Leviticus 27:8

Summary

This verse addresses the case of a person who cannot afford the standard valuation for a vow. The text specifies that such a person is to be presented before the priest, who will set a valuation according to the vower's actual financial means.

Key words

• makh ("impoverished", H4134) — qal perfect, describing a completed state of being poor relative to the standard valuation.
• he.'e.mi.D ("he will station", H5975G) — hiphil (causative) sequential perfect: someone causes the poor person to stand before the priest, rather than the person standing on his own initiative.
• ta.Sig ("it will reach", H5381) — hiphil imperfect, part of the idiom "the hand reaches," denoting financial capacity or means.
• yad ("hand of", H3027T) — construct form, paired with ta.Sig to form the idiom for "what one can afford."
• no.der ("one who vows", H5087) — qal participle, functioning as a substantive: "the vower," the person whose means are being assessed.

What the text says

The verse opens with a conditional clause: ve.'im-makh hu' me.'er.Ke.kha ("and if he is too impoverished for your valuation"), establishing the poverty threshold as relative to a prior stated valuation ('er.Ke.kha, "your valuation," H6187 construct + 2ms suffix). Two sequential hiphil perfects follow, both continuing the narrative chain with the vav: he.'e.mi.D ("he will station him") and he.'e.Rikh ("he will evaluate him"). The causative form of the first verb indicates that a third party brings the poor person before the priest, distinguishing the act of presentation from the person's own standing.

The final clause uses the idiom 'al-pi 'a.Sher ta.Sig yad ha.no.Der — literally "according to the mouth of that which the hand of the vower reaches" — where pi ("mouth of," H6310K construct) introduces the standard, and yad... ta.Sig expresses financial reach or capacity. The priest's evaluation (ya.'a.ri.Khe.nu, hiphil imperfect) is thus explicitly tied to what the vower can afford, not to a fixed price.

Differences between versions

The Hebrew he.'e.mi.D ("he will station him," causative) implies a third party presents the poor person before the priest. The LXX renders this with στήσεται ("he shall stand"), a middle-voice form suggesting the person stands on his own. The Vulgate's stabit ("he will stand") similarly lacks the causative sense present in the Hebrew.

The Hebrew idiom yad... ta.Sig ("the hand reaches") is preserved literally in the LXX as ἰσχύει ἡ χεὶρ ("the hand is strong/able"), but the Vulgate replaces the idiom with an explanatory phrase, viderit eum posse reddere ("he shall see that he is able to pay"), omitting the "hand" imagery entirely.