Leviticus 27:4

Summary

The verse addresses the case where the person being valued (as part of a vow) is female, setting the valuation at thirty shekels. It continues a sequence of valuations tied to sex and age categories found in the surrounding verses.

Key words

• 'im- ("if", H0518A) — introduces the conditional clause marking this as one case within a series of stipulations.
• neqeVah ("female", H5347) — feminine singular adjective functioning as the subject complement, identifying the category being addressed.
• hi' ("she", H1931) — independent personal pronoun reinforcing the subject, making explicit "she" is female.
• haYah ("it will be", H1961) — qal sequential perfect, continuing the legal sequence from the previous verse ("and it will be...").
• 'erkeKha ("your valuation", H6187 + H9021) — construct noun with second-person masculine singular suffix, meaning "the valuation of you" or "your assessed value," a technical term for the fixed monetary equivalence.

What the text says

The Hebrew sentence opens with the conditional particle 'im- ("if", H0518A), followed by the predicate neqeVah ("female", H5347) and the pronoun hi' ("she", H1931). This construction — noun predicate plus pronoun — is a common way in Biblical Hebrew to state a categorical identification: "and if female she [is]," meaning "if the one in question is female." The pronoun hi' does not add new information but grammatically anchors the predicate to an implied subject (the person being valued, established in the preceding verses of the chapter).

The clause continues with the narrative vav on haYah ("it will be", H1961), a sequential perfect that links this verse to the ongoing legal formula begun earlier in the chapter — each case (male, female, by age) is introduced with this same ve- + perfect pattern, creating a chain of parallel conditions. The noun 'erkeKha ("your valuation", H6187) appears in construct form with the second-person suffix, literally "the valuation of you," a fixed technical term throughout Leviticus 27 for the assessed monetary value tied to a vow. The numeral shelosim ("thirty", H7970) and shaqel ("shekel", H8255) close the clause, stating the fixed sum. The singular form shaqel after the plural numeral "thirty" follows a common Hebrew pattern where the counted noun can remain singular after certain numbers.

Differences between versions

The LXX renders the amount as triakonta didrachma ("thirty didrachms"), using a Greek monetary unit (a two-drachma coin) rather than transliterating "shekel," which is a translation choice reflecting a different currency system. The Vulgate abbreviates sharply — si mulier, triginta ("if a woman, thirty") — omitting explicit repetition of "valuation" and "shekels," relying on context from the preceding verse.