The Fallible · Synthetic · Study Bible
Rules about Valuations
Leviticus 27:1–29 — Rules about Valuations. Each verse below carries the full apparatus: the Berean Standard Bible, the vocalized original (tap any word), and a parsed breakdown of every term transcribed from the interlinear. Synthesized commentary, canonical threads, and the reading of Christ gather at the end, over the whole unit.
1Then the LORD said to Moses,
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
Yah·weh way·ḏab·bêr ’el- mō·šeh lê·mōr
Literal — word-for-word from the original
And-spoke the LORD to Moses, saying:
Where the English smooths the original
The directions concerning vows follow the express termination of the Sinaitic lawgiving ( Leviticus 26:46 ), as an appendix to it, because vows formed no integral part of the covenant laws, but were a freewill expression of piety common to almost all nationsK&D continue that the vow, once made, was to be kept inviolably (Deut 23:22-24); we cite the framing point on the chapter's appended, freewill character.
the Levitical code, which is pre-eminently designed to uphold the holiness of the sanctuary and its sacrifices, as well as the holiness of the priests and the people, would be incomplete without defining the nature and obligation of these self-imposed sacrifices.
The position which this chapter holds after the formal conclusion, Leviticus 26:46 , suggests that it is of a supplementary character. There seems, however, no reason to doubt its Mosaic origin.
here some rules and instructions concerning vows are given, which a man was not obliged to make, but which he did of his own freewill and good pleasure
It is good to be zealously affected and liberally disposed for the Lord's service; but the matter should be well weighed, and prudence should direct as to what we do; else rash vows and hesitation in doing them will dishonour God, and trouble our own minds.Matthew Henry's note covers 27:1-13 as a unit; we cite his pastoral warning on rash vowing, the practical edge the other framing-voices do not press.
2“Speak to the Israelites and say to them, ‘When someone makes a special vow to the LORD involving the value of persons,
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
dab·bêr ’el- bə·nê yiś·rā·’êl wə·’ā·mar·tā ’ă·lê·hem kî ’îš yap̄·li ne·ḏer Yah·weh bə·‘er·kə·ḵā nə·p̄ā·šōṯ
Literal — word-for-word from the original
Speak to the-sons-of Israel and-you-shall-say to-them: When a-man makes-extraordinary a-vow, by-your-valuation of-souls to-the-LORD —
Where the English smooths the original
It was the utterance, and not merely the intention, that constituted the binding character of a vow ( Deuteronomy 23:22 ). In this first case, viz. that of persons being vowed, the redemption might be made by an offering of money
the vow consists of consecrating persons to the Lord with the intention of redeeming by money the persons thus consecrated, according to the valuation put upon them by Moses.Ellicott surveys the rabbinic positive/negative vow formulas; we cite his core definition of the person-vow as redemption-by-money.
But in the case of men (i.e., Israelites) there could be no purchasing as slaves, and therefore the object of the valuing could only have been for the purpose of redeeming, buying off the person vowed to the Lord
Persons have, at all times and in all places, been accustomed to present votive offerings, either from gratitude for benefits received, or in the event of deliverance from apprehended evil.
the persons shall be for the LORD by {b} thy estimation. (a) As of his son or daughter. (b) Who art the priest.The Geneva annotators, two centuries before Cambridge raised the puzzle, already gloss the suffixed 'thy estimation' as 'Who art the priest' — an early, terse vote that the second-person addressee is the priest, not Moses.
3if the valuation concerns a male from twenty to sixty years of age, then your valuation shall be fifty shekels of silver, according to the sanctuary shekel.
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
‘er·kə·ḵā wə·hā·yāh haz·zā·ḵār mib·ben ‘eś·rîm šā·nāh wə·‘aḏ ben- šiš·šîm šā·nāh ‘er·kə·ḵā wə·hā·yāh ḥă·miš·šîm še·qel ke·sep̄ haq·qō·ḏeš bə·še·qel
Literal — word-for-word from the original
then-your-valuation shall-be of-the-male from-son-of twenty year and-unto son-of sixty year — your-valuation shall-be fifty shekels of-silver, by-the-shekel of-the-sanctuary.
Where the English smooths the original
The estimation not only begins with the male, who is the most important person, but takes special notice of his age. The years here specified represent the prime of his life, and he is to be rated not according to his rank or position, but according to the value of his services.
the account begins with these, because men of an age from the one to the other are fittest for labour, and therefore to be set at the highest price
The sum at which a man between twenty and sixty years of age was to be redeemed was fifty shekels, equal to £6 9s. 2d.The Pulpit Commentary tabulates all eight rates in Victorian sterling; we cite the headline figure.
4Or if it is a female, then your valuation shall be thirty shekels.
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wə·’im- hî nə·qê·ḇāh ‘er·kə·ḵā wə·hā·yāh šə·lō·šîm šā·qel
Literal — word-for-word from the original
And-if a-female it-[be], then-your-valuation shall-be thirty shekels.
Where the English smooths the original
This was the value of a slave ( Exodus 21:32 ), and is the price at which Christ was sold ( Matthew 27:9 ).Ellicott adds the speculation that Jephthah might have redeemed his daughter under this rate (cf. v.29); we cite his lexical-numerical observation that thirty shekels is the slave-price and the betrayal-price.
the reason of this difference of estimation between a man and a woman is, because the woman is the weaker vessel, and her labour and service of less importance and worth
Less than the man’s price, because she is inferior to him both in strength and serviceableness.
5And if the person is from five to twenty years of age, then your valuation for the male shall be twenty shekels, and for the female ten shekels.
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wə·’im ḥā·mêš wə·‘aḏ ben- ‘eś·rîm šā·nāh mib·ben- šā·nîm ‘er·kə·ḵā haz·zā·ḵār wə·hā·yāh ‘eś·rîm šə·qā·lîm wə·lan·nə·qê·ḇāh ‘ă·śe·reṯ šə·qā·lîm
Literal — word-for-word from the original
And-if from-son-of-five and-unto son-of-twenty year, then-your-valuation shall-be of-the-male twenty shekels and-for-the-female ten shekels.
Where the English smooths the original
From the fact that a child of five years is here mentioned it is evident that the vows hero spoken of are not simply those which a man makes with regard to his own person, but which he also makes about others"hero" is an OCR/transcription artifact for "here" in the public-domain source; quoted as received.
the children were obliged by their parents’ vow, which is not strange, considering the parents’ power and right to dispose of their children so far as is not contrary to the mind of God.
6Now if the person is from one month to five years of age, then your valuation for the male shall be five shekels of silver, and for the female three shekels of silver.
