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1 And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,

2 Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When a man shall make a singular vow, the persons shall be for the Lord by thy estimation.

3 And thy estimation shall be of the male from twenty years old even unto sixty years old, even thy estimation shall be fifty shekels of silver, after the shekel of the sanctuary.

4 And if it be a female, then thy estimation shall be thirty shekels.

5 And if it be from five years old even unto twenty years old, then thy estimation shall be of the male twenty shekels, and for the female ten shekels.

6 And if it be from a month old even unto five years old, then thy estimation shall be of the male five shekels of silver, and for the female thy estimation shall be three shekels of silver.

7 And if it be from sixty years old and above; if it be a male, then thy estimation shall be fifteen shekels, and for the female ten shekels.

8 But if he be poorer than thy estimation, then he shall present himself before the priest, and the priest shall value him; according to his ability that vowed shall the priest value him.

9 And if it be a beast, whereof men bring an offering unto the Lord, all that any man giveth of such unto the Lord shall be holy.

10 He 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.

11 And if it be any unclean beast, of which they do not offer a sacrifice unto the Lord, then he shall present the beast before the priest:

12 And the priest shall value it, whether it be good or bad: as thou valuest it, who art the priest, so shall it be.

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

14 And when a man shall sanctify his house to be holy unto the Lord, then the priest shall estimate it, whether it be good or bad: as the priest shall estimate it, so shall it stand.

15 And 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.

16 And if a man shall sanctify unto the Lord some part of a field of his possession, then thy estimation shall be according to the seed thereof: an homer of barley seed shall be valued at fifty shekels of silver.

17 If he sanctify his field from the year of jubile, according to thy estimation it shall stand.

18 But if he sanctify his field after the jubile, then the priest shall reckon unto him the money according to the years that remain, even unto the year of the jubile, and it shall be abated from thy estimation.

19 And 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.

20 And if he will not redeem the field, or if he have sold the field to another man, it shall not be redeemed any more.

21 But 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.

22 And if a man sanctify unto the Lord a field which he hath bought, which is not of the fields of his possession;

23 Then 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.

24 In 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.

25 And all thy estimations shall be according to the shekel of the sanctuary: twenty gerahs shall be the shekel.

26 Only the firstling of the beasts, which should be the Lord's firstling, no man shall sanctify it; whether it be ox, or sheep: it is the Lord's.

27 And if it be of an unclean beast, then he shall redeem it according to thine estimation, and shall add a fifth part of it thereto: or if it be not redeemed, then it shall be sold according to thy estimation.

28 Notwithstanding no devoted thing, that a man shall devote unto the Lord of all that he hath, both of man and beast, and of the field of his possession, shall be sold or redeemed: every devoted thing is most holy unto the Lord.

29 None devoted, which shall be devoted of men, shall be redeemed; but shall surely be put to death.

30 And all the tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land, or of the fruit of the tree, is the Lord's: it is holy unto the Lord.

31 And if a man will at all redeem ought of his tithes, he shall add thereto the fifth part thereof.

32 And concerning the tithe of the herd, or of the flock, even of whatsoever passeth under the rod, the tenth shall be holy unto the Lord.

33 He shall not search whether it be good or bad, neither shall he change it: and if he change it at all, then both it and the change thereof shall be holy; it shall not be redeemed.

34 These are the commandments, which the Lord commanded Moses for the children of Israel in mount Sinai.

h.כי יפלא means, if he expressly states by an utterance of his mouth (cf. Rashi on Leviticus 22:21).

h.בערכך נפשות — he expressly states that he will give to the Sanctuary the valuation attached to a life by saying, “the payment of the valuation of such and such a thing — that, however, being something upon which its life depends — is incumbent upon me” (Sifra, Bechukotai, Section 3 6; Arakhin 4a).

h.והיה ערכך THEN THY ערכך SHALL BE etc. — This word ערך used throughout this section has not the meaning of דמים, market-value (which varies according to the condition of the market or the condition of the person offered for sale, whilst ערך is a fixed value), but whether he be of high value or of low value, according to his age is the ערך fixed for him in this section.

h.ערכך is the same as ערך (i. e. the second כף is not the suffix of the second person masc. sing.). I do not know what grammatical form the doubling of the כף represents.

h.ואם מבן חמש שנים AND IF IT BE FROM FIVE YEARS OLD — Not that the person making the vow is a minor (from five to twenty years old), for there is no validity in the words of a minor, but it is speaking of an adult who said, “The payment of the valuation of this child” — who is five years old — “shall be incumbent upon me”.

