What Does Leviticus 27:8 Mean?
But if he is poorer than your arranged worth, then he stands himself before the priest, and the priest sets his worth according to what his hand can reach.
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.
King James wording
King James Version
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.THE KEY
A vow’s valuation moves with the vow-maker’s actual reach.
THE MEANING
When your means fall short of an assigned valuation, your actual reach enters the measure. The priest assesses the vow according to what your hand can attain, so the measure adjusts to your capacity.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that a sacred vow has one fixed price for everyone, regardless of what their hand can reach.
THE ROOT
יַעֲרִכֶנּוּ
ya'arikhennu
GROWS FROM
ערך
ערך (ʿ-r-kh): arrange, set in order; by extension, assess or value.
“sets his worth” in this verse is ya'arikhennu. The verb for “value” grows from ערך (ʿ-r-kh, “arrange, set in order”), a root also used for putting things in rows. The priest’s assessment is an ordered measure, shaped here by what the vow-maker’s hand can reach.
ALSO GROWS
la'arokh: to set in order
לַעֲרֹךְ
The same root describes setting things in order; here, the valuation is arranged to fit the person’s capacity.
ma'arakhah: array, ordered formation
מַעֲרָכָה
This branch names things placed in an arrangement, showing that value belongs to a field of setting in relation, not just an isolated number.
תַּשִּׂיג
tassig
GROWS FROM
נשׂג
נשׂג (nasag): reach, attain, overtake.
“what his hand can reach” in this verse is tassig. The phrase says what the vow-maker’s hand can attain. The root can also mean “overtake,” so the verse makes reach concrete: the assessment meets the person where their means can arrive.
ALSO GROWS
vehisigukha: and they shall overtake you
וְהִשִּׂיגֻךָ
In Deuteronomy 28:2, blessings overtake a person; here, the same root marks the limit of what the hand can attain.
vehisigo: and overtake him
וְהִשִּׂיגוֹ
In Deuteronomy 19:6, a pursuer may catch up with someone; the shared root shows that “reach” can mean arriving at or catching up to someone.
מָךְ
makh
GROWS FROM
מוך
מוך (mukh): sink, become low; be poor.
“Poorer” names a condition of lowered means, not a measure of a person’s nature. The verse accounts for that condition by changing the valuation to fit what the hand can reach.
ALSO GROWS
yimmukh: becomes poor
יִמּוּךְ
Leviticus 25:35 uses the same root for a brother who becomes poor; the word describes a change in circumstance.
u-makh: and is poor
וּמָךְ
Leviticus 25:47 uses the same form for someone who is poor; that condition affects what can be required of the person.
THE PATTERN
A person’s contribution is measured with regard to what they actually have and can reach.
And if he is low, and his hand cannot reach so much, then he shall take one lamb for a guilt offering to be waved, to make a covering for him, and one tenth of an ephah of fine flour kneaded with oil for a gift, and a log of oil.Each one shall give according to the gift of his hand, according to the blessing of the LORD your God which he has given you.For if the leaning heart is there first, it is well received according to what one has, and not according to what one does not have.THE THREAD
If your brother totters and sells some of his holding, and his nearest blood-redeemer comes to him, then he shall buy back what his brother sold.The word translated “poorer” here and “waxen poor” there grows from מוך (mukh, “sink, become low; be poor”). In Leviticus 25:25, that lowered circumstance opens a path to a kinsman’s redemption; here, it changes the valuation to what the hand can reach.
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