This verse is the counterpart of verses 29 and 30 above. Since there is a contrast between the disposition of houses inside the cities and those in the countryside, this part should be introduced by a conjunction marking contrast.

Reckoned with the fields of the country: or “treated as property in the open country” (New English Bible), or “considered as situated in the open country” (New Jerusalem Bible).

May be redeemed … shall be released: these passive verb forms will have to be rendered actively in many languages. An alternative phrasing may be “the owners can buy them back and take possession of them again in the Year of Restoration.”

Jubilee: see verse 10.

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 .