Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Leviticus 27:8
But if he be poorer than thy estimation, then he shall present himself before the priest, and the priest shall value him; according to his ability that vowed shall the priest value him.
8. The case of the poor person. Cp. ch. Lev 5:11.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
If he be poorer than thy estimation – Too poor (to pay) thy valuation. Compare Lev 27:7, Lev 27:11.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
If he be poorer than thy estimation; if after his vow he be decayed and impoverished, and not able to pay the price which thou, according to the rules here given, requirest of him.
According to his ability; which God also considered in other cases, as Lev 12:8. Compare 2Co 8:12.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
But if he be poorer than thy estimation,…. If he is so poor that he is not able to pay the value that, is set upon him, according to the rules before given:
then he shall present himself before the priest; that has made the estimation, according to the above directions, observing the difference of years, and of male and female; but if a person could not pay the said sums that were appointed, he might apply to the priest, and tell his case:
and the priest shall value him; put a price upon him he is able to pay, as follows:
according to his ability that vowed shall the priest value him; he was to examine into his circumstances, and as they appeared to him he was to put a value on him, which was to be paid, but not less than, a shekel; for if he could not pay that, it was to remain as a debt until he could q; and it was the ability of him that made the vow that was to be inquired into, and according to which the estimation was to be made, and not of him that was vowed: so it is said in the Misnah,
“ability is regarded in the vower, and years in the vowed, and estimations in the estimated, and according to the tithe of the estimation: ability in the vower, how? a poor man that estimates a rich man, pays the value of a poor man; and a rich man that estimates a poor man, pays the value of a rich man: if he is poor and afterwards becomes rich, or rich and afterwards poor, he pays the price of a rich man r;”
but the sense which Jarchi gives is, that a priest in such a case was to judge according to what a man has, and so order him to pay, but was to leave him so as he might live, a bed and bolster, and working tools, and if he had an ass he might leave him that.
q Maimon. Hilchot Eracin, c. 3. sect. 4. r Misn. Eracin, c. 4. sect. 1, 2.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(8) But if he be poorer than thy estimation.That is, if the person who makes the vow possesses less than the specified legal rates required to redeem it.
Then he shall present himself before the priest.The man pleading poverty is to appear before the priest, who is to examine into his circumstances, and tax him accordingly. The minimum, however, which he was obliged to pay during the second Temple was one shekel. If anyone neglected paying his vows to the Temple treasury, his goods were seized by the officials. This, however, had to be done in such a manner as not to deprive the man of his means of subsistence. The bailiffs were obliged to leave a mechanic two sets of tools, a husbandman a yoke of oxen, and a donkey driver his donkey. They were bound to leave food sufficient for thirty days, and bedding for twelve months; and they could never seize the mans sandals or phylacteries, or his wifes property, or his childrens clothes.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
8. If he be poorer than thy estimation If any man endeavouring to redeem himself from his vow should find the above scale of prices beyond his ability, a special estimate is to be made by the priest adjusted to the ability of the applicant. Thus the lenity of Mosaism appears.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Lev 27:8. If he be poorer than thy estimation If he be too poor to pay the rate. If the man who vowed was unable to pay the affixed price of redemption, he was to represent his case to the priests, who were to rate him according to his ability; or, as it is in the original, according as his hand can find who vowed; an expression which may signify, either that the valuation was to be made according to what a man could do, or earn; or according to what he possessed. By referring to Seneca, lib. i. Controv. n. 2. and Alex. ab Alex. Dic. Geneal. lib. iii. c. 22. the curious reader will see how very remarkably the regulation of vows was vested in the Roman pontiffs and priests.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
The poor man in vowing, like the poor widow in giving, is not esteemed by the LORD, according to the greatness of the gift, but the mind with which it is given. Luk 21:1-4 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Lev 27:8 But if he be poorer than thy estimation, then he shall present himself before the priest, and the priest shall value him; according to his ability that vowed shall the priest value him.
Ver. 8. But if he be poorer. ] Indulged he shall be, but not exempted. Vows, in things lawful and possible, must be performed, as we can at least. If rashly made, that rashness must be repented of, but the vow, if otherwise lawful, must be kept, without delay or diminution, to the utmost of our power. Men may not play with vows, Ecc 5:3-4 Psa 76:11 as monkeys with their collars, which they can slip at pleasure. To vow is voluntary, to pay is necessary. And yet what more common in the world than shipmen’s vows? As he in Erasmus, a who in a storm promised his saint a picture of wax as big as St Christopher, but when he came to shore, would not give a tallow candle.
a Erasm. Colloq.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
poorer: Lev 5:7, Lev 12:8, Lev 14:21, Lev 14:22, Mar 14:7, Luk 21:1-4, 2Co 8:12
according: Jer 5:7
Reciprocal: Deu 16:17 – as he is able 2Ki 7:5 – behold
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
27:8 But if he be poorer {e} than thy estimation, then he shall present himself before the priest, and the priest shall value him; according to his ability that vowed shall the priest value him.
(e) If he is not able to pay according to your estimate.