Leviticus 27 — Hebrew and Greek compared
Disparate in this chapter: 27:2, 27:21, 27:23, 27:33
Each card keeps the independently rendered source readings above their shared comparison and reception notes. The badge records the source’s governing classification; disparate readings are marked in red. Each reading retains its original reference.
Chapter 27
Vows, valuations, and dedicated property
Valuation of persons · 27:1–8
Verse 27:1 Same
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
27:1 YHWH spoke to Moses, saying:
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
27:1 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying:
Classification & Notes
Same. The speech formula corresponds.
Verse 27:2 Disparate
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
27:2 Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them: If a man makes a special vow concerning persons to YHWH according to your valuation,
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
27:2 Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them: If anyone vows a vow for the valuation of his own person to the Lord,
Classification & Notes
Disparate. Hebrew refers to persons generally; Greek expressly identifies his own person. This changes the expressed scope of the vow, though the subsequent valuation schedule includes both sexes and several ages.
Verse 27:3 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
27:3 your valuation for a male from twenty years old to sixty years old shall be fifty shekels of silver, by the sanctuary shekel.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
27:3 the valuation of a male from twenty to sixty years old shall be fifty didrachmas of silver, by the sacred weight.
Classification & Notes
Different. Greek maps the shekel to the didrachma and expresses the sanctuary standard as sacred weight. The numerical value agrees; no modern currency equivalence is implied.
Verse 27:4 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
27:4 If the person is female, your valuation shall be thirty shekels.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
27:4 For a female the assessed value shall be thirty didrachmas.
Classification & Notes
Different. The amount agrees; the unit follows each source’s own terminology.
Verse 27:5 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
27:5 From five years old to twenty years old, your valuation shall be twenty shekels for a male and ten shekels for a female.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
27:5 From five to twenty years old, the valuation shall be twenty didrachmas for a male and ten didrachmas for a female.
Classification & Notes
Different. The ages and amounts agree; shekel and didrachma are retained distinctly.
Verse 27:6 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
27:6 From one month old to five years old, your valuation shall be five shekels of silver for a male and three shekels of silver for a female.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
27:6 From one month to five years old, the valuation shall be five didrachmas of silver for a male and three didrachmas for a female.
Classification & Notes
Different. Greek does not repeat silver for the female valuation. Ages and numerical amounts agree.
Verse 27:7 Divergent
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
27:7 From sixty years old and upward, your valuation shall be fifteen shekels for a male and ten shekels for a female.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
27:7 From sixty years old and upward, the valuation shall be fifteen didrachmas of silver for a male and ten didrachmas for a female.
Classification & Notes
Divergent. Greek expressly adds silver here; the schedule agrees numerically.
Verse 27:8 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
27:8 If he is too poor for your valuation, one shall set him before the priest, and the priest shall value him. The priest shall value him according to what the hand of the one who vowed can afford.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
27:8 If he is too low in means for the valuation, he shall stand before the priest, and the priest shall value him. The priest shall value him according to the strength of the hand of the one who vowed.
Classification & Notes
Different. Hebrew has an unspecified agent set him before the priest; Greek says he shall stand before the priest. Both provide assessment according to the vow-maker’s means.
Animals and houses · 27:9–15
Verse 27:9 Same
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
27:9 If it concerns an animal of a kind presented as an offering to YHWH, whatever one gives from it to YHWH shall be holy.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
27:9 If it concerns livestock of a kind presented as a gift to the Lord, whatever one gives from these to the Lord shall be holy.
Classification & Notes
Same. Both make the offered animal holy.
Verse 27:10 Divergent
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
27:10 He shall not replace it or exchange it, good for bad or bad for good. If he does exchange animal for animal, both it and its substitute shall be holy.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
27:10 He shall not exchange it, good for bad or bad for good. If he does exchange it, animal for animal, both it and its substitute shall be holy.
Classification & Notes
Divergent. Hebrew has two initial prohibition verbs; Greek has one. The exchange rule and resulting holiness agree.
Verse 27:11 Same
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
27:11 If it concerns any unclean animal of a kind not presented as an offering to YHWH, he shall set the animal before the priest.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
27:11 If it concerns any unclean livestock of a kind not presented as a gift to the Lord, he shall set the animal before the priest.
