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Leviticus 27:4

in Leviticus 27

Or if it is a female, then your valuation shall be thirty shekels.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

And if it be a female, then thy estimation shall be thirty shekels.

KJV

And if it be a female, then thy estimation shall be thirty shekels.

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This verse in Leviticus 27

Commentary

7 notes on this verse
And if it be a female,.... That is, of the same age, full twenty years of age, and not more than sixty: then thy estimation shall be thirty shekels; about three pounds ten shillings of our money, the price of a servant, Exo 21:32; the reason of this difference of estimation between a man and a woman is, because the woman is the weaker vessel, and her labour and service of less importance and worth, such as spinning, washing, &c.

This site's exposition

the LORD said to Moses

on Leviticus 27:1-8

After the formal signature at 26:46, this chapter prices vows, the one act in Leviticus no one is commanded to perform. Deuteronomy 23:22 leaves a man free to refrain, and the figures run by age and sex from fifty shekels down to three, with no reason given. Verse 8 bends the table for a man too poor to pay, and the priest sets the value by what he can afford.

This site's exposition

Or if it is a female

John Gill notes that thirty shekels is the price of a servant at Exodus 21:32. Gill ties the figure to the worth set on her labour. Matthew Henry points to Galatians 3, where in Christ there is neither male nor female.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

The females were then less esteemed, but not so in Christ; for in Christ Jesus there is neither male nor female, Gal. iii. Note, Those that are in the prime of their time must look upon themselves as obliged to do more in the service of God and their generation than can be expected either from minors, that have not yet arrived to their usefulness, or from the aged, that have survived it.

The Nineteenth Century3 voices

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

And if it be a female - The woman, at the same age, vowed unto the Lord, might be redeemed for thirty shekels, 4£. 10s. sterling, a little more than one half of the value of the man; for this obvious reason, that a woman, if employed, could not be of so much use in the service of the sanctuary as the man, and was therefore of much less value.

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

proposed

When a man shall make a singular vow, &c.--Persons have, at all times and in all places, been accustomed to present votive offerings, either from gratitude for benefits received, or in the event of deliverance from apprehended evil.
The relative values of the persons appear to be regulated according to an estimate of the probable value of their future work: Ages Male Female From a month to five years of age 5 shekels 3 shekels From five years to twenty of age 20 shekels 10 shekels From forty years to sixty of age 50 shekels 30 shekels Sixty years of age and older: 15 shekels 10 shekels As regards the shekel of the sanctuary, see Exo 38:24 note.

The words behind it

7 Hebrew words

Every Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.

  • וְאִם־and if

    veim-H518 →1069 times

  • נְקֵבָ֖ה[is] female

    nekevahH5347 →22 times

  • הִ֑ואshe

    hi'H1931 →1879 times

  • וְהָיָ֥הand it will be

    vehayahH1961 →3559 times

  • עֶרְכְּךָ֖valuation your

    ʾerkekhaH6187 →33 times

  • שְׁלֹשִׁ֥יםthirty

    sheloshimH7970 →

  • שָֽׁקֶל׃shekel[s]

    shakelH8255 →88 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

Related verses

3 in all, six open

The walk

5 stops

Each card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.

  • Through

    Matthew 26:15

    and asked, “What are you willing to give me if I hand Him over to you?” And they set out for him thirty pieces of silver.

    it leads to

    • Zechariah 11:12–13

      Then I told them, “If it seems right to you, give me my wages; but if not, keep them.” So they weighed out my wages, thirty pieces of silver.

    • Genesis 37:26–28

      Then Judah said to his brothers, “What profit will we gain if we kill our brother and cover up his blood?

    • Exodus 21:32

      If the ox gores a manservant or maidservant, the owner must pay thirty shekels of silver to the master of that servant, and the ox must be stoned.

    • 1 Timothy 6:9–10

      Those who want to be rich, however, fall into temptation and become ensnared by many foolish and harmful desires that plunge them into ruin and destruction.

    • 2 Peter 2:3

      In their greed, these false teachers will exploit you with deceptive words. The longstanding verdict against them remains in force, and their destruction does not sleep.

About Leviticus

The Scapegoat, William Holman Hunt, 1854. Public domain.
The Scapegoat, William Holman Hunt, 1854. Public domain.
Leviticus: the study guide →Read Leviticus 27 →

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: The Pentateuch and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.

Read on in Leviticus 27 →