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wə·’im mib·ben- ḥō·ḏeš wə·‘aḏ ben- ḥā·mêš šā·nîm ‘er·kə·ḵā haz·zā·ḵār wə·hā·yāh ḥă·miš·šāh šə·qā·lîm kā·sep̄ wə·lan·nə·qê·ḇāh ‘er·kə·ḵā šə·lō·šeṯ šə·qā·lîm kā·sep̄
Literal — word-for-word from the original
And-if from-son-of-a-month and-unto son-of-five years, then-your-valuation shall-be of-the-male five shekels of-silver, and-for-the-female your-valuation three shekels of-silver.
Where the English smooths the original
As at this tender age the service of a child is not of much value, the vower is to pay for a boy 12s. 11d.
for one under a month old no estimation was to be made: the Jews say,"one less than a mouth old may be vowed, but not estimated"mouth" is a transcription artifact for "month" in the source; quoted verbatim. Gill cites Mishnah Erachin 1:1.
7And if the person is sixty years of age or older, then your valuation shall be fifteen shekels for the male and ten shekels for the female.
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wə·’im mib·ben- šiš·šîm šā·nāh wā·ma‘·lāh ’im- ‘er·kə·ḵā wə·hā·yāh ḥă·miš·šāh ‘ā·śār šā·qel zā·ḵār ‘ă·śā·rāh šə·qā·lîm wə·lan·nə·qê·ḇāh
Literal — word-for-word from the original
And-if from-son-of-sixty year and-above — if a-male, then-your-valuation shall-be fifteen shekels, and-for-the-female ten shekels.
Where the English smooths the original
It will be seen that the disproportion between a man and a woman is not the same in old age as in youth.Ellicott then relays a Second-Temple adage on the household value of an old woman; we cite his lexical-numerical observation on the narrowing ratio.
there is but little difference in their labour and service; nay, sometimes the woman is most useful and serviceable; for when a man, through age, is quite worn out and his labour gone, an older woman is capable of managing the affairs of the familyGill cites the rabbinic proverb (b. Erachin 19a) contrasting an old man, "a broken potsherd," with an old woman, "a treasure in a house."
8But if the one making the vow is too poor to pay the valuation, he is to present the person before the priest, who shall set the value according to what the one making the vow can afford.
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wə·’im- hū māḵ mê·‘er·ke·ḵā wə·he·‘ĕ·mî·ḏōw lip̄·nê hak·kō·hên hak·kō·hên wə·he·‘ĕ·rîḵ ’ō·ṯōw hak·kō·hên ya·‘ă·rî·ḵen·nū ‘al- pî ’ă·šer han·nō·ḏêr taś·śîḡ yaḏ
Literal — word-for-word from the original
And-if poor he-[be] from-your-valuation, then-he-shall-present-him before the-priest, and-shall-value-him the-priest; according-to that-which can-reach the-hand-of the-one-vowing, the-priest shall-value-him.
Where the English smooths the original
This regulation, which made it possible for the poor man to vow his own person to the Lord, presupposed that the person vowed would have to be redeemed.
According to his ability; which God also considered in other cases, as Leviticus 12:8 . Compare 2 Corinthians 8:12 .
They were bound to leave food sufficient for thirty days, and bedding for twelve months; and they could never seize the man’s sandals or phylacteries, or his wife’s property, or his children’s clothes.Ellicott describes Second-Temple practice for collecting unpaid vows without ruining the debtor; we cite it to show how the "according to his ability" principle was applied in mercy.
according to his ability that vowed shall the priest value him. (e) If he is not able to pay according to your estimate.The Geneva note reads the verse as plain mercy — the impoverished vower is reassessed to what he can actually pay — a sixteenth-century witness to the same grace K&D and Poole find.
9If he vows an animal that may be brought as an offering to the LORD, any such animal given to the LORD shall be holy.
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wə·’im- mim·men·nāh bə·hê·māh ’ă·šer yaq·rî·ḇū qār·bān Yah·weh kōl mim·men·nū ’ă·šer yit·tên Yah·weh yih·yeh- qō·ḏeš
Literal — word-for-word from the original
And-if [it be] of-the-animal which they-bring of-it an-offering to-the-LORD, all that one-gives of-it to-the-LORD shall-be holy.
Where the English smooths the original
The design of this law was to preserve a reverence toward things once consecrated, that they might not return to common uses.
if what a man vows consists of sacrificial quadrupeds, viz., bullocks, sheep, or goats. Shall be holy. —That is, must not be redeemed at all.
The expression "it shall be holy" unquestionably implies that an animal of this kind could not be redeemed
10He must not replace it or exchange it, either good for bad or bad for good. But if he does substitute one animal for another, both that animal and its substitute will be holy.
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lō ya·ḥă·lî·p̄en·nū wə·lō- yā·mîr ’ō·ṯōw ṭō·wḇ bə·rā‘ ’ōw- ra‘ bə·ṭō·wḇ wə·’im- hā·mêr yā·mîr bə·hê·māh biḇ·hê·māh hū ū·ṯə·mū·rā·ṯōw yih·yeh- wə·hā·yāh- qō·ḏeš
Literal — word-for-word from the original
He-shall-not replace-it and-not exchange-it, good for-bad or bad for-good; and-if exchanging he-exchanges animal for-animal, then-it and-its-substitute shall-be holy.
Where the English smooths the original
Two words expressing the same thing more emphatically; that is, he shall in no wise change it, neither for one of the same nor of another kind
The identical animal vowed is to be delivered; no change whatever, even if it is in the substitution of a better for an inferior animal, is permitted.
partly because God would preserve the sanctity and reverence of consecrated things, and therefore would not have them alienated; and partly to prevent abuses of them who on this pretence might exchange it for the worse
11But if the vow involves any of the unclean animals that may not be brought as an offering to the LORD, the animal must be presented before the priest.
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wə·’im kāl- ṭə·mê·’āh bə·hê·māh ’ă·šer lō- yaq·rî·ḇū mim·men·nāh qār·bān Yah·weh hab·bə·hê·māh wə·he·‘ĕ·mîḏ ’eṯ- lip̄·nê hak·kō·hên
Literal — word-for-word from the original
And-if any animal unclean, of-which they-do-not-offer of-it an-offering to-the-LORD, then-he-shall-present the-animal before the-priest.
Where the English smooths the original
An unclean animal, which might not be sacrificed, if vowed, was to be valued at a price fixed by the priest. If its original owner took it back again, he was to pay this price and one-fifth more than the sum named; if he did not, it became the property of the sanctuary.
