Leviticus 27:13

Lev 27:13 But if he will at all redeem it, then he shall add a fifth [part] thereof unto thy estimation.

Ver. 13. Then he shall add.] The owner, if he repent of his vow, shall pay for his levity. See Ecc 5:2; Ecc 5:4-5.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Verse 13. Shall add a fifth part] This was probably intended to prevent rash vows and covetous redemptions. The priest alone was to value the thing; and to whatever his valuation was, a fifth part must be added by him who wished to redeem the consecrated thing. Thus, if the priest valued it at forty shekels, if the former owner redeemed it he was obliged to give forty-eight.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(13) But if he will at all redeem it.—Better, and if he wishes to redeem it, that is, the man himself who vowed it for the sanctuary. The estimate put upon the animal in question was intended for anyone who wished to purchase it, not excluding, however, the person who vowed it.

He shall add a fifth part.—Whilst anyone else could purchase the animal at the valuation put upon it by the priest, 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. For the way in which the fifth part was computed during the second Temple see Lev_5:16.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

13. thy estimation] Cp. Lev_27:15, etc. The pronoun constitutes a difficulty, as in Lev_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 Lev_27:12. In Lev_27:23 ‘thy’ cannot have either of these references. The LXX. omits it in all the cases. It is thought to be the insertion of a reviser, in order to harmonize with Lev_27:15, where the subject is similar and the pronoun presents no difficulty as applied to Moses, who is there addressed. But it may possibly, as is suggested by the anomalous grammar in the Heb. of Lev_27:23, be a survival of a phrase from old directions addressed to the priest, and have thus ceased to bear any definite meaning.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And when a man shall sanctify his house to be holy unto the Lord,.... Shall set it apart for sacred service, devote it to holy uses, so that it may be sold, and the money laid out in sacrifices, the repairs of the temple, &c. under this any other goods are comprehended, concerning which the Jews say,"he that sanctifieth his goods, and his wife's dowry is upon him, or he is a debtor; his wife cannot demand her, dowry out of that which is sanctified, nor a creditor his debt; but if he will redeem he may redeem, on condition that he gives the dowry to the wife, and the debt to the creditor; if he has set apart ninety pounds and his debt is an hundred, he may add a penny more, and with it redeem those goods, on condition he gives the wife her dowry and the creditor his debt: whether he sanctifies or estimates his goods, he has no power over his wife's or children's clothes, nor over coloured things, died on their account, nor on new, shoes he has bought for them (z), &c.''again it is said (a),"if anyone sanctified his goods, and there were among them things fit for the altar; wine, oil, and fowls, R. Eliezer says, they might be sold to those that need any of, that kind, and with the price of them burnt offerings might be bought, and the rest of the goods fell to the repair of the temple:"

then the priest shall estimate it whether it be good or bad; shall examine it of what size and in what condition it is, whether a large well built house or not, and whether in good repair or not, and accordingly set a price upon it:

as the priest shall estimate it, so shall it stand; according to the price he shall set upon it, it may be sold; whoever will give it may purchase it, excepting the owner or he that has sanctified it, he must pay a fifth part more, as follows.

(z) Misn. Eracin, c. 6. sect. 2, 5. (a) Misn. Shekalim, c. 4. sect. 8.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

That offereth it. This addition of the Vulgate shews, that if any other purchased the animal, he would not have to give a fifth part more than the value. That only concerned the person who had made the vow, to punish him for his inconstancy, and that he might not have a desire to get possession again of what he had once consecrated to the Lord. If the beast was valued at 40 sicles, he would therefore have to pay 50. (Calmet)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

13. He shall add a fifth part — As the author of the vow was free to present the animal or to redeem it, his desire to redeem it would imply that the priest had somewhat undervalued it; so twenty per cent. was added to his estimate.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

But 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 (cf. Lev 5:16).

Keil & Delitzsch — Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament (1861–1891) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API. (Old Testament only.)

redeemed

Heb. "goel," Redemp. (Kinsman type). (See Scofield "Isa 59:20").

The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

ואם גאל יגאלנה BUT IF HE WILL AT ALL REDEEM IT [THEN HE SHALL ADD A FIFTH …] — In respect to the owner Scripture is more stringent by requiring him to pay an additional fifth. And similarly in the case of one who dedicates a house to the Sanctuary (vv. 14, 15) and so, too, in the case of one who dedicates his field (v. 19), and similarly in the case of redeeming מעשר שני, “the Second Tithe”, the owner must add a fifth to their real value when redeeming them; but no other person has to do this (Sifra, Bechukotai, Chapter 10 7; Arakhin 25a).

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.