If a man wants at all to redeem any of his tithes, he shall add one-fifth to it.
Parallel translations
- WEB If a man redeems anything of his tithe, he shall add a fifth part to it.
- KJV And if a man will at all redeem ought of his tithes, he shall add thereto the fifth part thereof.
- BSB If a man wishes to redeem part of his tithe, he must add a fifth to its value.
- NASB If, therefore, someone should ever want to redeem part of his tithe, he shall add to it a fifth of it.
- NLT If you want to buy back the Lord’s tenth of the grain or fruit, you must pay its value, 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 a man redeemed part of his tithe to keep the produce, he added a fifth to its value. Substituting for the holy tithe carried an added cost.
Overview
A worshiper could redeem his tithe in money rather than goods, but only by adding a fifth, the same surcharge attached to other redemptions. This discouraged treating the tithe as a mere transaction and preserved its holiness. The added portion underscores that what is given to God is to be honored as set apart, not casually exchanged.
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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 27:31 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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