This served as a proper check to men’s levity and fickleness in making vows and religious resolutions. It put them in mind not to be rash in opening their mouths to God
the expression “unclean beast” here denotes defective sacrificial animals, such as oxen, sheep, and goats with blemishes, which have become unlawful for the altar.Ellicott reports the Second-Temple reading; the plainer sense (ass, camel) is given by JFB and Keil.
12The priest shall set its value, whether high or low; as the priest values it, the price will be set.
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
hak·kō·hên ’ō·ṯāh bên wə·he·‘ĕ·rîḵ ṭō·wḇ ū·ḇên rā‘ hak·kō·hên kə·‘er·kə·ḵā kên yih·yeh
Literal — word-for-word from the original
And-shall-value-it the-priest, between good and-between bad; as-your-valuation [O] the-priest, so it-shall-be.
Where the English smooths the original
13If, however, the owner decides to redeem the animal, he must add a fifth to its value.
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
wə·’im- gā·’ōl yiḡ·’ā·len·nāh wə·yā·sap̄ ḥă·mî·ši·ṯōw ‘al- ‘er·ke·ḵā
Literal — word-for-word from the original
And-if redeeming he-redeems-it, then-he-shall-add its-fifth to your-valuation.
Where the English smooths the original
if the person vowing wanted to redeem it, he was to add a fifth above the valuation price, as a kind of compensation for taking back the animal he had vowed
its former owner is to pay a fifth more than the valuation price. This was probably intended as a fine for taking back a thing which he promised to the Lord.
The pronoun constitutes a difficulty, as in Leviticus 27:2 . There Moses, who seems to be referred to, is himself speaking to the people. Here the reference is apparently to the priest in Leviticus 27:12 . In Leviticus 27:23 ‘thy’ cannot have either of these references.Cambridge lays out the whole "thy valuation" problem; the LXX omits the pronoun throughout.
14Now if a man consecrates his house as holy to the LORD, then the priest shall value it either as good or bad. The price will stand just as the priest values it.
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kî- wə·’îš yaq·diš ’eṯ- bê·ṯōw qō·ḏeš Yah·weh hak·kō·hên wə·he·‘ĕ·rî·ḵōw bên ṭō·wḇ ū·ḇên rā‘ yā·qūm ka·’ă·šer hak·kō·hên kên ya·‘ă·rîḵ ’ō·ṯōw
Literal — word-for-word from the original
And-when a-man consecrates his-house holy to-the-LORD, then-shall-value-it the-priest between good and-between bad; as the-priest values it, so it-shall-stand.
Where the English smooths the original
it is evident that the Mosaic vow of consecration to the sanctuary imparted no sacramental and inalienable sanctity to the objects themselves in our ecclesiastical sense of consecration. It is not the gift, but its money value which had to be devoted to the holy cause.
all those passages of Scripture which leave things to, and command men to acquiesce in, the determination of the priest or priests, are to be understood with this exception, that their determinations be not evidently contrary to the revealed will of GodPoole's striking limit on priestly authority — even a priest's word does not stand against God's revealed will — drawn from the leprosy parallel.
This law relates to houses in the country Leviticus 25:31 , which were under the same general law as the land itself, with a right of redemption for the inheritor until the next Jubilee.
15But if he who consecrated his house redeems it, he must add a fifth to the assessed value, and it will belong to him.
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wə·’im- ham·maq·dîš bê·ṯōw yiḡ·’al ’eṯ- wə·yā·sap̄ ḥă·mî·šîṯ ‘ā·lāw ‘er·kə·ḵā ke·sep̄- wə·hā·yāh lōw
Literal — word-for-word from the original
And-if he-who-consecrated-it shall-redeem his-house, then-he-shall-add the-fifth of-the-silver-of your-valuation upon-it, and-it-shall-be his.
Where the English smooths the original
the house having been valued by the priest and sold, the proceeds of the sale were to be dedicated to the sanctuary. But if the owner wished, on second thought, to redeem it, he might have it by adding a fifth part to the price.
if the former owner of it, or, according to the practice which obtained during the second Temple, his son, wife, or nearest of kin, wishes to redeem it, he is to add one-fifth more than the valuation priceEllicott extends the right of redemption to the kin — the goel principle in action.
16If a man consecrates to the LORD a parcel of his land, then your valuation shall be proportional to the seed required for it—fifty shekels of silver for every homer of barley seed.
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wə·’im ’îš yaq·dîš Yah·weh miś·śə·ḏêh ’ă·ḥuz·zā·ṯōw ‘er·kə·ḵā wə·hā·yāh lə·p̄î zar·‘ōw ba·ḥă·miš·šîm še·qel kā·sep̄ ḥō·mer śə·‘ō·rîm ze·ra‘
Literal — word-for-word from the original
And-if of-the-field of-his-possession a-man consecrates to-the-LORD, then-your-valuation shall-be according-to-the-mouth-of its-seed: a-homer of-barley-seed at-fifty shekels of-silver.
Where the English smooths the original
This intimates that it was not lawful for a man to vow his whole field or estate, because God would have no man’s family made beggars to enrich his sanctuary. The design of consecrating a part to God, was to procure his blessing upon the rest of their possessions.
Rather, a part of the land of his inheritance. The seed thereof - i. e. the quantity of seed required to sow it properly.
the fifty shekels cannot have been the average value of the yearly produce of such a field, but must be understood, as it was by the Rabbins, as the value of the produce of a complete jubilee period of 49 or 50 years
17If he consecrates his field during the Year of Jubilee, the price will stand according to your valuation.
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’im- yaq·dîš śā·ḏê·hū miš·šə·naṯ hay·yō·ḇêl yā·qūm kə·‘er·kə·ḵā
Literal — word-for-word from the original
If from-the-year-of the-Jubilee he-consecrates his-field, according-to-your-valuation it-shall-stand.
Where the English smooths the original
18But if he consecrates his field after the Jubilee, the priest is to calculate the price in proportion to the years left until the next Year of Jubilee, so that your valuation will be reduced.
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wə·’im- yaq·dîš śā·ḏê·hū ’a·ḥar hay·yō·ḇêl hak·kō·hên ’eṯ- wə·ḥiš·šaḇ- lōw hak·ke·sep̄ ‘al- pî haš·šā·nîm han·nō·w·ṯā·rōṯ ‘aḏ šə·naṯ hay·yō·ḇêl mê·‘er·ke·ḵā wə·niḡ·ra‘
Literal — word-for-word from the original
But-if after the-Jubilee he-consecrates his-field, then-shall-reckon for-him the-priest the-silver according-to the-years that-remain until the-year-of the-Jubilee, and-it-shall-be-deducted from-your-valuation.
