צְמִיתֻת

From the study of Leviticus 25:23

Range of meaning

A legal-technical noun from the root ṣ-m-t, "to put an end to, annihilate, silence" (compare Ps 54:5; 101:5, 8). The noun means "finality, complete termination." With the preposition le- ("for") it means "with final, irrevocable effect," so that the seller's claim is extinguished.

Against the English

"For ever" (KJV), "permanently" (BSB, NIV, NASB), "in perpetuity" (WEB, ESV) all get the time element right. YLT's "to extinction" keeps the root picture better: the issue is not only duration but the cutting off of the original family's claim. Modern sales are assumed final, so English readers can miss that the verse is aimed squarely at the ordinary idea of a sale.

Used elsewhere in the period

Found only in Lev 25:23 and 25:30. Verse 30 is the decisive parallel: a house inside a walled city that is not bought back within a year "shall belong litsmitut to the buyer," which means it passes to the buyer for good. So the word names exactly the kind of transfer that 25:23 forbids for farmland. Commentators (e.g. Milgrom, Anchor Bible) point to a matching Akkadian legal verb ṣamātu used in land deeds from Ugarit for handing property over irrevocably, which suggests this was standard conveyancing language in the region. The Greek Septuagint renders it eis bebaiōsin, "for guaranteed title," a term used in Greek sale contracts for the seller's warranty that the sale is final.