Leviticus 27:19-24 · Bible study
Leviticus 27:19-24 Commentary: Redeeming Dedicated Fields & Jubilee
Hebrew · 8 what the commentators say
Meaning in one sentence
Why the original owner must add a fifth to redeem a dedicated field, and how the Jubilee restores land to its ancestral owner.
Research Summary
- Meaning: The passage regulates the redemption or permanent transfer of land dedicated to God, ensuring fairness through priestly valuation and the Jubilee reset.
- Key words: erekh (valuation), cherem (devoted thing), yovel (jubilee), chamishit (fifth part).
- Main debate: Whether the added fifth was punitive (discouraging careless vows) or compensatory (covering the sanctuary’s costs and the land’s risk). Most commentators combine both views.
- Theological theme: God’s absolute ownership of the land and the reminder that human possession is temporary; the Jubilee typifies ultimate restoration in Christ.
- Best use: Teaching on the integrity of promises to God, the temporary nature of property, and the hope of redemption and restoration.
Translation Comparison
BSB Berean Standard Bible 2020
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.
20If, however, he does not redeem the field, or if he has sold it to another man, it may no longer be redeemed.
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.
22Now if a man consecrates to the LORD a field he has purchased, which is not a part of his own property,
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.
24In the Year of Jubilee the field shall return to the one from whom it was bought—the original owner of the land.
WEB World English Bible 2000
19If he who dedicated the field will indeed redeem it, then he shall add the fifth part of the money of your valuation to it, and it shall remain his.
20If he will not redeem the field, or if he has sold the field to another man, it shall not be redeemed any more;
21but the field, when it goes out in the Jubilee, shall be holy to Yahweh, as a devoted field. It shall be owned by the priests.
22“‘If he dedicates a field to Yahweh which he has bought, which is not of the field of his possession,
23then the priest shall reckon to him the worth of your valuation up to the Year of Jubilee; and he shall give your valuation on that day, as a holy thing to Yahweh.
24In the Year of Jubilee the field shall return to him from whom it was bought, even to him to whom the possession of the land belongs.
KJV King James Version 1769
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.
20And if he will not redeem the field, or if he have sold the field to another man, it shall not be redeemed any more.
21But the field, when it goeth out in the jubile, shall be holy unto the Lord, as a field devoted; the possession thereof shall be the priest’s.
22And if a man sanctify unto the Lord a field which he hath bought, which is not of the fields of his possession;
23Then the priest shall reckon unto him the worth of thy estimation, even unto the year of the jubile: and he shall give thine estimation in that day, as a holy thing unto the Lord.
24In the year of the jubile the field shall return unto him of whom it was bought, even to him to whom the possession of the land did belong.
ASV American Standard Version 1901
19And if he that sanctified the field will indeed redeem it, then he shall add the fifth part of the money of thy estimation unto it, and it shall be assured to him.
20And if he will not redeem the field, or if he have sold the field to another man, it shall not be redeemed any more:
21but the field, when it goeth out in the jubilee, shall be holy unto Jehovah, as a field devoted; the possession thereof shall be the priest’s.
22And if he sanctify unto Jehovah a field which he hath bought, which is not of the field of his possession;
23then the priest shall reckon unto him the worth of thy estimation unto the year of jubilee: and he shall give thine estimation in that day, as a holy thing unto Jehovah.
24In the year of jubilee the field shall return unto him of whom it was bought, even to him to whom the possession of the land belongeth.
YLT Young's Literal Translation 1898
19`And if he really redeem the field--he who is sanctifying it--then he hath added a fifth of the money of thy valuation to it, and it hath been established to him;
20and if he do not redeem the field, or if he hath sold the field to another man, it is not redeemed any more;
21and the field hath been, in its going out in the jubilee, holy to Jehovah as a field which is devoted; to the priest is its possession.
22`And if the field of his purchase (which is not of the fields of his possession) one sanctify to Jehovah--
23then hath the priest reckoned to him the amount of thy valuation unto the year of jubilee, and he hath given thy valuation in that day--a holy thing to Jehovah;
24in the year of the jubilee the field returneth to him from whom he bought it, to him whose is the possession of the land.
Darby Darby Bible 1890
19And if he that hallowed the field will in any wise redeem it, he shall add the fifth of the money of thy valuation unto it, and it shall be assured to him;
20but if he do not redeem the field, or if he sell the field to another man, it cannot be redeemed any more;
21and the field, when it goeth out in the jubilee, shall be holy to Jehovah, as a field devoted; the possession thereof shall be the priest's.