Classification & Notes
Same. Both refer the non-offerable animal to the priest.
Verse 27:12 Similar
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
27:12 The priest shall value it, whether good or bad. As you, the priest, value it, so it shall be.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
27:12 The priest shall value it, between good and bad. As the priest values it, so it shall stand.
Classification & Notes
Similar. Hebrew briefly addresses the priest as you; Greek remains in the third person.
Verse 27:13 Same
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
27:13 If he does redeem it, he shall add a fifth to your valuation.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
27:13 If he does ransom it, he shall add a fifth to its valuation.
Classification & Notes
Same. The additional fifth corresponds.
Verse 27:14 Same
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
27:14 If a man consecrates his house as holy to YHWH, the priest shall value it, whether good or bad. As the priest values it, so it shall stand.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
27:14 If a man consecrates his house as holy to the Lord, the priest shall value it, between good and bad. As the priest values it, so it shall stand.
Classification & Notes
Same. The house-valuation procedure corresponds.
Verse 27:15 Same
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
27:15 If the one who consecrated his house redeems it, he shall add a fifth of the silver of your valuation to it, and it shall be his.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
27:15 If the one who consecrated it ransoms his house, he shall add a fifth of the silver of the valuation to it, and it shall be his.
Classification & Notes
Same. Both permit recovery at the assessed amount plus a fifth.
Fields and their valuation · 27:16–25
Verse 27:16 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
27:16 If a man consecrates to YHWH part of the field of his possession, your valuation shall be according to its seed: fifty shekels of silver for an area sown with a homer of barley.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
27:16 If a man consecrates to the Lord part of the field of his possession, the valuation shall be according to its seed: fifty didrachmas of silver for a kor of barley.
Classification & Notes
Different. Hebrew homer and shekels become Greek kor and didrachmas. The seed-based assessment agrees; an area sown with makes the Hebrew field context explicit.
Verse 27:17 Same
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
27:17 If he consecrates his field from the year of Jubilee, it shall stand according to your valuation.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
27:17 If he consecrates his field from the year of release, it shall stand according to its valuation.
Classification & Notes
Same. The full valuation at the release-year point corresponds.
Verse 27:18 Similar
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
27:18 If he consecrates his field after the Jubilee, the priest shall calculate the silver for him according to the years remaining until the year of Jubilee, and a deduction shall be made from your valuation.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
27:18 If he consecrates his field later, after the release, the priest shall calculate the silver for him according to the years remaining until the year of release, and a deduction shall be made from its assessment.
Classification & Notes
Similar. Greek adds later; the calculation by remaining years agrees.
Verse 27:19 Same
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
27:19 If the one who consecrated the field redeems it, he shall add a fifth of the silver of your valuation to it, and it shall be confirmed as his.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
27:19 If the one who consecrated the field ransoms it, he shall add a fifth of the silver to its valuation, and it shall be his.
Classification & Notes
Same. The additional fifth and recovery of the field agree.
Verse 27:20 Similar
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
27:20 If he does not redeem the field, and if he sells the field to another man, it shall no longer be redeemed.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
27:20 If he does not ransom the field and sells the field to another man, he shall no longer ransom it.
Classification & Notes
Similar. Hebrew states the restriction passively; Greek states it of the man. The subject of the sale has been debated in interpretation.
Verse 27:21 Disparate
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
27:21 When the field is released in the Jubilee, it shall be holy to YHWH like a devoted field. It shall become the priest’s possession.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
27:21 When the release has passed, the field shall be holy to the Lord like land set apart. It shall become the priest’s possession.
Classification & Notes
Disparate. Hebrew locates the transfer when the field goes out at Jubilee; Greek says when the release has gone out or passed. The temporal formulation is confirmed in the selected RH main text; its wider witness history requires apparatus review, and Greek also uses set-apart language for devoted land.
Verse 27:22 Similar
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
27:22 If he consecrates to YHWH a field he purchased, which is not part of the field of his inherited possession,
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
27:22 If he consecrates to the Lord part of a field he acquired, which is not part of the field of his inherited possession,
Classification & Notes
Similar. Both distinguish purchased land from ancestral possession.
