But if he will at all redeem it, then he shall add a fifth part thereof unto thy estimation.
Parallel translations
- WEB But if he will indeed redeem it, then he shall add the fifth part of it to its valuation.
- BSB If, however, the owner decides to redeem the animal, he must add a fifth to its value.
- NKJV But if he wants at all to redeem it, then he must add one-fifth to your valuation.
- NASB But if he should ever want to redeem it, then he shall add a fifth of it to your assessment.
- NLT If you want to buy back the animal, you must pay the value set by the priest, plus 20 percent.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
If the giver wished to redeem the vowed animal, he had to add a fifth to its value. Reclaiming what was devoted to God carries a cost.
Overview
The added twenty percent discouraged casual reclaiming of what had been given to God and recognized the seriousness of devotion. It allowed flexibility while preserving the sanctity of the vow. The principle is that what is set apart for the Lord is not lightly taken back, underscoring the weight of our commitments to Him.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 6
- Lev 27:15And if he that sanctified it will redeem his house, then he shall add the fifth part of the money of thy estimation unto it, and it shall be his.
- Lev 27:19And if he that sanctified the field will in any wise redeem it, then he shall add the fifth part of the money of thy estimation unto it, and it shall be assured to him.
- Lev 22:14And if a man eat of the holy thing unwittingly, then he shall put the fifth part thereof unto it, and shall give it unto the priest with the holy thing.
- Lev 27:10He shall not alter it, nor change it, a good for a bad, or a bad for a good: and if he shall at all change beast for beast, then it and the exchange thereof shall be holy.
- Lev 5:16And he shall make amends for the harm that he hath done in the holy thing, and shall add the fifth part thereto, and give it unto the priest: and the priest shall make an atonement for him with the ram of the trespass offering, and it shall be forgiven him.
- Lev 6:4–5Then it shall be, because he hath sinned, and is guilty, that he shall restore that which he took violently away, or the thing which he hath deceitfully gotten, or that which was delivered him to keep, or the lost thing which he found,
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Christ at the center
Every sacrifice, every priest, and every day of atonement points beyond itself to the one perfect offering and the great High Priest who, by his own blood, makes the unclean holy once for all.
How Leviticus 27:13 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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