22And if he hallow to Jehovah a field that he hath bought, which is not of the fields of his possession,
23the priest shall reckon unto him the amount of thy valuation, unto the year of the jubilee; and he shall give thy valuation on that day, [as] holy to Jehovah.
24In the year of the jubilee the field shall return unto him of whom it was bought — to him to whom the land belonged.
Douay-Rheims Douay-Rheims Bible 1899
19And if he that had vowed, will redeem his field, he shall add the fifth part of the money of the estimation, and shall possess it.
20And if he will not redeem it, but it be sold to any other man, he that vowed it, may not redeem it any more.
21For when the day of jubilee cometh, it shall be sanctified to the Lord, and as a possession consecrated, pertaineth to the right of the priest.
22If a field that was bought, and not of a man's ancestors' possession, be sanctified to the Lord:
23The priest shall reckon the price according to the number of years, unto the jubilee. And he that had vowed, shall give that to the Lord.
24But in the jubilee, it shall return to the former owner, who had sold it, and had it in the lot of his possession.
Verse in Context
Original Language (Biblical Hebrew)
Old Testament · Biblical Hebrew · Leviticus 27:19
Source: STEPBible TAGNT/TEHB (CC-BY 4.0). Click or tap a morphology code to see the full parsing.
Scholars' Consensus
Commentators agree that these verses govern what happens when a man dedicates inherited or purchased land to God and later wishes to reclaim it. Keil and Delitzsch explain that inherited land was inalienable and reverted to the owner at Jubilee, so the vow actually dedicated the produce of the land until that year, not the land itself. When the owner chose to redeem it, he had to pay the priest’s valuation for the remaining years plus an extra fifth (20%). Gill notes that the additional fifth appears in other redemption laws (Leviticus 27:13, 15, 31) and served as a deterrent against making vows impulsively. If the owner refused to redeem the field, or if the priest sold it to another person, it could never be redeemed again, at Jubilee it became a permanently holy, "devoted" field belonging to the priests. For purchased land, the situation differed: the dedicator was not the original ancestral owner, so the priest set a price only for the years until Jubilee, and at Jubilee the land returned to the original owner from whom it was bought. All valuations were made according to the sanctuary shekel, ensuring a fixed standard.
How settled is the interpretation?
Interpretive difficulty: Low
What is clear: The passage lays out a clear legal distinction between inherited and purchased land, the conditions under which redemption is possible, and the role of the Jubilee in resetting ownership.
What Scholars Agree and Debate
| Topic | Agreed | Debated |
|---|---|---|
| Redemption with an added fifth | All commentators agree the 20% addition applied when the original owner wanted to buy back a dedicated field. | Some (including Gill) see it as a penalty to discourage impulsive vows; others emphasize it as fair compensation for the sanctuary's lost potential revenue. |
| Status of unredeemed inherited land at Jubilee | If not redeemed, the field becomes permanently holy and goes to the priests at Jubilee, like a devoted thing (<em>cherem</em>). | There is minor disagreement on whether the priest could sell the field before Jubilee or retained it immediately; Gill and Wesley suggest the priest may have sold it, while the field remained holy in status. |
| Difference between inherited and purchased land | Purchased land could only be dedicated for the years remaining until Jubilee, after which it returned to its original ancestral owner. | The exact mechanics of the priest’s valuation for purchased land (whether it included only years to Jubilee or other factors) are not fully spelled out, leading to rabbinic debate. |
| The role of the sanctuary shekel | All valuations were standardized by the shekel of the sanctuary (20 gerahs). | No substantive debate; the text (v.25) is clear, and commentators unanimously affirm it ensured consistency. |
Historical & Cultural Context
The laws of Leviticus 27 rest on the Jubilee system established in Leviticus 25. God told Israel that the land belonged to Him and could not be sold permanently (Leviticus 25:23). Every fiftieth year, land returned to the family that originally received it in the conquest. This meant that what a man really owned was the use of the land for a set period, not the land itself.
When a man vowed a field to the Lord, the priest set a value based on the number of harvests remaining until the next Jubilee (Leviticus 27:17-18). A field sown with a homer of barley was valued at fifty shekels for the whole fifty-year cycle (Keil and Delitzsch). Years already elapsed were subtracted, so the price decreased the later the vow was made. If the man wanted to keep the field out of the sanctuary’s hands, he redeemed it by paying that valuation plus a fifth.