Where the English smooths the original
the priest is to value the field according to the number of years from the time of the vow to the next jubile year
the priest shall reckon unto him the money according to the years that remain, even unto the year of the jubilee; thus, for instance, if it only required an homer of barley to sow it, and the whole value of it from jubilee to jubilee was but fifty shekels of silver; then supposing it to be sanctified in the middle of the fifty years, or at twenty five years' end, it was to be reckoned at twenty five shekels
19And if the one who consecrated the field decides to redeem it, he must add a fifth to the assessed value, and it shall belong to him.
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
wə·’im- ham·maq·dîš ’ō·ṯōw haś·śā·ḏeh gā·’ōl yiḡ·’al ’eṯ- wə·yā·sap̄ ḥă·mi·šîṯ ‘ā·lāw ‘er·kə·ḵā ke·sep̄- wə·qām lōw
Literal — word-for-word from the original
And-if redeeming he-redeems the-field, he-who-consecrated it, then-he-shall-add the-fifth of-the-silver-of your-valuation upon-it, and-it-shall-be-established to-him.
Where the English smooths the original
20If, however, he does not redeem the field, or if he has sold it to another man, it may no longer be redeemed.
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wə·’im- lō yiḡ·’al ’eṯ- haś·śā·ḏeh wə·’im- mā·ḵar ’eṯ- haś·śā·ḏeh ’a·ḥêr lə·’îš lō ‘ō·wḏ yig·gā·’êl
Literal — word-for-word from the original
And-if he-does-not-redeem the-field, or-if he-has-sold the-field to-a-man another, it-shall-not-be-redeemed any-more.
Where the English smooths the original
the fault of the seller, for which he had to make atonement by the forfeiture of his field to the sanctuary in the year of jubilee, consisted simply in the fact that he had looked upon the land which he vowed to the Lord as though it were his own property, still and entirely at his own disposal, and therefore had allowed himself to violate the rights of the Lord by the sale of his land.
if in addition to this absence of family honour he surreptitiously sells the field which he has vowed to the sanctuary to another man, thus adding sacrilege to baseness,— It shall not be redeemed any more, —then he loses all right ever to redeem it at all.
21When the field is released in the Jubilee, it will become holy, like a field devoted to the LORD; it becomes the property of the priests.
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
haś·śā·ḏeh bə·ṣê·ṯōw ḇay·yō·ḇêl wə·hā·yāh qō·ḏeš kiś·ḏêh ha·ḥê·rem Yah·weh tih·yeh ’ă·ḥuz·zā·ṯōw lak·kō·hên
Literal — word-for-word from the original
And-the-field, in-its-going-out in-the-Jubilee, shall-be holy to-the-LORD, like-a-field-of the-ban; to-the-priest shall-be its-possession.
Where the English smooths the original
It shall not revert to the original owner who first vowed it and, after refusing to redeem it, fraudulently sold it, but becomes God’s property, like all devoted or banned things.
Nor is this repugnant to that law, that the priests should have no inheritance in the land , Numbers 18:20 ; for that is only spoken of them and the whole tribe of Levi in general, and in reference to the first division of the land
on its going out, i.e., becoming free in the year of jubilee (see Leviticus 25:28 ), it was to be holy to the Lord, like a field under the ban (see Leviticus 27:28 ), and to fall to the priests as their property.
22Now if a man consecrates to the LORD a field he has purchased, which is not a part of his own property,
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
wə·’im ’eṯ- yaq·dîš Yah·weh śə·ḏêh miq·nā·ṯōw ’ă·šer lō miś·śə·ḏêh ’ă·ḥuz·zā·ṯōw
Literal — word-for-word from the original
And-if a-field-of his-purchase, which [is] not of-the-field-of his-possession, he-consecrates to-the-LORD —
Where the English smooths the original
if a man vows a field which he has acquired by purchase, and which is only his till the next jubile, when it reverts to its original owner (see Leviticus 25:25-28 ), the case is necessarily different.
is necessarily different, because he was not the owner of the land, but only the possessor of it until the next jubilee.
23then the priest shall calculate for him the value up to the Year of Jubilee, and the man shall pay the assessed value on that day as a sacred offering to the LORD.
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
hak·kō·hên ’êṯ wə·ḥiš·šaḇ- lōw miḵ·saṯ hā·‘er·kə·ḵā ‘aḏ šə·naṯ hay·yō·ḇêl wə·nā·ṯan ’eṯ- hā·‘er·kə·ḵā ha·hū bay·yō·wm qō·ḏeš Yah·weh
Literal — word-for-word from the original
then-shall-reckon for-him the-priest the-amount of-your-valuation until the-year-of the-Jubilee, and-he-shall-give your-valuation on-the day that, holy to-the-LORD.
Where the English smooths the original
the priest is to value it in proportion to the number of crops which it will produce up to the year of jubile, in the same way as fields are valued in ordinary purchases.
as much as it is worth for that space of time between the making of the vow and the year of jubilee; for he had no right to it for any longer time
he was to give the amount of the valuation as estimated by the priest up to the year of jubilee "on that day," i.e., immediately, and all at once. This regulation warrants the conclusion, that on the dedication of hereditary fields, the amount was not paid all at once, but year by year.
24In the Year of Jubilee the field shall return to the one from whom it was bought—the original owner of the land.
Berean Standard Bible · CC0
Hebrew — tap a word ↓
biš·naṯ hay·yō·w·ḇêl haś·śā·ḏeh yā·šūḇ la·’ă·šer qā·nā·hū mê·’it·tōw la·’ă·šer- lōw ’ă·ḥuz·zaṯ hā·’ā·reṣ
Literal — word-for-word from the original
In-the-year-of the-Jubilee shall-return the-field to-him from-whom he-bought-it, to-him-to-whom [belongs] the-possession of-the-land.
Where the English smooths the original
the field thus vowed did not return to the purchaser in the year of jubile, but to the, hereditary owner, of whom the person who had vowed it to the Lord had bought it.
a field of purchase goes not out to the priests in the year of jubilee; for no man can sanctify a thing which is not his ownGill quotes Mishnah Erachin 7; the maxim governs the entire land section.
25Every valuation will be according to the sanctuary shekel, twenty gerahs to the shekel.
