Rashi on TanakhLeviticus 27

When a person expresses — he specifies orally.

Pledging valuation of souls, to give the worth of souls, [that is,] to say: “The worth of something on which the soul depends is incumbent upon me.”

The valuation. . .shall, etc. This [word] עֵרֶךְ does not denote “money,” but rather, whether he is worth much or little — “according to his years” — that is the worth set for him in this paroshoh. [The word עֶרְכְּךָ,]

valuation is like עֵרֶךְ, and as to the doubling of the kof, I do not know from which grammatical form it is [derived].

If from five years of age. Not that the one vowing is a minor, for the words of a minor have no legal force, but [rather this refers to the case in which] an adult says: “The valuation of this minor, who is five years old, is incumbent upon me.”

If from sixty and above, etc. When one reaches the years of old age, a woman is considered close [in economic value] to a man; (therefore, a man in growing old loses more than a third of his value, [while] a woman loses [just] a third of her value.), As people say, “An old man in the house — a snare in the house; an old woman in the house — a treasure in the house, and a good sign in the house.”

And if he is [too] poor, that he cannot afford to give this valuation.

He shall set him — the one whose value is being assessed [shall be set] before the kohein, and he (= the kohein) shall assess his value according to the means of the one pledging the assessment.

According to the means, he should assess him according to his means, and should leave him enough to live on: a bed, mattress and cushion, and the tools of his trade. If he is donkey driver, he leaves him his donkey.

Any of it that he will give. [If] he said: “The foot of this [animal] is a burnt-offering,” his statement is binding, and it must be sold for the needs of a burnt-offering, [but] its sale price is [considered] common [= non-holy] except for the price of that limb.

Whether it be a good one for a worse one, an [as yet undedicated] unblemished [animal] for [an already dedicated] one which has a blemish.

[Or] a bad one for a better one, and certainly [the exchange of] good for good or bad for bad [is forbidden].

If it is any unclean animal. The verse speaks of a blemished [animal], which is “unclean” as far as offering it is concerned. The verse teaches you that unblemished sanctified [animals] do not become unsanctified by redemption unless they have become blemished.

As the kohein determines its value for you, so shall it be, for other people who come to buy it from Temple property.

If he will indeed redeem it, The verse is more stringent in regard to the owners, [requiring] the addition of a fifth, and so [too] regarding one who consecrates a house, and so [too] one who consecrates a field, and so [too] regarding the redemption of second tithe — the owners add a fifth, [but] not other people [who come to redeem them].

Its valuation shall be according to the measure of its seed, not according to its worth. Whether the field is good or bad, the redemption of which was dedicated is the same: an area fit for a כּוֹר of barley seed for fifty shekolim. Such is the Torah’s decree, and that applies to one who comes to redeem it at the beginning of the jubilee [cycle], [or] if he comes to redeem it in the middle [of a cycle], he pays according to the proportion of a סֶלַע and a פּוּנְדְּיוֹן per year. Because it is only consecrated for the number of years in a jubilee [cycle]: if it is redeemed [by the owner], fine; if not, the [Temple] treasurer sells it for this price to another, and it remains in the hands of the buyer until the jubilee, like other fields which are sold. And when it leaves his (= the buyer’s) possession, it returns to the kohanim of that priestly-watch in which the jubilee [year] occurs, and is divided among them. This is the law stated regarding one who consecrated a field, and now I will explain it in the order of the verses.

If immediately after the jubilee year he consecrates [his field], etc. If when the jubilee year passes, he immediately consecrated it, and this one comes to redeem it immediately.

It shall be established according to its valuation, according to this assessment mentioned shall it be: he shall give fifty shekolim [for the entire jubilee cycle].

If after the jubilee he consecrates his field. And so [too] if he consecrated it from the time of the jubilee and it remains in the possession of the [Temple] treasurer, and this one comes to redeem it after the jubilee —

then the kohein shall calculate the money [due] according to the remaining years, according to the proportion. How is this? Note that [the verse] set the price for forty-nine years [at] fifty shekolim, yielding a shekel per year, and an additional shekel for all of them. A shekel is forty-eight pundionim resulting in a סֶלַע [= shekel] and a פּוּנְדְּיוֹן per year, except that one פּוּנְדְּיוֹן is missing for all of them. Our Rabbis stated that the [missing] פּוּנְדְּיוֹן is a commission for money changing. [Therefore,] one who comes to redeem [the field] gives a סֶלַע [= shekel] and a פּוּנְדְּיוֹן for each year of the remaining years until the jubilee year.

And its valuation shall be reduced accordingly. [That is, according] to the number of years that are from the jubilee year until the year of redemption.

And if he will redeem — [if] the one who dedicated it [redeems it], he should add a fifth over this amount.

And if he does not redeem the field — the one who dedicated [it]

and if he — the Temple treasurer — sells

[sells] the field to another person, it shall no longer be redeemable, to return to the possession of he who dedicated [it].

When the field is released by the jubilee, from the possession of the one who bought it from the Temple treasurer, in the manner of other fields which leave their buyer’s possession in the jubilee.

It becomes sacred to Adonoy. Not that it returns to the Temple treasury, for Temple upkeep, to the control of the Temple treasurer, but just as a field that was consecrated, which is given to the kohanim, as it is said: “Every consecration in Israel shall be yours,” this too must be divided among the kohanim of that priestly watch in which Yom Kippur of the Jubilee falls.