h.ואם מבן ששים שנה AND IF IT BE FROM SIXTY YEARS OLD [AND ABOVE; IF IT BE A MALE THEN THE VALUATION SHALL BE FIFTEEN SHEKELS, AND FOR THE FEMALE TEN SHEKELS] — When one approaches old age a woman is more likely to be of the same importance as a man therefore a man decreases to beyond a third of his valuation when he becomes old (his ערך being fifty shekels and after sixty only fifteen, which is less then 17, the approximate third of 50), whilst a woman decreases only to exactly a third of her valuation (which was previously thirty shekels, and after sixty becomes ten), because people say (i. e. there is a familiar saying): “An old man in the house is a snare (a nuisance) in the house, an old woman in the house is a treasure in the house and a good omen in the house” (Arakhin 19a).

h.ואם מך הוא BUT IF HE POOR so that his means are not sufficient to pay this valuation,

h.והעמידו THEN THEY SHALL PRESENT HIM — the person made the subject of a valuation, לפני הכהן BEFORE THE PRIEST, and the priest shall set a value on him according to the means of him who promised the valuation (Sifra, Bechukotai, Section 3 14).

h.על פי אשר תשיג ACCORDING TO HIS ABILITY — i. e. according to what he possesses shall he (the priest) assess him (the person who has promised the valuation), leaving him sufficient to live upon: a bed, mattress and cushion and tools necessary for his trade; thus, in respect to the latter, if he was an ass-driver (earning a living by carrying loads) he has to leave him his ass (Arakhin 23b).

h.כל אשר יתן ממנו EVERYTHING THAT A MAN GIVE implies even the case when he said, “the foot of this animal shall be a burnt offering” his words have binding force). It (the animal) is therefore sold for the purpose of a burnt-offering to one who has to bring such an offering and the monies realized by its sale are חולין (non-holy) and are returned to the owner with the exception of the value of that limb (Sifra, Bechukotai, Chapter 9 1; Arakhin 5a; Temurah 11b; Chullin 69b).

h.טוב ברע [HE SHALL NEITHER CHANGE IT NOR EXCHANGE IT] A GOOD FOR A BAD — i. e. he shall not give in exchange a perfect animal of a non-sacred character for one devoted to the Sanctuary but having some blemish (cf. Rashi on Temurah 9a on ‎‎‎מתני' טוב ברע), ‎‎‎או רע בטוב‎ OR A BAD FOR A GOOD — It follows à fortiori that he must not give in exchange a perfect animal for another perfect one, or one with a blemish for another with a blemish (Temurah 9a).

h.ואם כל בהמה טמאה AND IF IT BE ANY בהמה טמאה — Scripture is really speaking here not of an “unclean“ but of a blemished animal which,is just on this account, unclean (i. e. unfit) for sacrificing, and Scripture is telling you that sacred animals which have no blemish cannot again become non-holy (more lit., go forth from the category of holy animals to that of non-holy animals) through redemption except if they become blemished (Temurah 32b; Sifra, Bechukotai, Section 4 1).

h.כערכך הכהן כן יהיה AS THE PRIEST VALUES IT, SO SHALL IT BE for any other person who comes to buy it from the Temple treasury (in contrast to the owner himself who, if he redeems it, must add a fifth to the valuation, as stated in the next verse).

h.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).

h.והיה ערכך לפי זרעו [AND IF A MAN SHALL SANCTIFY SOME OF THE FIELD OF HIS POSSESSION] THEN THE VALUATION SHALL BE ACCORDING TO THE SEED THEREOF (i. e., according to the quantity of seed that can be grown in it) — not according to its value; but whether it is a good field or a bad field the money for redeeming it from its holy state is the same: an area requiring a Khor of barley seed (the equivalent of a חמר שערים mentioned in the text) is redeemable by fifty shekels (in the case of other seed the area redeemable by this sum is different) (cf. Arakhin 14a). Such is the enactment of Scripture (God). But this is only in the case that he comes to redeem it at the beginning of the Jubilee-period, but if he comes to redeem it in the middle of it he has only to pay according to the reckoning of one Selah (shekel) and a pundion (one forty-eighth of a shekel) for each year remaining in that Jubilee-period (cf. Rashi on v. 18); because, after all, it is the property of the Temple treasury only for the number of years contained in the Jubilee-period from the time when he sold it, so that if it was redeemed by the owner at any time during this period, well and good (the Temple treasury suffered no loss), and if not, the treasurer can sell it for the very same price to another person, when it remains in the hands of the purchaser till the Jubilee just like any other field sold right out (cf. vv. 20, 21). When it leaves his possession in the Jubilee year, it does not return to the Treasury, but it passes into the possession of the priests of that “Mishmar” (shift officiating) during whose turn the Jubilee happens to fall and is divided amongst them. This, in brief, is the law concerning one who dedicates a field to the Temple Treasury; and now I shall explain it, following the order of the verses.