The extra fifth (20%) appears in all redemption cases in this chapter, houses (v.15), unclean animals (v.27), tithes (v.31), and discouraged people from making vows they would later regret. It also compensated the sanctuary for the trouble of administering the land. If no redemption occurred, the field became cherem, "devoted" to God, and went to the priests permanently (v.21, also Numbers 18:14).
Purchased land received different treatment, as the dedicator did not hold it by inheritance. He could only dedicate the remaining years to Jubilee; at that time the land reverted to the original owner (v.24). The priest’s valuation covered only that limited period, and the dedicator paid the full amount on the same day as a consecrated gift.
Textual Notes
The consulted sources note no significant textual variants in Leviticus 27:19-24. The Cambridge Bible observes a grammatical anomaly in the phrase "thy estimation" (understood as an unusual Hebrew form), but the meaning is not in dispute. All major editions (MT, LXX, Targums) agree on the substantive content of the passage.
Reception History
Jewish tradition gave these laws extensive treatment in the Mishnah tractate Arakin (Valuations), which spells out the calculation methods hinted at by the text. The addition of the fifth was understood as a safeguard against treating holy things lightly. Christian interpreters from the patristic era through the Reformation saw the Jubilee laws and the redemption rules as foreshadowing Christ’s work: the land that could be lost and bought back pointed to humanity’s lost inheritance in Eden and its recovery through the Redeemer. The permanent devotion of unredeemed land (vv.20-21) was read as a warning against hardening one’s heart beyond the opportunity of grace. In both traditions, the passage reinforced that God owns all things and that human ownership is derivative and temporary.
Preaching This Verse
Three-point outline
- God owns the land; we manage it on lease. The Jubilee laws and the distinction between inherited and purchased land remind us that all property ultimately returns to God or to the families He appointed. We are stewards, not absolute owners.
- Vows to God are serious, and breaking them costs. The added fifth shows that God takes our promises seriously. Redemption was permitted but never cheap.
- The Jubilee points to hope and restoration. No matter how land changed hands, the Jubilee reset everything. For Christians, this foreshadows Christ’s redemption that restores our inheritance lost through sin.
Five-point outline
- Dedicating the field (vv.19a, 22): A man sets apart his property to God, voluntarily surrendering its use.
- Valuation by the priest (v.18 background, v.23): The priest calculates the worth based on years left to Jubilee, using the sanctuary standard.
- Redemption with a fifth (v.19): If the owner wants the field back, he must not only pay the full valuation but add 20% more. This discouraged frivolous consecration.
- Consequences of no redemption (vv.20-21): If the field is not redeemed or is sold to another, it becomes holy to the Lord permanently and goes to the priests, like a devoted thing.
- Jubilee resets everything (vv.21, 24): For inherited land, the priest gets it at Jubilee; for purchased land, it returns to the original owner. God’s land order wins in the end.
Illustration hooks
- A customer pre-orders a custom cake for a wedding, then cancels. The baker keeps the deposit and charges a restocking fee. The fifth addition works like that, a cost for changing your mind about a sacred promise.
- You borrow a friend’s heirloom tool and promise to return it in good shape. If you break it, you owe more than the tool’s value. Adding the fifth recognizes that the vow disrupted God’s sanctuary economy.
- A family leases an apartment for 50 years. They can paint and repair, but at the end the unit goes back to the building owner. Israel’s land system worked the same way: you improve, you use, but the land ultimately returns.
Questions your congregation is asking
- Why did God require an extra 20% to get my own land back? Wasn’t it mine already?
- Does this passage mean I should never make a promise to God unless I am absolutely sure I can keep it?
- What does the Jubilee have to do with Jesus? How does it affect the way I view my house, my car, my savings?
Leading a Discussion
These verses may seem like ancient tax law, but they reveal deep truths about God’s ownership, human stewardship, and the seriousness of our words. The Jubilee principle, land returning to its original family, shapes everything. As you read the passage, notice how careful the law is to balance the sanctity of a vow with the reality that people change their minds.
Discussion questions
- What do verses 19-20 tell us about the consequences of making a vow and then backing out?
- Why does the law add a fifth (20%) to the redemption price? What does this say about God’s view of promises?
- How does the distinction between inherited land (v.21) and purchased land (vv.22-24) reflect the larger Jubilee teaching of Leviticus 25?
- What does it mean for a field to become “holy to the Lord, as a devoted field” (v.21)? Why does the priest receive it?
- In verses 22-24, why does purchased land return to the original owner at Jubilee rather than stay with the sanctuary?
