Hebrew word · H6187
עֵ֫רֶךְ
'erekh
valuation
From ʿarakh, 'to arrange, set in order, compare'. It means an ordered row (e.g. the rows of showbread) and, in priestly law, an estimate or assessed value. Lev 27 uses the word throughout for the fixed price at which vowed persons, animals and property are valued.
Appears 33 times in 29 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·
What it means
1) order, row, estimate, things that are set in order, layer, pile
1a) order, row
1b) estimate, valuation
Aramaic equivalent: ar.ka (אַרְכָֿא "lengthening" H0754)
Abridged from Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).
In depth
From the study of Leviticus 27:16
- Range of meaning
From ʿarakh, 'to arrange, set in order, compare'. It means an ordered row (e.g. the rows of showbread) and, in priestly law, an estimate or assessed value. Lev 27 uses the word throughout for the fixed price at which vowed persons, animals and property are valued.
- Against the English
KJV has 'estimation'; most modern versions have 'valuation'. The ending -kha ('your') is often left out in modern versions or turned into 'the'.
- Used elsewhere in the period
In Lev 5:15, 18; 5:25 [6:6], the guilt-offering ram is 'according to your valuation in silver'. The suffixed form ʿerkekha appears again and again in Lev 27 and Num 18:16. Later Hebrew built a whole tractate (Arakhin, 'Valuations') on this chapter.
From the study of 2 Kings 12:4
- Range of meaning
“Arrangement, row, estimate, valuation.” In priestly law it is the technical word for the fixed price set for a vowed person, animal, house or field, so that it can be paid in silver (Leviticus 27).
- Against the English
KJV: “the money that every man is set at.” WEB: “each man is evaluated.” BSB: “money from vows.” BSB names the purpose (vows). The others keep the idea of an assessed price.
- Used elsewhere in the period
Leviticus 27:2–8 sets the prices: a man aged 20–60, 50 shekels; a woman, 30; and lower amounts for children and the elderly. Leviticus 27:2 uses the same phrase, “by your valuation of persons” (beʿerkekha nefashot).
From the study of Leviticus 27:2
- Range of meaning
From ʿārak, 'to set in order, arrange, set a value on'. The noun means 'arrangement, row, order' (as of lamps or bread) and 'assessed value, equivalent price'. In Leviticus (5:15, 18; 6:6; 27 throughout) the form with the suffix -kā ('your') works as a frozen technical term, 'the valuation / the set equivalent'.
- Against the English
KJV's 'thy estimation' and WEB's 'your valuation' keep the literal 'your', which makes readers ask whose valuation (Moses'? the priest's? the worshipper's?). BSB and ESV drop the pronoun and render the technical sense. KJV's 'estimation' can also suggest a rough guess, when this is a fixed tariff.
- How it drifted
The '-kā' ending became fixed in the term. Lev 27:23 even puts the definite article on it (ha-ʿerkəkā, 'the your-valuation'), which is impossible if the suffix still meant 'your'. That shows the 'your' had become part of the word. Rendering it 'your' therefore adds a person the Hebrew no longer means.
- Used elsewhere in the period
2 Kgs 12:5 (Eng. 12:4) mentions 'the silver of the valuation of persons' (kesep napšôt ʿerkô) as a regular source of temple income under King Joash. That is evidence that the system actually ran. Later the Mishnah gave a whole tractate, Arakhin ('Valuations'), to these rules.
Where it appears
Exodus · 2
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Exodus 40:4 עֶרְכּ֑וֹ arrangement its
Then bring in the table and set out its arrangement; bring in the lampstand as well, and set up its lamps.
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Exodus 40:23 עֵ֥רֶךְ an arrangement of
He arranged the bread on it before the LORD, just as the LORD had commanded him.
Leviticus · 24
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Leviticus 5:15 בְּעֶרְכְּךָ֛ by valuation your
“If someone acts unfaithfully and sins unintentionally against any of the LORD’s holy things, he must bring his guilt offering to the LORD: an unblemished ram from the flock, of proper value in silver shekels according to the sanctuary shekel; it is a guilt offering.
Here: "By your valuation." A technical term for an official assessment of worth. The "your" had become a frozen part of the term (compare Lev 27:12, "by your valuation, O priest"). The ram must be worth a set amount of silver, and some interpreters think the silver itself could be paid instead.
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Leviticus 5:18 בְּעֶרְכְּךָ֥ by valuation your
He is to bring to the priest an unblemished ram of proper value from the flock as a guilt offering. Then the priest will make atonement on his behalf for the wrong he has committed in ignorance, and he will be forgiven.
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Leviticus 6:6 בְּעֶרְכְּךָ֥ by valuation your
Then he must bring to the priest his guilt offering to the LORD: an unblemished ram of proper value from the flock.
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Leviticus 27:2 בְּעֶרְכְּךָ֥ by valuation of your
“Speak to the Israelites and say to them, ‘When someone makes a special vow to the LORD involving the value of persons,
Here: 'According to the valuation'. The ending looks like 'your', but in this chapter it has hardened into a fixed technical term for the official price set by sanctuary law. The 'your' is not really addressed to anyone.
