Imamat 27:9-13

Redemption of Vowed Animals

27:9 “‘If what is vowed is a kind of animal from which an offering may be presented ¹  to the Lord, anything which he gives to the Lord from this kind of animal ²  will be holy. 27:10 He must not replace or exchange it, good for bad or bad for good, and if he does indeed exchange one animal for another animal, then both the original animal ³  and its substitute will be holy. 27:11 If what is vowed is an unclean animal from which an offering must not be presented to the Lord, then he must stand the animal before the priest, 27:12 and the priest will establish its conversion value, ⁴  whether good or bad. According to the assessed conversion value of the priest, thus it will be. 27:13 If, however, the person who made the vow redeems the animal, ⁵  he must add one fifth to ⁶  its conversion value.

[27:9]  ¹ tn Heb “which they may present from it an offering.” The plural active verb is sometimes best rendered in the passive (GKC 460 §144.f, g). Some medieval Hebrew mss, Smr, a ms of the Targum, and the Vulgate all have the singular verb instead (cf. similarly v. 11).

[27:9]  ² tn Heb “from it.” The masculine suffix “it” here is used for the feminine in the MT, but one medieval Hebrew ms, some mss of Smr, the LXX, and the Syriac have the feminine. The referent (this kind of animal) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[27:10]  ³ tn Heb “it and its substitute.” The referent (the original animal offered) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[27:12]  ⁴ tn Heb “and the priest shall cause it to be valued.” See the note on v. 8 above.

[27:13]  ⁵ tn Heb “And if redeeming [infinitive absolute] he redeems it [finite verb].” For the infinitive absolute used to highlight contrast rather than emphasis see GKC 343 §113.p. The referent of “he” (the person who made the vow) and “it” (the animal) have both been specified in the translation for clarity.

[27:13]  ⁶ tn Heb “on,” meaning “on top of, in addition to” (likewise in v. 15).