Berean Standard Bible · CC0
Hebrew — tap a word ↓
wə·ḵāl ‘er·kə·ḵā yih·yeh haq·qō·ḏeš bə·še·qel ‘eś·rîm gê·rāh yih·yeh haš·šā·qel
Literal — word-for-word from the original
And-all your-valuation shall-be by-the-shekel-of the-sanctuary: twenty gerahs shall-be the-shekel.
Where the English smooths the original
not that there was a shekel in the sanctuary different from the common one; for every shekel ought to have been as that, of the full weight and worth of it; and the estimation was to be according to such a shekel, and the money paid in such, even in full weight
the shekel at its full value, before worn by use in traffic (see Exodus 30:13 ; Numbers 3:47 ; Numbers 18:16 ).
26But no one may consecrate a firstborn of the livestock, because a firstborn belongs to the LORD. Whether it is an ox or a sheep, it is the LORD’s.
Berean Standard Bible · CC0
Hebrew — tap a word ↓
’aḵ- lō- ’îš ’ō·ṯōw yaq·dîš bə·ḵō·wr biḇ·hê·māh ’ă·šer- yə·ḇuk·kar Yah·weh ’im- šō·wr ’im- śeh hū Yah·weh
Literal — word-for-word from the original
But the-firstborn which is-born-firstborn to-the-LORD among-the-livestock, no-man shall-consecrate-it; whether ox or sheep, to-the-LORD it [is].
Where the English smooths the original
because it is not his own, but the Lord’s already, and therefore to vow such a thing to God is a tacit derogation from, and a usurpation of, the Lord’s right, and a mocking of God by pretending to give what we cannot withhold from him.
The firstlings belonged already to the Lord by an express statute ( Exodus 13:2 ). To vow, therefore, to the Lord that which was His own is a mockery.
to sanctify such a creature, would be to sanctify what was his before; not merely in a general sense, in which all creatures are his, but in a special sense, having in a peculiar manner required it as his
27But if it is among the unclean animals, then he may redeem it according to your valuation and add a fifth of its value. If it is not redeemed, then it shall be sold according to your valuation.
Berean Standard Bible · CC0
Hebrew — tap a word ↓
wə·’im haṭ·ṭə·mê·’āh bab·bə·hê·māh ū·p̄ā·ḏāh ḇə·‘er·ke·ḵā wə·yā·sap̄ ḥă·mi·ši·ṯōw ‘ā·lāw wə·’im- lō yig·gā·’êl wə·nim·kar bə·‘er·ke·ḵā
Literal — word-for-word from the original
And-if among-the-unclean animals, then-he-shall-redeem [it] according-to-your-valuation and-add its-fifth upon-it; and-if it-is-not-redeemed, then-it-shall-be-sold according-to-your-valuation.
Where the English smooths the original
As this is at variance with the law laid down in Exodus 13:13 ; Exodus 34:20 , where it is enacted that the firstborn of an ass is either to be redeemed with a sheep, or is to be put to deathEllicott registers the tension with the Exodus ass-law and the Second-Temple harmonization; K&D reads Lev 27:27 as a deliberate modification favoring the sanctuary's revenue.
if it be the firstborn of an unclean beast, as appears from Leviticus 27:26 , which could not be vowed, because it was a firstborn, nor offered, because it was unclean; and therefore is here commanded to be redeemed or sold.
By this regulation the earlier law, which commanded that an ass should either be redeemed with a sheep or else be put to death ( Exodus 13:13 ; Exodus 34:20 ), was modified in favour of the revenues of the sanctuary and its servants.
28Nothing that a man sets apart to the LORD from all he owns—whether a man, an animal, or his inherited land—can be sold or redeemed; everything so devoted is most holy to the LORD.
Berean Standard Bible · CC0
Hebrew — tap a word ↓
’aḵ- kāl- ’ă·šer ’îš ḥê·rem ya·ḥă·rim Yah·weh mik·kāl ’ă·šer- lōw mê·’ā·ḏām ū·ḇə·hê·māh ū·miś·śə·ḏêh ’ă·ḥuz·zā·ṯōw lō yim·mā·ḵêr wə·lō yig·gā·’êl kāl- ḥê·rem qō·ḏeš- qā·ḏā·šîm hū Yah·weh
Literal — word-for-word from the original
But every devoted-thing that a-man devotes to-the-LORD of-all that-[is]-his — of-man and-beast and-of-the-field-of his-possession — shall-not-be-sold and-shall-not-be-redeemed; every devoted-thing most-holy it [is] to-the-LORD.
Where the English smooths the original
The primary meaning of the Heb. word חרם chērem is something cut off, or shut up. Its specific meaning in the Law is, that which is cut off from common use and given up in some sense to Yahweh, without the right of recal or commutation.
The word lit. means set apart, separated (Arab. harama , whence harem, the occupants of the women’s portion of a Mohammedan house, or the apartments themselves).Cambridge traces the cognate Arabic root to illuminate the "set apart / forbidden" sense underlying cherem and harem alike.
the idea which lay at the foundation of the ban was that of a compulsory dedication of something which resisted or impeded sanctification; so that in all cases in which it was carried into execution by the community or the magistracy, it was an act of the judicial holiness of God manifesting itself in righteousness and judgment.
29No person set apart for destruction may be ransomed; he must surely be put to death.
Berean Standard Bible · CC0
Hebrew — tap a word ↓
kāl- ḥê·rem ’ă·šer lō hā·’ā·ḏām yā·ḥo·ram min- yip·pā·ḏeh mō·wṯ yū·māṯ
Literal — word-for-word from the original
Every devoted-thing which is-devoted from-man shall-not-be-ransomed; dying he-shall-be-put-to-death.
Where the English smooths the original
This passage does not permit human sacrifices. Man is elsewhere clearly recognized as one of the creatures which were not to be offered in sacrifice Exodus 13:13 ; Exodus 34:20 ; Numbers 18:15 . Therefore the application of the word חרם chērem to man is made exclusively in reference to one rightly doomed to death and, in that sense alone, given up to Yahweh.
The verb is active Leviticus 27:28 , and the agent there expressed, that a man shall devote ; but it is passive Leviticus 27:29 , and the agent undetermined, which shall be devoted , to wit, by God, or men in conformity to God’s revealed will.Poole's grammatical observation (active v.28 / passive v.29) is the key that guards against reading the verse as license for private vows of death, e.g. Jephthah's.
The preceding regulations were evidently designed to prevent rashness in vowing (Ec 5:4) and to encourage serious and considerate reflection in all matters between God and the soul (Lu 21:4).JFB also (debatably) softens "put to death" to "remain till death in the devoted condition"; we cite instead their summary of the chapter's pastoral aim, which is not contested.
