Your threshing shall last to the time of vintage, and the vintage shall last to the time for sowing: these are images of abundant harvest. The fields will produce so much grain that the people must work until the grapes are ripe in order to separate the grain from the straw. Then the grapes will be so plentiful that the task of picking them will last until it was time to plant for the next grain crop. This is not intended to give the impression that the people are overworked, but that there was more than enough to eat and drink. Good News Translation has made this more explicit by introducing this verse with “Your crops will be so plentiful that….” Compare Amos 9.13.

You shall eat your bread to the full: the word bread here is intended to represent foods of all kinds. In many languages it will give the wrong idea if translated literally. This is especially true where bread is not a common element in the diet. Here it is better translated as “you will receive all the food you need” or “you will have food to eat in abundance” (New American Bible).

Dwell in your land securely: see 25.18, 19.

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 .