h.אם משנת היבל יקדיש IF HE SANCTIFY [HIS FIELD] FROM THE YEAR OF JUBILEE — i. e. if as soon as the Jubilee-period was past he immediately dedicates it to the Temple treasury (so that the field could remain in the possession of the Sanctuary for a complete Jubilee-period), and he comes to redeem it immediately (so that the Treasury had no usufruct of the field at all).

h.כערכך יקום ACCORDING TO THE VALUATION IT SHALL STAND — i. e. according to that valuation above mentioned shall it be — 50 shekel shall he give [for each area requiring a Khor of barley seed].

h.ואם אחר היבל יקדיש BUT IF HE SANCTIFY [HIS FIELD] AFTER (i. e. some years after) THE JUBILEE, — and similarly, of course, if he dedicated it from the year of (i. e. immediately after) the Jubilee, — and in either case it remained for a time in the possession of the treasurer and then this man comes to redeem it some years after the Jubilee,

h.וחשב לו הכהן את הכסף על פי השנים הנותרת THEN THE PRIEST SHALL RECKON FOR HIM THE MONEY ACCORDING TO THE YEARS THAT ARE LEFT — it must be according to a reckoning. How is it to be done? You see, it (Scripture) has fixed the value of forty-nine years at fifty shekels, that is, one shekel for each year and one additional shekel for all of them (for all the years together). Now a shekel is forty-eight pundion; that gives one selah (shekel) and one pundion for each year, except that there is one pundion short for all the years (reckoning the price per year as the Torah prescribes, he pays forty-nine shekels and forty-nine pundion, equal to fifty shekels and one pundion whereas really he should pay fifty shekels, which is one pundion less than the calculation based upon the yearly rate. Our Rabbis said that that pundion is the commission for the money-changing (Bekhorot 50a), and therefore if he comes to redeem the field some years after the Jubilee, he must give a selah and a pundion for each year of those years that remain until the Jubilee year (Sifra, Bechukotai, Chapter 10 10; Arakhin 24b).

h.ונגרע מערכך AND THERE SHALL BE ABATED FROM THE VALUATION the number of years that have elapsed from the Jubilee year until the year when the redemption takes place.

h.ואם גאל יגאל AND IF HE WILL IN ANY WAY REDEEM IT “he” means, the man who dedicated it; then he shall add a fifth part to this fixed price (not a fifth of the fifty shekels, but a fifth of the value determined by this calculation is to be added to that value).

h.ואם לא יגאל את השדה AND IF HE WILL NOT REDEEM THE FIELD— “he” means, the man who dedicated it,

h.ואם מכר OR IF HE HATH SOLD — “he”: the treasurer of the Temple property has sold (Arakhin 25b),

h.את השדה לאיש אחר לא יגאל עוד THE FIELD TO ANOTHER MAN, IT SHALL NOT BE REDEEMED ANY MORE so as to return into the possession of him who dedicated it.

h.והיה השדה בצאתו ביבל BUT THE FIELD, WHEN IT GOETH OUT IN THE JUBILEE from the possession of him who purchased it from the treasurer, just as is the way with other fields in the Jubilee which also go out from the possession of those who purchase them, SHALL BE

h.קדש לה׳ HOLY UNTO THE LORD; — not that it shall return to the Temple treasury that provides for the Temple repair, into the treasurer’s hand, but, כשדה החרם it shall be AS A FIELD DOOMED, which has to be given to the preists, as it is said, (Numbers 18:14) “Every thing doomed (חרם) in Israel shall be thine” (i. e. Aaron’s to whom this was spoken); this field, too, shall be divided amongst the priests of that “Mishmar” during whose turn the Day of Atonement of the Jubilee-year happens to fall (Arakhin 28b).

