§ 47

Law § 47 of Hammurabi's Code

Translation
If a tenant farmer, because he did not recover (lit., receive) his expenses in the previous year, has said he would plow the field (again) (or, has said, “I will plow the field (again)”), the owner of the field will not object; that very tenant farmer of his may plow his field, and he will receive grain at the harvest according to his contract(s).
Law Code
Law Code of Hammurabi
Law Group
Agricultural Tenants

Cuneiform

Law § 47 - Cuneiform - Law Code of Hammurabi

Source: Bergmann (1953, p. 9–10, col. XIII, lns. 58–70)

Transliteration

šum-ma er-re-šum aš-šum i-na ša-at-tim maḫ-ri-tim ma-na-ḫa-ti-šu la il-qú-ú A.ŠÀ e-RI-ša-am iq-ta-bi be-el A.ŠÀ ú-ul ú-up-pa-as er-re-su-ma A.ŠÀ-šu i-ir-ri-iš-ma i-na ebūrim(BURU14) ki-ma ri-ik-sa-ti-šu ŠE i-le-qé

Source: Huehnergard (2011, p. 278)

Normalization

šumma errēšum aššum ina šattim maḫrītim mānaḫātīšu lā ilqû eqlam erēšam iqtabi (or, "eqlam errišam" iqtabi), bēl eqlim ul uppas; errēssū-ma eqelšu irriš-ma ina ebūrim kīma riksātīšu âm ileqqe.

Source: Huehnergard (2013, p. 64)

Translation

If a tenant farmer, because he did not recover (lit., receive) his expenses in the previous year, has said he would plow the field (again) (or, has said, “I will plow the field (again)”), the owner of the field will not object; that very tenant farmer of his may plow his field, and he will receive grain at the harvest according to his contract(s).

Source: Huehnergard (2013, p. 64)

Citation

MLA 9

Dedović, B. "§ 47 - eHammurabi." OMNIKA Foundation, 26 Oct. 2023, ehlaw.org/law/47. [Accessed 14 Nov. 2026]

APA 7

Dedović, B. (2023, October 26). § 47 - eHammurabi. OMNIKA Foundation. https://ehlaw.org/law/47

CMS 16

Dedović, Boban. "§ 47 - eHammurabi." Las Vegas, NV: OMNIKA Foundation. Created October 26, 2023. Modified December 16, 2024. Accessed November 14, 2026. https://ehlaw.org/law/47.

Bibliography

ACH

Abulhab, Saad D. The Law Code of Hammurabi: Transliterated and Literally Translated from its Early Classical Arabic Language. New York, NY: Blautopf, 2017.

CHTP

Bergmann, Eugen. Codex Ḫammurabi: Textus Primigenius. Rome, Italy: Pontificium Institutum Biblicum, 1953.

HAG3

Huehnergard, John. A Grammar of Akkadian (Third Edition). Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns, 2011.

HKEY3

Huehnergard, John. Key to a Grammar of Akkadian (Third Edition). Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns, 2013.

–

OMNIKA Foundation Contributors. "OMNIKA: Digital Mythology Library & Search Engine." Las Vegas, NV: OMNIKA Foundation, accessed November 14, 2023. https://omnika.org. [Visit]

RHL

Richardson, Mervyn E.J. Hammurabi's Laws: Text, Translation and Glossary. New York, NY: T & T Clark International, 2004.

SoT

Sound of Text Contributors. "Sound of Text: AI Text-to-Speech." Accessed November 14, 2023. https://soundoftext.app. [Visit]

eHammurabi Glossary

The § symbol is a shorthand notation for the word 'section'.

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eHammurabi Glossary

Cuneiform is an ancient writing system used by various cultures around Mesopotamia.

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eHammurabi Glossary

Normalization is the application of grammatical rules unto transliterated sound values.

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eHammurabi Glossary

Translation is the conversion of linguistic contents and their meanings from one language into another.

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eHammurabi Glossary

Transliteration is the conversion of sound values from one writing system into another.

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