- How does the permanent dedication of an unredeemed field (v.28 background) contrast with the temporary dedication of a redeemed field?
- If God already owns everything (Psalm 24:1), what does it mean to “give” something to God? How does this passage help us think about tithing and offerings today?
Word Study
The key original-language words in this verse. Select any word for its full lexicon entry — meaning, every occurrence in Scripture, and related words.
Cross-References
Source: Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (TSK, public domain)
| Leviticus 27:13 | But if he will indeed redeem it, then he shall add the fifth part of it to its valuation. |
| Leviticus 25:10 | You shall make the fiftieth year holy, and proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee to you; and each of you shall return to his own property, and each of you shall return to his family. |
| Leviticus 25:28 | But if he isn’t able to get it back for himself, then what he has sold shall remain in the hand of him who has bought it until the Year of Jubilee. In the Jubilee it shall be released, and he shall return to his property. |
| Leviticus 25:31 | But the houses of the villages which have no wall around them shall be accounted for with the fields of the country: they may be redeemed, and they shall be released in the Jubilee. |
| Leviticus 27:28 | “‘Notwithstanding, no devoted thing that a man devotes to Yahweh of all that he has, whether of man or animal, or of the field of his possession, shall be sold or redeemed. Everything that is permanently devoted is most holy to Yahweh. |
| Leviticus 27:29 | “‘No one devoted to destruction, who shall be devoted from among men, shall be ransomed. He shall surely be put to death. |
| Numbers 18:14 | “Everything devoted in Israel shall be yours. |
| Deuteronomy 13:17 | Nothing of the devoted thing shall cling to your hand, that Yahweh may turn from the fierceness of his anger and show you mercy, and have compassion on you and multiply you, as he has sworn to your fathers, |
Interlinear and lexical data from STEPBible (CC BY 4.0). Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0). Commentaries are public domain.
For personal reflection
Read the devotional page — prayer, application, and "for families"
What the Commentators Say
8 public-domain commentaries, condensed into plain language.
Adam Clarke's Commentary Methodist/Wesleyan 1826
As a field devoted - It is חרם cherem, a thing so devoted to God as never more to be capable of being redeemed. See on Lev 27:29 (note).
Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges Anglican 1880
The commentator points out a grammatical anomaly in the Hebrew text behind the phrase "thy estimation." While not entirely without parallel in the Old Testament, such irregularities are rare, and the passage is best understood in light of the similar usage found elsewhere in Leviticus.
Geneva Bible Notes Reformed 1599
The Geneva Notes highlight the strict legal procedures governing the redemption of dedicated fields, distinguishing between inherited land and purchased property. If a man redeems his dedicated field, he must add a fifth to its value, but if he does not, the field becomes permanently holy and belongs to the priests at the Jubilee. Purchased fields revert to the original owner in the Jubilee year.
Gill's Exposition of the Bible Baptist 1748
Gill explains that when someone sanctified a field and later wanted to redeem it, he had to pay an extra fifth beyond the valuation. If he did not redeem it and it was sold to another, at the jubilee the field became permanently holy to the Lord and belonged to the priests, not the original owner. For a purchased field, sanctification only lasted until the jubilee, when it returned to the original owner.
Keil & Delitzsch OT Commentary Protestant 1876
Keil and Delitzsch highlight that the fifty-shekel valuation for a vowed field sown with an omer of barley represents the total produce over the entire fifty-year jubilee cycle, not a yearly amount. This rabbinic understanding means the field itself remains inalienable; only its harvests until the next jubilee are consecrated. Redemption requires payment for the remaining years plus a fifth.
Lange's Commentary Reformed 1857
Lange treats the chapter not as a mere appendix but as a law for keeping the covenant faithfully in daily life, especially in regard to a pledged word. His distinctive emphasis is on the sanctification of manliness: a vow must be kept with honesty and integrity, opposing all evasions and fraud. Religious laxity that begins in concealment toward God spreads into moral dissolution.
Matthew Henry's Commentary Reformed/Presbyterian 1710
Henry sees these regulations as the practical outworking of a singular, voluntary vow to dedicate property to God. The priest's valuation and the redemption with a fifth added both prevent rash promises and protect the sanctity of what has been set apart.
Wesley's Explanatory Notes Methodist/Wesleyan 1754
Wesley clarifies that once a priest sells a field to another person after the original owner fails to redeem it, the owner permanently loses the right of redemption. He also reconciles the priests' permanent possession with the law that Levites have no land inheritance, explaining that law applied only to the general division of the land, not to vowed gifts for sanctuary service.