h.ואם את שדה ‎'מקנתו וגו‎‎ BUT IF [HE SANCTIFY…] A FIELD OF HIS PURCHASE [WHICH IS NOT THE FIELD OF HIS POSSESSION, THEN etc.] — There is a difference between a “field of one’s purchase” and “a field of one’s possession” inasmuch as a “field of purchase” is not divided amongst the priests in the Jubilee (if it was sold by the treasurer and the purchaser has to return it at the Jubilee), because one has the right to dedicate it only until the Jubilee, for under any circumstances it was to go out from his possession and return to the original owner in the Jubilee; therefore if he comes to redeem it, he redeems it at the price stipulated for a “field of possession” (cf. משנה למלך on Maimonides הל' ערכין פ”ד הלכה כ“ו who explains where Rashi derives it from that he has to pay the price fixed for a שדה אחוזה). And whether he does not redeem it and the treasurer sells it to another person, or whether he does redeem it, (some editions have: ואם לא יגאל; cf. Arakhin 28b) בשנת היבל ישוב השדה לאשר קנהו מאתו IN THE YEAR OF THE JUBILEE THE FIELD SHALL RETURN UNTO HIM FROM WHOM HE HATH BOUGHT IT — i. e. unto him from whom he that has dedicated it has bought it. And in order that you should not think that the words: the field shall return לאשר קנהו, mean, it shall return unto him from whom this last purchaser has bought it, — and that would be the treasurer (since he is the person from whom it was last acquired), Scripture was compelled to state לאשר לו אחזת הארץ EVEN TO HIM TO WHOM THE POSSESSION OF THE FIELD BELONGS from that which his ancestors have bequeathed to him, and this can only be the original owner who had sold it to him who sanctified it (Arakhin 26a, Arakhin 26b).

h.וכל ערכך יהיה בשקל הקדש Every valuation shall be made according to the holy shekel: i.e., every valuation regarding which shekels are written, will be made according to the holy shekel.

h.עשרים גרה TWENTY GERAH — twenty meahs. This was what it was originally, but later on they increased it by one sixth. Our Rabbis stated: six silver meahs make a silver denar; thus twenty-four meahs make a selah (a shekel) (cf. Rashi on Exodus 30:13), a shekel being four denars (Bekhorot 26b).

h.לא יקדיש איש אתו [ONLY THE FIRSTBORN OF BEASTS…] NO MAN SHALL SANCTIFY IT for the purpose of (to become) a sacrifice of any other description, for it is not his, [being already holy to the Lord from birth] (cf. Arakhin 29a).

h.ואם בבהמה טמאה AND IF IT BE OF AN UNCLEAN ANIMAL — This verse does not refer to the firstborn mentioned above (when the translation would be: and if it — the firstborn just mentioned — be בבהמה טמאה, in the category of unclean animals), because one cannot state about the firstborn of an unclean animal: ופדה בערכך “it shall be redeemed by valuation”, since of all unclean animals it is only the firstborn of the ass that has to be redeemed (see Exodus 13:13 and Rashi thereon); and an ass this firstborn spoken of here cannot be, because, you see, the redemption price of the firstborn of an ass is a lamb only, whilst here the animal in question has to be redeemed כערכך, according to a certain valuation; and besides, it (the lamb) is a gift to the priest and is not given to the Sanctuary. But the verse refers to something dedicated to the Temple treasury, being a continuation of v. 11, for that verso above spoke about the redemption of a clean animal which became blemished, and here it speaks about one who dedicates an unclean animal, the proceeds to be used for the Temple repair (Menachot 101a).

h.ופדה בערכך THEN HE SHALL REDEEM IT ACCORDING TO THE VALUATION — i. e. according as the priest will estimate its value.

h.ואם לא יגאל OR IF IT BE NOT REDEEMED by the owners,

h.ונמכר בערכך THEN IT SHALL BE SOLD ACCORDING TO THE VALUATION to others (Sifra, Bechukotai, Chapter 12 2).

h.אך כל חרם NOTWITHSTANDING NO DOOMED THING… [SHALL BE SOLD OR REDEEMED] — Our Rabbis are of different opinions regarding this matter (i. e. regarding the explanation of the word חרם used in this section). Some say: “All things declared doomed without any statement as to their purpose”, go to the Temple treasury. And if you ask, “But how then can I explain the text addressed to Aaron (Numbers 18:14) “every חרם in Israel shall be thine” (i. e. the priest’s)? Then I reply that I explain it to refer to חרמים expressly made for priests, i. e. that the donor expressly said, “this shall be a doomed thing for the priests” (so that it is not a סתם חרם). Others, however, say, that all things declared doomed without any statement as to their purpose go to the priests (in accordance with Numbers 18:14) (Arakhin 28b).

h.לא ימכר ולא יגאל IT SHALL NOT BE SOLD NOR REDEEMED but shall be given to the priest. Now, according to him who holds that “doomed things not specially assigned” go to the priests, this verse must be explained as referring to such “unassigned doomed things”. He, however, who holds that “unassigned doomed things” go for the Temple repair, explains this verse as referring to such “doomed things” that were expressly declared to be for the priests, since all agree that such doomed things intended for the priests cannot be redeemed before they came into the possession of the priest (when the priest may do whatever he likes with them, because they are חולין; Scripture is thus right in stating 'לא ימכר וכו‎), whilst doomed things intended for the Most High (i. e. for the Sanctuary) are redeemable (Arakhin 29b).

