What Does Leviticus 27:15 Mean in the King James?
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.
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
What is set apart can still be reclaimed, but the way back carries a fifth more than its assessed worth.
THE MEANING
This verse holds dedication and ownership together: setting your house apart does not make its return impossible. When you reclaim it, its assessed value gains an added fifth, and the house is yours again.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that setting something apart makes it permanently unreachable: the house can be reclaimed, though its return carries a defined cost.
THE ROOT
גָּאַל
ga’al
GROWS FROM
גאל
To reclaim or recover, especially as a kinsman acting to restore what belongs to a relative.
“redeem” in this verse is ga’al. This root reaches beyond paying a price: elsewhere it names a kinsman reclaiming a relative’s property. Here, the house is recoverable, and its return restores a claim rather than creating a new possession.
ALSO GROWS
go’el: Kinsman-redeemer; one who reclaims.
גֹּאֵל
It shows the relational sense carried by the root of “redeem”: recovery can restore what belongs within a claim.
ge’ullah: Redemption or the right of reclaiming.
גְּאֻלָּה
This noun names the recovery itself, linking the house’s return to a broader language of reclaiming what has been lost or sold.
קִדֵּשׁ
qiddesh
GROWS FROM
קדש
To set apart, mark as distinct.
“sanctified” in this verse is qiddesh. The root carries the sense of being set apart, while this verse still leaves a path for the house to return to its owner. The return does not erase the setting apart; it comes through a measured act of reclaiming.
ALSO GROWS
qadosh: Set apart; distinct.
קָדוֹשׁ
This familiar branch makes the root’s basic sense visible: what is sanctified is marked as distinct.
miqdash: Sanctuary; a set-apart place.
מִקְדָּשׁ
The sanctuary shares the same root, showing how the act of setting apart and the place set apart belong to one word-family.
וְיָסַף
ve-yasaf
GROWS FROM
יסף
To add, increase, or continue.
“add” in this verse is ve-yasaf. The word makes clear that reclaiming is not a return at the assessed price alone: something is added to it. The added fifth gives the recovery a stated measure.
ALSO GROWS
Yosef: He adds; Joseph’s name echoes this root.
יוֹסֵף
The name shares the root’s sense of addition, revealing the same action inside the verse’s added amount.
tosefet: An addition or supplement.
תּוֹסֶפֶת
This noun keeps the root’s core idea intact: the fifth is an addition to the valuation, not the valuation itself.
THE PATTERN
Scripture makes reclaiming concrete by naming what returns and the measure or cost attached to its return.
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.And I thought to advertise thee, saying, Buy it before the inhabitants, and before the elders of my people. If thou wilt redeem it, redeem it: but if thou wilt not redeem it, then tell me, that I may know: for there is none to redeem it beside thee; and I am after thee. And he said, I will redeem it.Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:THE THREAD
If thy brother be waxen poor, and hath sold away some of his possession, and if any of his kin come to redeem it, then shall he redeem that which his brother sold.The word translated “redeem” here comes from the same root, גאל (ga’al), used for reclaiming property through kinship. That shared root opens the house’s return as restoration of a claim, with the fifth marking its cost.
Read the SDV Bible.
Every verse has a Deep Dive in the app.
The iPhone Bible app with the Selah Decoded Version.
Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us