The Liberty Bell’s inscription quotes Leviticus, the third book of the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Old Testament.
The bell bears the words “Proclaim LIBERTY Throughout all the Land unto all the Inhabitants Thereof.” The wording comes from Leviticus 25:10, which describes the biblical Jubilee year, when land was to be returned and people were to be released from certain obligations.
Pennsylvania’s colonial assembly commissioned the bell in 1751 from the London firm Lester and Pack. After the bell cracked shortly after arriving in Philadelphia, local founders John Pass and John Stow recast it. Their names appear on the bell beneath the inscription.
The bell became a national symbol of liberty during the nineteenth century, especially through abolitionist use. The popular story that it cracked while ringing after Chief Justice John Marshall’s death in 1835 is not firmly supported by evidence. The bell was last rung publicly in 1846 and is now preserved in Philadelphia.