Leviticus 27:19

Summary

The verse establishes what happens if the person who had consecrated a field to the sanctuary decides to redeem it: he must pay the assessed value plus an additional fifth, after which the field reverts to his possession.

Key words

• ga.'Ol ("to redeem", H1350A) — infinitive absolute preceding the finite verb of the same root, intensifying the certainty or emphasis of the redeeming action ("if he indeed redeems").
• yig.'Al ("he will redeem", H1350A) — qal imperfect, third person masculine singular, expressing the potential future action paired with the infinitive absolute for emphasis.
• mak.Dish ("the one who consecrates", H6942H) — hiphil participle, masculine singular, functioning as a substantive: "the one who consecrated," identifying the subject as the original dedicator of the field.
• cha.mi.Shit ("fifth part of", H2549) — feminine singular ordinal in construct state, linking to "silver of the valuation" to specify the additional amount owed.
• Kam ("it will stand/remain", H6965I) — qal sequential perfect, third person masculine singular, indicating the resulting state: the field "stands" or "remains" for the redeemer after payment.

What the text says

The Hebrew sentence opens with the conditional particle 'im- ("if", H0518A) followed by the construction ga.'Ol yig.'Al — an infinitive absolute plus finite imperfect verb from the same root H1350A ("to redeem"). This doubling is a common Biblical Hebrew construction that intensifies or emphasizes the verbal action, here underscoring the conditionality and seriousness of the redemption act: "if he indeed redeems." The object is ha.Sadeh ("the field", H7704G), further specified by the participial phrase ha.mak.Dish 'oto ("the one who consecrated it"), identifying the subject as the original dedicator.

The sentence then shifts to two sequential perfect verbs joined by the narrative ve. ("and"): ya.saf ("he will add", H3254H) and Kam ("it will stand", H6965I). This vav-consecutive chain presents the outcome in sequence: first the addition of cha.mi.Shit ke.sef-'er.ke.Kha ("a fifth of the silver of your valuation") — a construct chain stacking three nouns to specify precisely what fraction of what value is owed — then the resulting state expressed by Kam, literally "it will stand" or "remain," conveying that the field settles into the possession of the redeemer once payment is made.

Differences between versions

The Vulgate renders Kam lo ("it will stand/remain to him") as possidebit eum ("he will possess it"), shifting the Hebrew's stative verb ("stand/remain") into an active verb of possession. The LXX similarly renders it as ἔσται αὐτῷ ("it will be his"), a simpler existential construction. The Hebrew ga.'Ol yig.'Al emphatic doubling has no morphological equivalent in the LXX (ἐὰν λυτρῶται, a single subjunctive verb) or the Vulgate (voluerit redimere, "if he should wish to redeem"), which introduces a nuance of desire/will not explicit in the Hebrew infinitive absolute construction.