The verse-by-verse work is done. What follows gathers the whole unit. All three layers below are machine-generated (⚙). Weigh them; they have no authority.
AI synthesis — woven from the public-domain voices above and the original text; generated and fallible.
The whole chapter is an afterword. Albert Barnes observes that its position "after the formal conclusion, Leviticus 26:46, suggests that it is of a supplementary character," while still defending its Mosaic origin. Keil & Delitzsch explain why it stands outside the body of the law: vows "formed no integral part of the covenant laws, but were a freewill expression of piety" — not commanded, only regulated. The governing word arrives at once: bə·‘er·kə·ḵā (v.2, H6187), by thy valuation, a noun used in just 29 verses and the keyword of the chapter. What is vowed is not the soul (nə·p̄ā·šōṯ, H5315) but the soul's assessed price. Ellicott states the mechanism plainly: "the vow consists of consecrating persons to the Lord with the intention of redeeming by money the persons thus consecrated." And Cambridge fixes the threshold of obligation in the mouth, not the mind: "It was the utterance, and not merely the intention, that constituted the binding character of a vow."
Verses 3–7 read like a tariff: fifty shekels for a man in his prime, thirty for a woman, down to three for an infant girl. The commentators are unanimous that the scale tracks not human worth before God but capacity for labor — Gill: the prime-age account "begins with these, because men of an age from the one to the other are fittest for labour, and therefore to be set at the highest price." Ellicott presses that the man is rated "not according to his rank or position, but according to the value of his services." The system is candid about an ancient labor economy. But two notes pierce it. First, Ellicott alone catches that thirty shekels — the woman's rate (v.4) — "was the value of a slave (Exodus 21:32), and is the price at which Christ was sold (Matthew 27:9)." Second, and decisively, the table breaks for the poor (v.8): the participle māḵ (H4134, brought low) triggers a mercy-clause where the priest values "according to his ability that vowed." Keil & Delitzsch: "This regulation… made it possible for the poor man to vow his own person to the Lord." Poole hears the gospel cadence and cross-references it — "Compare 2 Corinthians 8:12" — the gift accepted according to what one has.
From persons the law moves outward through three rings of property. A clean animal, once vowed, is irreducibly qō·ḏeš (v.9) — K&D: the phrase "it shall be holy unquestionably implies that an animal of this kind could not be redeemed." The ban on swapping it (v.10) is doubled for emphasis — Benson: "Two words expressing the same thing more emphatically" — and the penalty is exact: switch it, and both the original and its tᵉmûwrâh (substitute, H8545) become holy. Houses (vv.14–15) and fields (vv.16–24) follow, all geared to the yôbêl, the Jubilee horn (v.17). The pricing of inherited land is poignantly low — fifty shekels per homer-of-seed — and Benson sees the mercy in it: "God would have no man's family made beggars to enrich his sanctuary." The redemption-fifth (vv.13, 15, 19) deters both rash vowing and casual retraction. Throughout, Ellicott guards against a sacramental misreading: "It is not the gift, but its money value which had to be devoted." And Poole, astonishingly, limits even the priest: his valuation stands only when it is "not evidently contrary to the revealed will of God." The section seals with the standard itself — the shekel of the sanctuary, twenty gerahs (v.25), full honest weight (Gill), the same fixed measure recited in Numbers 3:47 and Exodus 30:13.
The chapter ends where price runs out. Two things may not be vowed, for opposite reasons. The firstborn (v.26) cannot be given because it is already God's — Benson: to vow it is "a mocking of God by pretending to give what we cannot withhold from him." The wordplay is in the Hebrew itself: bə·ḵō·wr is yə·ḇuk·kar, firstborn-born-as-firstborn to the LORD by birth. Then the gravest category: the cherem (vv.28–29), the ban. Barnes roots it: "something cut off, or shut up… given up in some sense to Yahweh, without the right of recal or commutation," and warns it is not the same as a curse, nor (v.29) a license for human sacrifice — "the application of the word chērem to man is made exclusively in reference to one rightly doomed to death." Poole supplies the grammar that secures this: v.28 is active (a man shall devote), v.29 passive (which shall be devoted) — "the agent undetermined… to wit, by God, or men in conformity to God's revealed will." K&D gather it into a definition: the ban is "the judicial holiness of God manifesting itself in righteousness and judgment." A chapter that opened by putting a price on everything closes on the one devotion that has no price at all: mō·wṯ yū·māṯ, dying he shall be put to death (v.29).
Read under Sola Scriptura and offered as fallible, Leviticus 27 is the Bible's most honest ledger — and its quiet refutation of every theology of self-purchase. The chapter lets a person be assigned a number (fifty shekels, thirty, three) and then spends twenty-nine verses showing what numbers cannot do. They cannot reach the poor man, so the priest reprices to "his ability" (v.8). They cannot dissolve a holiness once it has "drawn near" as korban (v.9). They cannot retrieve a thing given to God without a penalty-fifth that makes second thoughts costly (vv.13, 19). And at the very end they cannot ransom at all: the cherem stands "most holy," the devoted man "shall surely be put to death" (vv.28–29). The chapter thus draws a line the whole canon will run along — between what can be redeemed and what is most holy, between a price you can pay and a debt you cannot. Notice where the numbers land: thirty shekels, the woman's rate and the slave's rate (Exodus 21:32), is the exact sum weighed out for the Son of Man (Matthew 27:9, the only commentator-cited cross-reference here). The law that prices a soul anticipates the day a Soul is priced; the law that says some devotion cannot be ransomed by money anticipates a ransom not of silver but of life (Mark 10:45; 1 Peter 1:18–19). Israel learned in this chapter that some things are too holy to buy back. The gospel claims that the One who could not be bought, bought us.
A chapter that puts a price on everything ends on the one thing no price can ransom. (synthesis, not Scripture)
AI-generated connections. Each carries a verification badge with a recorded basis; contested links are flagged.
The controlling noun of this chapter, ‘êrek (H6187, "valuation"), appears in only 29 verses across the whole Hebrew Bible, and several cluster in the reparation/guilt-offering law of Leviticus 5:15, 18, where the priest also assesses a thing "in shekels of silver, after the shekel of the sanctuary." The Verifier records the shared bases. The redemption-fifth of Leviticus 27:13, 19 likewise reuses the restitution-fifth of Leviticus 5:16 (shared chămîyshîy, H2549). The link is structural-thematic, not a quotation: the same priestly machinery of assessed value + one-fifth governs both sacred dues and sacred vows.
