Leviticus 27:15

And if he that sanctified it will redeem his house, then he shall add the fifth part of the money of thy estimation unto it, and it shall be his.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(15) And if he that sanctified it will redeem his house.—Though the net price thus fixed by the priest is all that anyone else who wishes to buy it has to pay for the house, yet if the former owner of it, or, according to the practice which obtained during the second Temple, his son, wife, or nearest of kin, wishes to redeem it, he is to add one-fifth more than the valuation price, just as in the case of animals, and for the same reason, that is, for taking back a thing which he once promised to the Lord. (See Leviticus 27:13.)

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

27:14-25 Our houses, lands, cattle, and all our substance, must be used to the glory of God. It is acceptable to him that a portion be given to support his worship, and to promote his cause. But God would not approve such a degree of zeal as ruined a man's family.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Sanctify - i. e. vow to devote. This law relates to houses in the country Leviticus 25:31, which were under the same general law as the land itself, with a right of redemption for the inheritor until the next Jubilee. See Leviticus 27:17-19. For houses in walled towns the right of redemption lasted for only one year Leviticus 25:29.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

14, 15. when a man shall sanctify his house to be holy unto the Lord, &c.—In this case, the house having been valued by the priest and sold, the proceeds of the sale were to be dedicated to the sanctuary. But if the owner wished, on second thought, to redeem it, he might have it by adding a fifth part to the price.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

He shall add the fifth part, which he might the better do, because the priests did usually put a moderate rate upon it.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

And if he that sanctifieth it will redeem his house,.... An house set apart for holy uses might be redeemed, either by another paying the price set upon it by the priest, or by the original owner of it paying a fifth part more; and this was the case, whether of houses in walled cities or in villages: so Maimonides says,"he that sanctifies his house, whether it be one of those in walled cities, or of those in villages, it may be always redeemed; he that redeems one out of the hand of holiness (or which has been sanctified), if it is a house in a walled city, and remains in the possession of the redeemer twelve months, it is absolutely his; but if it is a house in the villages, and the jubilee comes, and it is in the possession of the redeemer, it returns to its owner in the jubilee (b):''but if the owner of it had a mind to redeem it after he had devoted it:

then he shall add the fifth part of the money of thy estimation unto it, and it shall be his; that is, he was to give a fifth part more for the house than it was valued at by the priest, or than another might have it for; the reason of which was, to make men careful how they sanctified or vowed their houses or goods, and that it might be certain that the full value was given for it, the worth of which the priest might not know so well as the owner, and the latter, being willing to give the price set by the former, might give suspicion of it; wherefore, in order to have the full price of it with certainty, and to set an high value on things devoted, the owner was to give a fifth part more than the estimation of it: thus, for instance, if an house thus devoted was valued by the priest at the price of an hundred pounds, the owner was obliged, if he would redeem it, to give an hundred twenty pounds.

(b) Hilchot Eracin, c. 5. sect. 3, 4.

Geneva Study Bible

And if he that sanctified it will redeem his house, then he shall add the fifth part of the money of thy estimation unto it, and it shall be his.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Leviticus 27:15

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

When a house was vowed, the same rules applied as in the case of unclean cattle. Knobel's supposition, that the person making the vow was to pay the valuation price if he did not wish to redeem the house, is quite a groundless supposition. The house that was not redeemed was sold, of course, for the good of the sanctuary.