Which biblical reference is inscribed on Philadelphia’s Liberty Bell?

Philadelphia’s Liberty Bell bears an inscription from Leviticus 25:10.

The inscription reads, in part, “Proclaim Liberty Throughout All the Land Unto All the Inhabitants Thereof.” It comes from the King James Version of the Bible and refers to the biblical Jubilee, a year associated with liberty, debt release, and the return of ancestral property.

The Pennsylvania Provincial Assembly ordered the bell in 1751 from the Whitechapel Bell Foundry in London. It arrived in Philadelphia in 1752 and cracked during an early test ringing. Local founders recast it twice, producing the bell now associated with American independence.

The bell did not receive the name “Liberty Bell” until the nineteenth century. Its modern fame grew through abolitionist use of the liberty theme and later national commemoration. The bell was rung for public announcements but probably was not rung specifically to announce the Declaration’s adoption.