Leviticus 5:15 · Leviticus 5:18 · Leviticus 5:16
basis: shared lexeme(s) per Verifier: H6187 ʻêrek (29 vv), H5315 nephesh, H3701 keçeph (Lev 5:15); H2549 chămîyshîy + H3254 yâçaph for the redemption-fifth (Lev 5:16) — common-to-moderate frequency, so structural not verbal
This is the rarest verbal link in the unit. The noun mikçâh (H4373, the computed "amount/number") occurs in exactly two verses in the entire Hebrew Bible: Leviticus 27:23 and Exodus 12:4 — where a household too small for a whole Passover lamb takes a neighbor "according to the number (mikçâh) of the souls." The Verifier confirms the two-verse lexeme as the basis. The same accounting-word that apportions the redeeming Passover lamb here computes the price of a vowed field — a genuine verbal thread, the field's valuation spoken in the very vocabulary of the lamb's reckoning.
Exodus 12:4
basis: rare shared lexeme H4373 mikçâh — present in only 2 verses in the OT (Lev 27:23 and Exod 12:4); Verifier-computed
The verb describing the man "too poor to pay the valuation" in Leviticus 27:8 is mûwk (H4134, to be brought low), a rare word found in only five verses — and three of them are the kinsman-redeemer laws of Leviticus 25:25, 35, 39, all paired with gâʼal, to redeem. The Verifier scores the Lev 27:8 ↔ Lev 25:25 pair verbal / quotation — confirmed on this lexeme. The same rare word that names the impoverished landholder whom a goel must redeem also names the impoverished vower whom the priest must reprice in mercy: poverty triggers grace in both laws.
Leviticus 25:25
basis: rare shared lexeme H4134 mûwk — present in only 5 verses; also H1350 gâʼal; Verifier returns verbal/quotation for Lev 27:8 ↔ Lev 25:25
The noun tᵉmûwrâh (H8545, "substitute, exchange") is rare — only six verses — and two are inside this chapter: Leviticus 27:10 (the swapped vowed animal) and Leviticus 27:33 (the swapped tithed animal), both with the verb mûwr (H4171, to exchange, 10 vv) and the verdict that both beasts become holy. The Verifier confirms the rare shared lexemes. The same anti-substitution principle binds the vow and the tithe: you cannot upgrade or downgrade what is given to God; the attempt only doubles what is forfeit.
Leviticus 27:33
basis: rare shared lexemes H8545 tᵉmûwrâh (6 vv) + H4171 mûwr (10 vv); Verifier-computed for Lev 27:10 ↔ Lev 27:33
The weight-definition of Leviticus 27:25 — "twenty gerahs to the shekel, by the shekel of the sanctuary" — recurs almost verbatim in Numbers 3:47 (the firstborn redemption-money) and Exodus 30:13. The rare unit gêrâh (H1626) appears in only five verses, all of them this sanctuary-weight legislation; the Verifier scores Lev 27:25 ↔ Num 3:47 as verbal / quotation — confirmed on gêrâh + sheqel + ‘esrîym + qôdesh. The shared standard is not coincidence but a deliberately fixed, repeated measure binding all sacred payments to one honest weight.
Numbers 3:47
basis: rare shared lexeme H1626 gêrâh (5 vv) with H8255 sheqel, H6242 ʻesrîym, H6944 qôdesh; Verifier returns verbal/quotation for Lev 27:25 ↔ Num 3:47
The Verifier's single highest-scoring parallel to this unit is Numbers 18:16, the law of the firstborn's redemption: "from a month old shalt thou redeem them… for the money of five shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary, which is twenty gerahs." The verbal overlap is dense and exact. Against Leviticus 27:6 it shares ‘êrek (H6187, valuation, 29 vv), chôdesh (H2320, the month-old threshold), châmêsh (H2568, five), sheqel and keçeph; against Leviticus 27:25 it shares the genuinely rare gêrâh (H1626, only 5 vv) with sheqel, ‘esrîym, and qôdesh — the Verifier returns verbal / quotation — confirmed on both pairings. The two laws are siblings: the chapter's valuation-floor at one month old (v.6) and its sanctuary-shekel-of-twenty-gerahs standard (v.25) are the very figures by which Numbers prices the firstborn. The same threshold of one month — the moment a life is first "counted" — opens both the firstborn's redemption-price and the human valuation table; the commentators rightly cross-cite Numbers 18:16 at both verses.
Numbers 18:16
basis: rare shared lexeme H1626 gêrâh (5 vv, Lev 27:25 ↔ Num 18:16) plus H6187 ʻêrek (29 vv), H2320 chôdesh, H2568 châmêsh, H8255 sheqel, H3701 keçeph (Lev 27:6 ↔ Num 18:16); Verifier returns verbal/quotation for both pairings — the unit's top-scoring candidate
The term cherem (H2764) enters at Leviticus 27:21 and dominates vv.28–29; it is shared with Numbers 18:14 ("every devoted thing in Israel shall be thine," to the priests), the very text Ellicott and Gill cite to explain who receives the banned field. The Verifier records cherem (31 vv) as the basis. Because cherem is moderately common and no quotation is claimed, the link is structural-thematic: a shared legal category (the unredeemable, most-holy devotion that passes to the sanctuary), not a verbal citation. The darker register of the same word — the devoted-to-destruction of Joshua 6–7 and 1 Samuel 15, which Barnes and Poole invoke for v.29 — shares no indexed lexeme with this unit and is presented as commentary, not a confirmed verbal basis.
Numbers 18:14 · Leviticus 27:28
basis: shared lexeme H2764 chêrem (31 vv) per Verifier; moderately common and no quotation claimed, so structural not verbal
AI-generated reading; weigh it against the text.
Leviticus 27:4 sets the valuation of a woman at thirty shekels, which Exodus 21:32 fixes as the compensation for a slave gored by an ox. Charles Ellicott, on this verse, is the lone commentator to note that this "is the price at which Christ was sold (Matthew 27:9)." The Gospel records the betrayal-money as exactly thirty pieces of silver (Matthew 26:15; 27:3–9, citing Zechariah 11:12–13). This is a cross-Testament link: Greek (Matthew) and Hebrew (Leviticus) cannot share a Strong's lexeme, so the connection is typological by the shared figure — the established "valuation of a soul" in Israel becomes the sum weighed out for the Soul who would redeem all souls. The figural reading is ancient and widely held in the Christian tradition; the numerical coincidence is exact and the commentator-cited basis is recorded.
