What Does Leviticus 27:19 Mean?

And if he who set the field apart wills in any way to buy it back, then he adds the fifth part of the silver of your arranged worth to it, and it stands for him.

Leviticus 27:19 · SDV

Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.

Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.

This verse in the King James

King James wording

King James Version

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.

THE KEY

The one who sets the field apart can reclaim it, but redemption here means paying an added fifth until the field stands as his again.

THE MEANING

The field remains reclaimable by the person who sets it apart, but return costs one fifth more than its assessed value. Once that added amount is paid, the field stands as his.

WHAT THIS UNDOES

The verse undoes the belief that setting something apart makes it permanently impossible to reclaim: return remains possible, though it carries an added cost.

THE ROOT

גָּאֹל

ga'ol

GROWS FROM

גאל

ga'al

To reclaim or buy back; the root can also describe a kinsman recovering what belongs to the family.

“buy back” in this verse is ga'ol. The root can describe a near relation reclaiming what has been lost or transferred. Here, redemption is a concrete return to possession, secured by paying the added fifth.

ALSO GROWS

go'el: Kinsman-redeemer; one who reclaims or recovers what belongs to kin.

גֹּאֵל

This branch shows the root’s personal, relational force: redeeming is an act of recovery, not merely a change in status.

ge'ullah: Redemption; the act or right of reclaiming.

גְּאֻלָּה

This names the recovery itself, connecting the verse’s payment to the field’s return to its owner.

הַמַּקְדִּישׁ

hammaqdish

GROWS FROM

קדש

q-d-sh

To set apart for a distinct purpose.

The root marks what is set apart for a distinct purpose. Here, that status coexists with a defined route for the one who dedicated the field to reclaim it; setting apart and return are not opposites.

ALSO GROWS

qodesh: Set-apartness; something sacred.

קֹדֶשׁ

It names the status given to the field and makes clear what is being reclaimed.

miqdash: A sanctuary; a set-apart place.

מִקְדָּשׁ

This branch shows how the same root describes a place marked off for a distinct purpose.

וְקָם

weqam

GROWS FROM

קום

q-w-m

To stand, rise, or be established.

“stands for him” in this verse is weqam. The Hebrew says the field will stand for him. The root links the completed payment with an established claim: the field’s return has a firm footing.

ALSO GROWS

qum: To rise or stand.

קוּם

This basic form illuminates the verse’s image of the field standing as the owner’s possession.

heqim: To raise or establish.

הֵקִים

This related form makes visible the establishing force carried by the verse’s final phrase.

THE PATTERN

Reclaiming what is set apart or repairing what was taken carries an added measure beyond its assessed value or principal.

And if he who set it apart wills to buy back his house, then he adds the fifth part of the silver of your arranged worth to it, and it is his.

Leviticus 27:15 · SDVLike the field, a house can be reclaimed by adding one fifth to its assessed value.

Then they speak their falling short into the open, which they have done; and he makes his crossing over whole, with its head, and adds to it a fifth of it, and gives it to the one against whom he crossed over.

Numbers 5:7 · SDVThe one who caused a loss returns the principal plus one fifth, making repair more than bare replacement.

And Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, "Look, Lord, I give half of what I have to the emptied, and if I have taken anything from anyone by false accusation, I give back fourfold."

Luke 19:8 · SDVZacchaeus names a fourfold return for what he took unjustly, another instance of restitution exceeding the original amount.

THE THREAD

But now, thus says the LORD, who created you, O Jacob, and who shaped you, O Israel. Do not fear, for I have bought you back; I have called you by your name; you are mine.

Isaiah 43:1 · SDV

The word translated “redeemed” shares the root ⁨גאל⁩ (ga’al) with the field’s reclaiming. Isaiah carries that same recovery into the language of belonging: “I have redeemed thee” ends with “thou art mine.”

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