If it is a field that he purchased, etc. There is a distinction between a field purchased and a field inherited, for, a field purchased is not divided by the kohanim in the jubilee, since [the one who consecrates] it can consecrate it only until the jubilee, since in the jubilee it is destined to leave his possession and return to its [original] owners. Therefore, if he comes to redeem it, he must redeem it for this price, set down for an ancestral field. And whether he does not redeem it, and the treasurer sells it to someone else, or he does redeem it — On the jubilee year the field shall revert to him from whom it was purchased — [i.e., to him from whom] he that had consecrated it (had bought it). And lest you say “to him from whom it was purchased” [refers to] this last buyer [who bought it] from him, and that is the [Temple] treasurer, it was therefore necessary to say “to him whose ancestral land it was” — [meaning,] from an ancestral inheritance — and this is the original owner who sold it to the one who consecrated [it].

All of your valuations shall be in holy shekolim. Every valuation, regarding which shekolim are mentioned, must be in holy shekolim.

Twenty geirah, twenty mo’oh. Such were they at first, but afterwards they added a sixth. Our Rabbis stated: [There are] six silver mo’oh to the dinar, twenty-four mo’oh to the sela’ [= a shekel].

A man shall not consecrate it, for the sake of any other sacrifice, because it is not his.

If it is of an unclean animal, etc. This verse does not refer to a firstling, for it cannot be said of a firstling of an unclean animal “he shall redeem it based on the valuation.” [Furthermore,] this [cannot] be a donkey, for the redemption of a first-born donkey is a lamb, which is a gift to the kohein, and does not [go] to the Temple treasury. Rather, the verse refers to [consecrations to] the Temple [treasury,] for the verse above speaks of the redemption of a [ritually] clean animal which became blemished, and here it speaks of one who consecrates a [ritually] unclean animal to the Temple upkeep.

He shall redeem it based on the valuation, according to what the kohein shall assess it[s worth].

If it is not redeemed by the owners,

it shall be sold — to others.

However, any dedications, etc. Our Rabbis were in disagreement over the matter. Some say that unspecified consecrations belong to the Temple treasury. How do I [then] interpret [the verse]: “Every consecration in Israel shall be yours”? This refers to dedications [made explicitly for the] kohanim, where [the one who dedicated it] said clearly: “Behold, this is a dedication for the kohein.” And some say: unspecified dedications [go to] the kohein.

[None of these] can be sold or redeemed, but must be given to the Kohein. According to the opinion of the one who says: “Unspecified dedications belong to the Kohein,” this verse is explained as [referring] to unspecified dedications, and [according to] the one who says: “Unspecified dedications belong to the Temple upkeep,” this verse is explained as [referring] to dedications [explicitly dedicated] to kohanim, for all admit that dedications [dedicated] to kohanim cannot be redeemed, until they come to the hand of the kohein, [while] dedications [dedicated] to the Highest may be redeemed.

Everything that is dedicated is most holy. The one who says unspecified dedications belong to the Temple upkeep, brings proof from here, and the one who says [that] unspecified dedications belong to the kohanim explains [that the sentence], “Everything that is dedicated is most holy,” teaches that dedications to kohanim apply to sacrifices that are most holy [as well] as to sacrifices of lesser degree. He gives [them] to the kohein, as we learned in Maseches Arochin: If a vow, he gives their worth, [and] if a voluntary offering, he gives the worth of its benefit.

Be it people. As for example, [if] he dedicated his [Canaanite] slaves or his Canaanite maidservants.

Any dedication that a man will dedicate, If a person is going to be executed and [some]one[, on seeing him,] said: “His worth is on me” — he has said nothing.

He shall surely be put to death, behold, he is going to die, [and] therefore he cannot be redeemed; he has no worth, and no [vowable] value.

All tithings of the land — the verse speaks of second tithe.

The seed [crops] of the land — of grain.

Of the fruit of the tree — wine and oil.

Belongs to Adonoy, God has taken possession of it, and it is from His table that He has commanded you to go up and eat in Jerusalem, as it is said, “And you shall eat before Adonoy your God, the tithe of your grain, your wine,” etc.

Of his tithe — but not of the tithe of his fellow-Jew. One who redeems the [second] tithe of his fellow-Jew, does not add a fifth. And what is its redemption? He redeems it in order to permit [its] consumption in any place, and he brings up the coins [of its redemption/sale] and eats [the food bought with them] in Jerusalem, as it is said, “Then you shall lay out in money,” etc.

Under the rod, when he comes to tithe them, he makes them pass out through the gateway one after another, and the tenth [one] he strikes with a rod smeared with red dye, [so that] it can be recognized [as being of] the tithe. So does he do to the young lamb and calves of each year.

Shall be sacred to Adonoy, to be brought to the altar, its blood and innards, and the flesh is eaten by the owners, since it is not counted with other gifts of the priesthood, and we have not found that its flesh should be given to the kohanim.

He shall not make a distinction, etc. Since it is said: “And all your choice vows,” perhaps he should select and bring out the nicest? The verse says: “He shall not make a distinction between better or worse [animals]” — holiness descends on it whether it is whole or blemished; not that it may be brought [when] blemished, but it may be eaten under the law of tithing, and it is [thusly] forbidden to be shorn or worked.