Matthew 27:9 · Exodus 21:32 · Zechariah 11:12
The chapter's logic climbs from things that can be redeemed by silver-plus-a-fifth (vv.13–27) to the cherem that "cannot be sold or redeemed" because it is "most holy" (v.28), to the devoted person who "cannot be ransomed" at all (yip·pā·ḏeh negated, v.29). The New Testament takes up precisely this distinction: redemption that silver cannot accomplish requires a ransom of life — "the Son of Man came… to give his life as a ransom for many" (Mark 10:45), and "you were redeemed… not with perishable things such as silver or gold… but with the precious blood of Christ" (1 Peter 1:18–19). This is a cross-Testament, motif-level link (Greek and Hebrew share no Strong's number), tiered typological/structural: the same theology — that the gravest debt lies beyond the reach of money — runs from the unransomable cherem to the blood-ransom of the cross. The reading is widely held; it is offered as figural, not as a verbal quotation.
Mark 10:45 · 1 Peter 1:18 · Hebrews 9:12
Verse 26 forbids vowing the firstborn animal "because it is not his own, but the Lord's already" (Benson), the wordplay bə·ḵō·wr… yə·ḇuk·kar marking it the LORD's by birth itself (Exodus 13:2), and verse 27 prices the redemption of the unclean firstling — the same five-shekel, one-month-old, sanctuary-gerah standard that Numbers 18:16 sets for the firstborn son. Luke records that standard kept for Jesus: "every male that openeth the womb shall be called holy to the Lord" (Luke 2:23, quoting Exodus 13:2), the infant Firstborn presented at the temple and redeemed under this very law. The New Testament then turns the title: Christ is "the firstborn of all creation" and "the firstborn from the dead" (Colossians 1:15, 18), the One who was Himself not withheld but given. This is a cross-Testament link (Greek and Hebrew share no Strong's number; the Verifier returns no indexed lexeme), tiered typological/structural — the figure of the firstborn-belonging-to-God, not a verbal quotation. The firstborn-of-Israel to Christ-the-Firstborn reading is ancient and widely held; it is offered here as figural, anchored in Luke's explicit citation of the firstborn statute the chapter presupposes.
Luke 2:23 · Exodus 13:2 · Colossians 1:15
The biblical text is the Berean Standard Bible (BSB), public domain (CC0). Hebrew/Greek text, transliteration, morphology and Strong’s are transcribed from the Berean interlinear (CC0) + Strong’s lexicons (PD); the literal renderings, divergence notes, word notes and all synthesis are this tool’s own work (⚙) — fallible; verify them.
Named voices, quoted verbatim from public-domain works:
This unit is Hebrew throughout (29 verses, all narrative-legal), so every confirmed verbal thread rests on shared Strong's lexemes computed by the Verifier; the three Christ-links are cross-Testament (Matthew, Mark, 1 Peter, Luke, Colossians) and are therefore tiered typological/structural — Greek and Hebrew cannot share a Strong's number — and labeled widely-held, not asserted as verbal quotation. Four threads earn verbal / quotation — confirmed on genuinely rare single lexemes: mikçâh (H4373, only 2 verses → Exodus 12:4, the Passover reckoning) — the strongest verbal link in the chapter; mûwk (H4134, 5 verses → Lev 25:25, the kinsman-redeemer's poor man); gêrâh (H1626, 5 verses → Num 3:47, the sanctuary weight); and the unit's top-scoring candidate Numbers 18:16, the firstborn-redemption law, which shares the rare gêrâh (5 vv, vs v.25) plus ‘êrek, chôdesh (the month-old threshold of v.6), châmêsh, sheqel, and keçeph — the one-month-old valuation-floor and the gerah-standard of this chapter are the very figures Numbers prices the firstborn at. A fifth verbal thread, the tᵉmûwrâh+mûwr couplet (H8545, 6 vv; H4171, 10 vv), is internal to the chapter (Lev 27:10 ↔ 27:33) and rests on two rare words co-occurring, which the Verifier scores verbal. The ‘êrek threads (Lev 5:15, 5:18) and the cherem thread (Num 18:14) remain structural / thematic: ‘êrek (29 vv) and cherem (31 vv) are too common, and no quotation is claimed, so they are presented as shared legal categories, not citations — honestly, on the Verifier's own frequency counts, not inflated. Two important provenance flags. First, the betrayal-price reading of thirty shekels (v.4 → Matthew 27:9) is real and exact, but it travels through Zechariah 11:12–13, whose relationship to Matthew's citation is itself debated (Matthew attributes the quotation to Jeremiah); the link is presented as figural and widely-held, with that complication named. Second, the "devoted to destruction" register of v.29 — which Barnes and Poole illustrate from Joshua 6–7, 1 Samuel 15, and Numbers 21 — shares no indexed lexeme with this unit per the Verifier (e.g., Lev 27:29 ↔ 1 Samuel 15:33 returns no shared original-language lexeme); those parallels are genuine in the history of cherem but are offered as commentary, not as a confirmed verbal basis. On v.29 itself the commentators diverge: JFB softens "put to death" to "remain till death in the devoted condition," against the plain force of mō·wṯ yū·māṯ and against Barnes, Ellicott, Poole, and K&D; we cite JFB only on the uncontested pastoral aim and flag the interpretive disagreement here rather than smoothing it. This chapter contains no verse 1:5 and no debated NT quotation of the Joshua 1:5 / Hebrews 13:5 type, so that mandatory flag does not arise. Several OCR/transcription artifacts survive verbatim in the public-domain sources (Ellicott's "hero" for "here" at v.5; Gill's "mouth" for "month" at v.6); they are quoted as received and noted in the editorial_note fields. The voice roster spans eleven public-domain commentators; this editorial pass added two previously unused witnesses — Matthew Henry's pastoral warning against rash vows (v.1) and the Geneva Bible's sixteenth-century glosses resolving the "thy estimation" suffix as the priest (v.2) and reading v.8 as plain mercy — to broaden the chorus on the chapter's framing, its central grammatical crux, and its mercy-clause. The redemptive-historical reading carries three figural links, each marked widely-held and cross-Testament: the thirty-shekel betrayal-price (v.4), the unransomable cherem answered by the blood-ransom (vv.28-29), and the firstborn-already-the-LORD's (vv.26-27) answered by the Firstborn presented and redeemed under this very statute (Luke 2:23). All ⚙ synthesis is fallible and marked; the BSB text and the ✦ public-domain commentary excerpts are the load-bearing authorities and are quoted verbatim.
✦ = human, public-domain source, quoted and named. ⚙ = machine synthesis, to be verified. Flagged cross-references are left visible on purpose — the verifier working in the open. “Search the Scriptures daily, whether those things were so.” (Acts 17:11)