What Does Leviticus 25:27 Mean in the King James?
Then let him count the years of the sale thereof, and restore the overplus unto the man to whom he sold it; that he may return unto his possession.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
The return is made possible by honest accounting: the years are counted, the excess value goes back, and the possession can return.
THE MEANING
A possession sold under pressure remains returnable, but its return requires an exact reckoning of the years and the excess value. What is owed to the buyer is returned first; then the former holder returns to what is theirs.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that reclaiming what is yours means erasing the cost to the one who held it: restoration here accounts for both returned value and returned possession.
THE ROOT
וְהֵשִׁיב
weheshiv
GROWS FROM
שׁוּב
shuv
to return, turn back, or bring back
“restore, return” in this verse is weheshiv. English uses “restore” and “return,” but Hebrew repeats שׁוּב (shuv, return or bring back) twice: first the surplus is brought back, then the former holder returns to the possession. The verse makes value and belonging two stages of one return.
ALSO GROWS
teshuvah: return, turning back
תְּשׁוּבָה
This noun names the movement back that the verse expresses through the return of both value and possession.
meshiv: one who brings back or restores
מֵשִׁיב
This form shows the active bringing back of what had passed into another person’s hands.
וְחִשַּׁב
vechishav
GROWS FROM
חָשַׁב
chashav
to think, reckon, or account
“count, reckon” in this verse is vechishav. The verb for counting shares a root with words for thought and calculation. The return is therefore tied to considered accounting: the years determine how much value remains to be returned.
ALSO GROWS
cheshbon: account, calculation
חֶשְׁבּוֹן
The years of the sale are treated as an account that sets the amount to be restored.
machashavah: thought, plan
מַחֲשָׁבָה
This branch links reckoning with careful consideration, making the return a measured decision rather than a vague gesture.
הָעֹדֵף
ha'odef
GROWS FROM
עָדַף
adaph
to exceed or remain over
“overplus” in this verse is ha'odef. The surplus is what remains after the years already used are counted. That makes the return responsive to the value left over, rather than a flat reversal of the original sale.
ALSO GROWS
odef: surplus, excess
עֹדֶף
This noun names the excess that is returned in the verse.
adaph: to exceed, remain over
עָדַף
The verb carries the idea of something left beyond what has been used, clarifying what the returned surplus represents.
THE PATTERN
Restoration becomes fair through measured return, bringing value and belonging back into balance.
And ye shall hallow the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof: it shall be a jubile unto you; and ye shall return every man unto his possession, and ye shall return every man unto his family.And Zacchæus stood, and said unto the Lord; Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor; and if I have taken any thing from any man by false accusation, I restore him fourfold.But by an equality, that now at this time your abundance may be a supply for their want, that their abundance also may be a supply for your want: that there may be equality:THE THREAD
And ye shall hallow the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof: it shall be a jubile unto you; and ye shall return every man unto his possession, and ye shall return every man unto his family.Both verses use שׁוּב (shuv, return or bring back): here the surplus is returned and the holder returns to the possession; there the Jubilee names the return to possession and family. The repeated root places this careful accounting inside a wider movement of restored belonging.
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