Verse 27:23 Disparate
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
27:23 the priest shall calculate for him the amount of the valuation until the year of Jubilee, and he shall give the valuation on that day as holy to YHWH.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
27:23 the priest shall calculate for him the total valuation from the year of release, and he shall repay the valuation on that day as holy to the Lord.
Classification & Notes
Disparate. Hebrew until the Jubilee becomes Greek from the year of release. This changes the expressed point from which the assessment is calculated.
Verse 27:24 Same
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
27:24 In the year of Jubilee the field shall return to the one from whom he bought it, to whom the possession of the land belongs.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
27:24 In the year of release the field shall be returned to the man from whom he acquired it, whose possession the land was.
Classification & Notes
Same. The return to the hereditary possessor corresponds.
Verse 27:25 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
27:25 Every valuation of yours shall be by the sanctuary shekel; the shekel shall be twenty gerahs.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
27:25 Every valuation shall be by sacred weights; the didrachma shall be twenty obols.
Classification & Notes
Different. Greek maps the units to didrachma and obol while retaining twenty. These are the text’s stated equivalences; they must not be replaced by ordinary Greek coin ratios.
Firstborn animals, devoted things, and tithes · 27:26–34
Verse 27:26 Same
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
27:26 But no one may consecrate a firstborn animal that already belongs to YHWH by being firstborn. Whether ox or sheep, it belongs to YHWH.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
27:26 Every firstborn born among your livestock shall belong to the Lord, and no one shall consecrate it. Whether calf or sheep, it belongs to the Lord.
Classification & Notes
Same. Both exclude an already-due firstborn from a new voluntary consecration.
Verse 27:27 Divergent
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
27:27 If it is an unclean animal, he shall ransom it according to your valuation and add a fifth to it. If it is not redeemed, it shall be sold according to your valuation.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
27:27 If it is one of the unclean four-footed animals, he shall exchange it according to its valuation and add a fifth to it, and it shall be his. If he does not ransom it, it shall be sold according to its assessed value.
Classification & Notes
Divergent. Greek adds and it shall be his and initially uses exchange for Hebrew ransom. The sale provision agrees.
Verse 27:28 Same
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
27:28 But any devoted thing that a man devotes to YHWH from all that he has—human being, animal, or field of his possession—shall neither be sold nor redeemed. Every devoted thing is most holy to YHWH.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
27:28 Any devoted thing that a man dedicates to the Lord from all that he has—from human being to animal, or from the field of his possession—he shall neither sell nor ransom it. Every devoted thing shall be most holy to the Lord.
Classification & Notes
Same. Both distinguish irrevocable devotion from the redeemable valuations above.
Verse 27:29 Similar
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
27:29 No person devoted to destruction from among humankind may be ransomed; he shall surely be put to death.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
27:29 Anything devoted from among humankind shall not be ransomed, but shall be put to death.
Classification & Notes
Similar. Both prescribe death in this human-devotion category. Hebrew devoted to destruction makes the contextual force explicit; neither text here explains who may impose that status.
Rabbinic reception. Rashi applies this rule to someone already condemned to execution, who cannot be redeemed through a valuation vow. His reading does not make a private dedication vow a license to kill. Rashi, Leviticus 27:29
Verse 27:30 Same
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
27:30 Every tithe of the land, from the seed of the land or the fruit of the tree, belongs to YHWH; it is holy to YHWH.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
27:30 Every tithe of the land, from the seed of the land and the fruit of trees, belongs to the Lord; it is holy to the Lord.
Classification & Notes
Same. Both designate the agricultural tithe as holy.
Rabbinic reception. Rashi identifies this as the second tithe. That legal identification belongs in reception; neither source column expressly adds the word “second.” Rashi, Leviticus 27:30
Verse 27:31 Divergent
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
27:31 If a man redeems any of his tithe, he shall add a fifth to it.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
27:31 If a man ransoms his tithe, he shall add a fifth to it, and it shall be his.
Classification & Notes
Divergent. Greek adds and it shall be his; Hebrew explicitly allows redemption of some of the tithe.
Verse 27:32 Divergent
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
27:32 Every tithe of the herd and flock, every animal that passes under the staff—the tenth shall be holy to YHWH.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
27:32 Every tithe of cattle and sheep, and everything that comes under the staff in the count—the tenth shall be holy to the Lord.
