The biblical book supplying the Liberty Bell’s inscription is Leviticus.
The bell bears words based on Leviticus 25:10: “Proclaim LIBERTY Throughout all the Land unto all the Inhabitants Thereof.” The inscription was ordered for the Pennsylvania State House, now Independence Hall, and was intended to express a message of liberty for the colony.
The bell was commissioned by the Pennsylvania Provincial Assembly in 1751 and arrived in Philadelphia in 1752. It cracked during testing and was recast twice by local founders John Pass and John Stow. Their names and the year 1753 appear on the bell, along with the biblical inscription.
Its connection with independence grew over time. The bell was probably among those rung in Philadelphia on July 8, 1776, when the Declaration was first read publicly, although there is no contemporary proof that it rang for that event. The name “Liberty Bell” became established in the nineteenth century, and the bell later became a national symbol of freedom.