Leviticus 27:16-21

Redemption of Vowed Fields

27:16 “‘If a man consecrates to the Lord some of his own landed property, the conversion value must be calculated in accordance with the amount of seed needed to sow it, ¹  a homer of barley seed being priced at fifty shekels of silver. ²  27:17 If he consecrates his field in the jubilee year, ³  the conversion value will stand, 27:18 but if ⁴  he consecrates his field after the jubilee, the priest will calculate the price ⁵  for him according to the years that are left until the next jubilee year, and it will be deducted from the conversion value. 27:19 If, however, the one who consecrated the field redeems it, ⁶  he must add to it one fifth of the conversion price ⁷  and it will belong to him. ⁸  27:20 If he does not redeem the field, but sells ⁹  the field to someone else, he may never redeem it. 27:21 When it reverts ¹⁰  in the jubilee, the field will be holy to the Lord like a permanently dedicated field; ¹¹  it will become the priest’s property. ¹² 

[27:16]  ¹ tn Heb “a conversion value shall be to the mouth of its seed.”

[27:16]  ² tn Heb “seed of a homer of barley in fifty shekels of silver.”

[27:17]  ³ tn Heb “from the year of the jubilee.” For the meaning of “jubilee,” see the note on Lev 25:10 above.

[27:18]  ⁴ tn Heb “And if.” The Hebrew conjunction ו (vav, “and”) can be considered to have adversative force here.

[27:18]  ⁵ tn Heb “the silver.”

[27:19]  ⁶ tn Heb “And if redeeming [infinitive absolute] he redeems [finite verb] the field, the one who consecrated it.” For the infinitive absolute used to highlight contrast rather than emphasis see GKC 343 §113.p.

[27:19]  ⁷ tn Heb “the silver of the conversion value.”

[27:19]  ⁸ tn Heb “and it shall rise to him.” See HALOT 1087 s.v. קום 7 for the rendering offered here, but see also the note on the end of v. 14 above (cf. J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 476, 478).

[27:20]  ⁹ tn Heb “and if he sells.”

[27:21]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “When it goes out” (cf. Lev 25:25-34).

[27:21]  ¹¹ tn Heb “like the field of the permanent dedication.” The Hebrew word חֵרֶם (kherem) is a much discussed term. In this and the following verses it refers in a general way to the fact that something is permanently devoted to the Lord and therefore cannot be redeemed (cf. v. 20b). See J. A. Naudé, NIDOTTE 2:276-77; N. Lohfink, TDOT 5:180-99, esp. pp. 184, 188, and 198-99; and the numerous explanations in J. E. Hartley, Leviticus (WBC), 483-85.

[27:21]  ¹² tn Heb “to the priest it shall be his property.”