What Does Leviticus 27:12 Mean in the King James?
And the priest shall value it, whether it be good or bad: as thou valuest it, who art the priest, so shall it be.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
The thing is still given a value whether its condition is good or bad; neither condition removes it from the reckoning.
THE MEANING
What is before you can be assessed in its actual condition, whether good or bad. The priest’s valuation establishes how it is reckoned.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
This undoes the belief that only what is in good condition can be counted: the verse includes both conditions in the assessment.
THE ROOT
וְהֶעֱרִיךְ
ve-he’erikh
GROWS FROM
ערך
ʿ-r-kh
To arrange or set in order; in this verb form, to assess or value.
The verb translated “value” comes from a root that also describes arranging or setting things in order. The priest’s assessment places the item within a recognized measure, accounting for its condition rather than excluding it because it is good or bad.
ALSO GROWS
ʿērekh: Value; valuation.
עֵרֶךְ
This related noun names an assessed value, making clear that the priest’s action gives the item a defined reckoning.
maʿărākhāh: Array; arrangement.
מַעֲרָכָה
This branch preserves the root’s sense of setting things in order, illuminating valuation as placing something within a measure.
THE PATTERN
Sound judgment reaches beyond surface appearance and rests on a measure that accounts for what is actually there.
A false balance is abomination to the LORD: but a just weight is his delight.But the LORD said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart.Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come, who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts: and then shall every man have praise of God.THE THREAD
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.The same root, ערך (ʿ-r-kh), “to arrange or assess,” appears in the priest’s valuation of a house. The verse extends this measure from an individual item to a whole household: in both cases, the priest’s assessment establishes the reckoning.
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