Leviticus 27:26

Summary

The verse states that no person may consecrate a firstborn animal — whether ox or sheep — as a special offering, because such firstborns already belong to Yehovah by virtue of their birth status. The text uses two related verb forms from the same root to underscore that the animal's dedicated status is automatic, not something a person confers.

Key words

• 'akh ("nevertheless", H0389) — a restrictive adverb opening the verse, signaling a limitation or exception to what precedes (rules about vowed dedications in the chapter).
• bekhor ("a firstborn", H1060) — masculine singular noun naming the class of animal in question, the firstborn among livestock.
• yevukkar ("it will be born a firstling", H1069) — pual (passive/intensive) imperfect, from the same root as bekhor; it describes the animal's coming into existence as a firstborn, an event that happens to it rather than something it or anyone does.
• yaqdish ("he will set apart as holy", H6942) — hiphil (causative) imperfect, negated by lo ("not", H3808); it denotes a human act of consecration that the verse forbids regarding this animal.
• 'ish ("anyone", H0376) — masculine singular noun functioning as the subject of the prohibition, generalizing the rule to any individual person.

What the text says

The sentence opens with 'akh, marking a contrast or restriction relative to the surrounding legal material on vows and dedications. The subject is bekhor... yevukkar la-Yehovah bi-vehemah, literally "a firstborn which is born-as-firstling to Yehovah among livestock" — the pual verb yevukkar shares its root with the noun bekhor, creating a grammatical echo that emphasizes the animal's identity as firstborn is inherent, not assigned. The main clause follows: lo yaqdish 'ish 'oto, "no man shall consecrate it," using the hiphil yaqdish to specify that human causative action of setting-apart is prohibited here. The conditional pair 'im shor 'im seh ("whether ox or sheep") specifies the two animal categories covered. The closing clause la-Yehovah hu' ("to Yehovah it [already] is") restates, with the same preposition la- used earlier, that the animal's belonging to Yehovah is already established, which is the stated reason no additional human consecration applies.

Differences between versions

The LXX renders 'akh not as an adversative ("but/nevertheless") but connects the verse with καὶ ("and"), continuing the previous material rather than marking a restriction. The LXX also adds "σου" ("your") to "livestock," specifying "ἐν τοῖς κτήνεσίν σου," a possessive element not present in the Hebrew bi-vehemah. The Vulgate adds "et vovere" ("and to vow") alongside "sanctificare" ("to consecrate"), introducing a second verb not found in the Hebrew, which contains only the single hiphil yaqdish.