Classification & Notes
Divergent. Greek explicitly adds in the count; the tenth-animal rule agrees.
Verse 27:33 Disparate
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
27:33 He shall not examine whether it is good or bad, and he shall not exchange it. If he does exchange it, both it and its substitute shall be holy; it shall not be redeemed.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
27:33 You shall not exchange a good one for a bad one. If you do exchange it, its substitute also shall be holy; it shall not be ransomed.
Classification & Notes
Disparate. Greek lacks Hebrew’s prohibition on selecting by quality and states only good-for-bad exchange explicitly. Hebrew prohibits exchange generally. Greek also leaves the original animal’s holiness implicit while adding the substitute.
Verse 27:34 Same
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
27:34 These are the commandments that YHWH commanded Moses for the sons of Israel on Mount Sinai.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
27:34 These are the commandments that the Lord commanded Moses for the sons of Israel on Mount Sinai.
Classification & Notes
Same. Both close the book with the commandments given through Moses at Sinai.
Editorial record and continuing review
What this version establishes
The manuscript contains 859 aligned verse rows across twenty-seven chapters, independent translations of the declared Hebrew and Greek main texts, five visible classification labels with their colors, and forty attributed reception notes at thirty-seven verses. Chapter 6 carries alternate source numbering. The supplied empty template is replaced by the full translation draft.
The expanded Disparate definition governs this version. Differences in legal or ritual consequence are retained even where harmonizing interpretations are possible. A reception note can explain how a later community reconciles or applies a passage without removing the difference from the translated wording.
Contextual terms
Context | Hebrew–English | Greek–English and limitation |
|---|---|---|
Divine name | YHWH | the Lord; this is the project’s current convention. |
The sacred tent | Tent of Meeting | Tent of Testimony; the differing designation remains visible. |
Burnt offerings | burnt offering; burn where the Hebrew verb specifies it | whole burnt offering / offering; place or offer up where those verbs occur. Fire in the context is not erased. |
Grain and well-being offerings | grain offering; well-being offering | sacrifice; deliverance offering where the Greek terms support them. These names alone do not prove incompatible rites. |
Atonement | make atonement; cleansing according to context | make propitiation; purification or cleansing according to context. The English terms do not establish opposing theories of atonement. |
Leprosy | Retained for the ancient ritual category | Not equated automatically with Hansen’s disease; the laws also concern clothing and houses. |
Resident foreigners and slaves | Legal distinctions and slavery remain explicit | Corresponding legal status is determined in context; slavery is not recast as ordinary employment. |
Jubilee and redemption | Jubilee; redemption | release, signal, and ransom where supported. Unusual readings are not silently regularized. |
Units and valuations | ephah, hin, log, shekel, and gerah are retained | No universal modern currency or daily-wage conversion is imposed. The text’s own ratios and valuations are translated where stated. |
Dedicated things | Distinguish consecration, devotion, redemption, and the ban | The status of a person, animal, or field is determined from its specific rule, not from a mechanical gloss. |
Critical review priorities
Edition collation: compare every RH reading with the Göttingen Leviticus main text and apparatus before presenting the Greek column as a Göttingen-based translation. The apparatus must identify the actual witnesses for any adopted variant; no blanket claims about codex agreement are made here.
Consequential negatives and timing: the selected RH main text was checked at 13:11 (isolation), 14:39 (spread / not spread), 25:28 (sixth year of release), and 27:21, 23 (timing of release and valuation). These source differences remain visible. Their wider witness history requires apparatus collation.
Lexical uncertainty: prioritize the animals in chapter 11, lesions and hair descriptions in chapter 13, the Azazel terminology in chapter 16, the difficult Hebrew phrase in 21:4, and the bodily conditions in 21:18–20. Several labels depend on provisional lexical identifications, not certain zoological or medical equivalences.
Legal and theological scope: review 17:11 (life and blood), 19:26 (blood / mountains), 22:23 (voluntary offering / slaughter for oneself), 23:11 (Sabbath / first day), 24:16 (blaspheming / naming in a cursing context), and 26:11 (dwelling / covenant). Later interpretations are recorded separately.