h.כל חרם קדש קדשים הוא EVERY DOOMED THING IS MOST HOLY — He who holds that “unassigned doomed things” go to the Temple repair produces evidence from here that his assertion is correct, whilst he who holds that “unassigned doomed things” go to the priests explains the words: 'כל חרם קדש קדשים הוא לה as meaning: every doomed thing of that which is most holy (חרם is construct!) shall be the Lord’s and as intended to teach that חרמים made for the priests are applicable to objects holy in the highest degree (e. g. if one says, “This burnt-offering shall be doomed to the priests”) and to subjects holy in a minor degree (e. g. a firstborn animal) and he gives its value to the priest, as we learn in Treatise Arakhin 28b: If it is a נדר (cf. for this term Leviticus 22:18) he pays the full value of it, and if it is a נדבה (Leviticus 22:18) he only pays the value of the gratification he might have of it.

h.מאדם [NO DOOMED THING…] OF MAN […SHALL BE SOLD OR REDEEMED] — for instance, in the case that he has declared as חרם his Canaanite man-servants or maid-servants (Arakhin 28a).

h.'כל חרם אשר יחרם וגו‎ NONE DOOMED WHO SHALL BE DOOMED OF MAN, [SHALL BE RELEASED] — This means, if a person is going to be executed and someone says, “I take upon myself to pay his ערך” he has said nothing (his vow is of none effect) (Arakhin 6b).

h.מות יומת, you see, he is going to be put to death, and he therefore cannot be redeemed, — he has neither a market-value (דמים) nor an ‎ערך.‎

h.‎ ‎וכל מעשר הארץ AND ANY TITHE OF THE LAND… [BELONGETH TO THE LORD] — Scripture is speaking here of the “second tithe”.

h.מזרע הארץ OF THE SEED OF THE EARTH — i. e. of grain,

h.מפרי העץ OF THE FRUIT OF THE TREE — i. e. wine and oil,

h.לה' הוא BELONGETH TO THE LORD — the Lord has acquired it (it is His possession) and it is from His table that He bids you to carry up (להעלות = לעלות) and to eat in Jerusalem (Kiddushin 53b), as it is said, (Deuteronomy 14:23) “And thou shalt eat before the Lord, thy God,… the tithe of thy corn, of thy wine, etc.”.

h.ממעשרו [AND IF A MAN WILL REDEEM] OUGHT OF HIS TITHES [HE SHALL ADD THERETO ITS FIFTH] — of his tithes, but not of the tithes of his fellow: if he redeems the tithe of his fellow he need not add its fifth (Kiddushin 24a). Wherein consists the redemption of the “second tithe” (since it is permitted as food to the owner)? He redeems it in so far as he makes it permissible for food at any place (which is not the case if he does not redeem it) and the redemption-money he brings up to Jerusalem, buys eatables and eats them there as it is said, (Deuteronomy 14:25, 26) “Then thou shalt put into money… [and thou shalt lay out that money… for cattle, for sheep etc.]”.

h.תחת השבט [WHATEVER PASSES] UNDER THE ROD — When he is about to tithe them (the cattle), he passes them through a door one after the other and the tenth he strikes with a rod smeared with red dye so that it should afterwards be recognised as being one of the tithe. Thus he does to the young sheep and to the calves of each separate year (Bekhorot 58b).

h.יהיה קדש [THE TENTH] SHALL BE HOLY [UNTO THE LORD] — inasmuch as its blood and its fat portions have to be burnt on the altar; the flesh, however, may be eaten by the owner, for we do not find it enumerated among “the gifts of the priests” (Numbers ch. 18), nor do we find in the Torah elsewhere that its flesh should be given to the priests.

h.לא ‎'יבקר וגו‎ HE SHALL NOT SEEK OUT, [WHETHER IT BE GOOD OR BAD — Since it is stated, (.Deut 12:11) “[thither shall ye bring…] all your choice vows” I might think he shall select and take out the choicest! Scripture therefore states here, “he shall not seek out whether it be good or bad” —whether it be perfect in limb or whether it have a blemish the sanctity attached to the tithe applies to it; not, however, in the sense that being blemished it may be offered, but it must be eaten under the observance of the regulations relating to the tithe, and must neither be shorn of its wool nor be employed in work (cf. Bekhorot 14b).