Leviticus 27:21

21 But when the purchaser has to vacate the field in the yovel, it will become holy to ADONAI, like a field unconditionally consecrated; it will belong to the cohanim.

Leviticus 27:21 Meaning and Commentary

Leviticus 27:21

But the field, when it goeth out in the jubilee
Out of the hand of him that bought it:

shall be holy unto the Lord, as a field devoted;
though it went out of the hand of the purchaser, it did not return to him that sanctified or devoted it, but was separated to sacred uses for the service of the Lord; for every devoted thing, whether of man, beast, or field, was most holy to the Lord, ( Leviticus 27:28 ) ;

the possession thereof shall be the priests';
it did not return to the treasurer of the sanctuary, who had sold it to another for the repair of the temple, as Jarchi observes, but as a devoted field it was given to the priests, as it is said, "everything devoted in Israel shall be thine", ( Numbers 18:14 ) ; and even this was divided, as he says, between the priests of that ward or course that happened to be on the day of atonement of the jubilee year: but in case it never was redeemed, but remained sanctified in the year of jubilee, the priests did not possess it without paying for it; and so the Jewish canon runs ^F3,

``the jubilee comes, and the field is not redeemed, the priests enter into it, and pay the price of it;''

on which one of the commentators ^F4 observes, when anyone has redeemed it, the money becomes sacred for the repairs of the temple; and when the jubilee comes, it goes out (i.e. of the hands of the purchaser) to the priests freely; but if it is not redeemed, the priests must pay the price of fifty shekels, and take it; and if even it was bought by a priest before out of the hands of the treasurer, it went from him to his brethren the priests, in the year of jubilee: the rule is this,

``if any of the priests redeem it, and, lo, it is in his possession, he may not say, seeing it goes out to the priests in the year of jubilee, lo, it is in my possession, lo, it is mine, but it shall go out to all his brethren the priests ^F5.''

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FOOTNOTES:

F3 Misn. Eracin, c. 7. sect. 4.
F4 Bartenora in ib.
F5 Misn. Eracin, c. 7. sect. 3.

Leviticus 27:21 In-Context

19 If the one consecrating the field wishes to redeem it, he must add one-fifth to your valuation, and the field will be set aside to revert to him.

20 If the seller does not wish to redeem the field, or if [the treasurer for the cohanim] has already sold the field to someone else, it can no longer be redeemed.

21 But when the purchaser has to vacate the field in the yovel, it will become holy to ADONAI, like a field unconditionally consecrated; it will belong to the cohanim.

22 "'If he consecrates to ADONAI a field which he has bought, a field which is not part of his tribe's possession,

23 then the cohen is to calculate its value according to the years remaining until the year of yovel; and the man will on that same day pay this amount; since it is holy to ADONAI.