Modern translation comparison: no named modern English edition was selected for a third-stage fidelity audit. This manuscript demonstrates differences between its declared Hebrew and Greek texts; it does not calculate how faithfully every modern Bible follows either source.
Publication review: the working draft and its classifications require independent philological review. Visual and structural checks establish readable layout and complete verse coverage; they do not certify every linguistic judgment.
Disparate verse index
Eighty-six verse labels under the expanded criterion. Read each verse note for the actual difference and any qualification. A red label does not by itself establish contradiction, historical priority, or corruption.
Leviticus 1: 15
Leviticus 3: 9
Leviticus 4: 3
Leviticus 5: 2, 15
Leviticus 6: 2, 5
Leviticus 7: 2, 3, 30, 32, 33, 34
Leviticus 8: 25, 26, 27
Leviticus 9: 3, 7, 19, 21
Leviticus 10: 3, 9, 14, 15
Leviticus 11: 18, 26, 30, 40
Leviticus 12: 4, 5
Leviticus 13: 11, 31, 45
Leviticus 14: 10, 19, 39
Leviticus 15: 3, 9, 13, 23, 27
Leviticus 16: 20, 24
Leviticus 17: 3, 7, 11
Leviticus 18: 21, 25, 28
Leviticus 19: 16, 19, 23, 26
Leviticus 20: 2, 3, 4, 5, 17, 20, 21, 22
Leviticus 21: 4, 10, 18, 20
Leviticus 22: 22, 23
Leviticus 23: 11, 40
Leviticus 24: 3, 7, 16
Leviticus 25: 27, 28
Leviticus 26: 11, 16, 17, 30, 33, 37, 39, 41
Leviticus 27: 2, 21, 23, 33
Sources and access record
The final review checked both selected main texts across all twenty-seven chapters and verified all forty existing reception attributions against primary passages. Chapter links identify the ancient-text editions; note links identify the consulted author or work and passage. Critical apparatus access remains limited as stated below.
Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia. Karl Elliger and Wilhelm Rudolph, editors; fifth corrected edition prepared by Adrian Schenker (1997). German Bible Society online main text, Leviticus 1–27. Hebrew apparatus not collated.
Septuaginta: Rahlfs–Hanhart. Alfred Rahlfs; revised by Robert Hanhart, second revised edition (2006). German Bible Society online main text, Leviticus 1–27. This is the Greek translation base used here.
Göttingen Septuagint II/2: Leviticus. John William Wevers with Udo Quast (1986). Bibliographic record verified; complete main text and apparatus not collated. Wevers’s Notes on the Greek Text of Leviticus (1997) is an identified further resource, not a claimed consulted apparatus.
NETS: Leuitikon, translated by Dirk L. Büchner, is an identified comparative resource. Its linked introduction could not be retrieved during this final review; no new claim here depends on it, and its modern English wording does not govern these columns.
Mechon Mamre: Leviticus 11. The Hebrew written/read distinction at 11:21 was checked in this presentation. The corresponding distinction at 25:30 is linked in its verse note.
Rashi on Leviticus. Specific chapter-and-verse comments were verified in Sefaria’s Rosenbaum–Silbermann presentation, including the Hebrew comments. Notes are brief attributed paraphrases; Rashi is not treated as the sole voice of Jewish interpretation.
Mishnah Yoma 8:1 and 8:9. Both primary passages were verified directly in Sefaria’s presentation, on abstentions and reconciliation respectively; the latter is no longer cited through a source sheet.
Justin Martyr, Dialogue with Trypho 40. The two goats and the Passover lamb are interpreted typologically. The primary passage was verified in New Advent’s presentation; the interpretation remains distinct from the lexical sense of Leviticus.
John Chrysostom, Homilies on Hebrews 17.6. The one sacrifice and its liturgical remembrance. Consulted in the public-domain English presentation at New Advent.
New Testament reception. Luke, Mark, Matthew, Romans, Second Corinthians, First Peter, and Hebrews were checked at the exact passages named in the notes against the official electronic SBLGNT main text. These later passages do not govern either Leviticus column.
Following the Footnotes: The Septuagint. Tyndale House’s account of the Greek translations and their manuscript transmission, used for the distinction between translation date and surviving witness date.