Leviticus 27:13

13 Suppose the owner wants to buy the animal back. Then he must add a fifth to its cost.

Leviticus 27:13 Meaning and Commentary

Leviticus 27:13

But if he will at all redeem it
The owner of it, or he that has devoted it, if he is determined to have it again at any rate:

then he shall add a fifth [part] thereof unto thy estimation;
he shall give the full price for it, as rated by the priest, and for which it might be sold to another man, and a fifth part of the value of it besides; this was done that the full price might be paid for it, the priest not knowing, as it might be, the worth of it so well as the owner; and that the value of consecrated things might be kept to, and to make men careful how and what they devoted, since, though redeemable, they were obliged to pay a large price for them.

Leviticus 27:13 In-Context

11 " 'Suppose the animal he promised is not "clean." Suppose I will not accept it as an offering. Then the animal must be brought to the priest.

12 He will decide whether it is good or bad. Its value will be what he decides it will be.

13 Suppose the owner wants to buy the animal back. Then he must add a fifth to its cost.

14 " 'Suppose a man sets his house apart as something that is holy to me. Then the priest will decide whether it is good or bad. Its value will remain what he decides it will be.

15 Suppose the man sets his house apart. And suppose later he wants to buy it back. Then he must add a fifth to its value. The house will belong to him again.