation. Compare verse 2.

In all your dwellings: this phrase has been taken by some commentators as referring to settlements of Jews living outside the Promised Land, but it is more likely that it refers to the keeping of the sabbath in a very broad and general sense. Most modern versions translate it in this general sense: “wherever you live” (New English Bible, New International Version, and New Jerusalem Bible) or “no matter where you live” (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 .