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Leviticus 27:3 עֶרְכְּךָ֙ עֶרְכְּךָ֗ valuation of your, valuation your
if the valuation concerns a male from twenty to sixty years of age, then your valuation shall be fifty shekels of silver, according to the sanctuary shekel.
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Leviticus 27:4 עֶרְכְּךָ֖ valuation your
Or if it is a female, then your valuation shall be thirty shekels.
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Leviticus 27:5 עֶרְכְּךָ֛ valuation of your
And if the person is from five to twenty years of age, then your valuation for the male shall be twenty shekels, and for the female ten shekels.
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Leviticus 27:6 עֶרְכְּךָ֙ עֶרְכְּךָ֔ valuation of your, valuation your
Now if the person is from one month to five years of age, then your valuation for the male shall be five shekels of silver, and for the female three shekels of silver.
Here: The set equivalent in silver for a person who has been vowed to God. The 'your' ending had hardened into part of a technical term, close to 'the official valuation', and need not point to a particular 'you'.
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Leviticus 27:7 עֶרְכְּךָ֔ valuation your
And if the person is sixty years of age or older, then your valuation shall be fifteen shekels for the male and ten shekels for the female.
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Leviticus 27:8 מֵֽעֶרְכֶּ֔ךָ for valuation your
But if the one making the vow is too poor to pay the valuation, he is to present the person before the priest, who shall set the value according to what the one making the vow can afford.
Here: 'Poorer than your valuation', meaning too poor to meet the fixed price set in vv. 3–7. The 'your' has become part of a fixed technical term, 'the standard valuation' (see studies). It does not mean the vower's own estimate.
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Leviticus 27:12 כְּעֶרְכְּךָ֥ according to valuation of your
The priest shall set its value, whether high or low; as the priest values it, the price will be set.
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Leviticus 27:13 עֶרְכֶּֽךָ׃ valuation your
If, however, the owner decides to redeem the animal, he must add a fifth to its value.
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Leviticus 27:15 עֶרְכְּךָ֛ valuation your
But if he who consecrated his house redeems it, he must add a fifth to the assessed value, and it will belong to him.
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Leviticus 27:16 עֶרְכְּךָ֖ valuation your
If a man consecrates to the LORD a parcel of his land, then your valuation shall be proportional to the seed required for it—fifty shekels of silver for every homer of barley seed.
Here: Literally 'your valuation'. It is either addressed to the priest or Moses who sets the value, or it is a fixed technical term simply meaning 'the official valuation' (see debates).
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Leviticus 27:17 כְּעֶרְכְּךָ֖ according to valuation your
If he consecrates his field during the Year of Jubilee, the price will stand according to your valuation.
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Leviticus 27:18 מֵֽעֶרְכֶּֽךָ׃ from valuation your
But if he consecrates his field after the Jubilee, the priest is to calculate the price in proportion to the years left until the next Year of Jubilee, so that your valuation will be reduced.
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Leviticus 27:19 עֶרְכְּךָ֛ valuation your
And if the one who consecrated the field decides to redeem it, he must add a fifth to the assessed value, and it shall belong to him.
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Leviticus 27:23 הָֽעֶרְכְּךָ֔ הָעֶרְכְּךָ֙ <the> valuation your
then the priest shall calculate for him the value up to the Year of Jubilee, and the man shall pay the assessed value on that day as a sacred offering to the LORD.
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Leviticus 27:25 עֶרְכְּךָ֔ valuation your
Every valuation will be according to the sanctuary shekel, twenty gerahs to the shekel.
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Leviticus 27:27 בְעֶרְכֶּ֔ךָ בְּעֶרְכֶּֽךָ׃ by valuation your
But if it is among the unclean animals, then he may redeem it according to your valuation and add a fifth of its value. If it is not redeemed, then it shall be sold according to your valuation.
Numbers · 1
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Numbers 18:16 בְּעֶ֨רְכְּךָ֔ by valuation your
You are to pay the redemption price for a month-old male according to your valuation: five shekels of silver, according to the sanctuary shekel, which is twenty gerahs.
Judges · 1
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Judges 17:10 וְעֵ֥רֶךְ and an order of
“Stay with me,” Micah said to him, “and be my father and priest, and I will give you ten shekels of silver per year, a suit of clothes, and your provisions.” So the Levite went in
2 Kings · 2
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2 Kings 12:4 עֶרְכּ֑וֹ valuation his
Then Joash said to the priests, “Collect all the money brought as sacred gifts into the house of the LORD—the census money, the money from vows, and the money brought voluntarily into the house of the LORD.
Here: The fixed price set for a person, by age and sex, in Leviticus 27 (e.g. 50 shekels for a man aged 20–60). It points to vow-payments: someone vowed himself or a family member to YHWH and paid the set amount in silver instead.
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2 Kings 23:35 כְּעֶרְכּ֗וֹ according to valuation his
So Jehoiakim paid the silver and gold to Pharaoh Neco, but to meet Pharaoh’s demand he taxed the land and exacted the silver and the gold from the people, each according to his wealth.
Job · 2
Psalms · 1
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Psalm 55:13 כְּעֶרְכִּ֑י according to value my
But it is you, a man like myself, my companion and close friend.
Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.