Commutation for Land. In this case the question of the interval before Jubile arises, as, in the case of a man, the period when he will be past work (Leviticus 27:7). The standard taken is the sowing of a homer of barley, which is regarded as equivalent to the labour of a man in his prime, about £ 7. A homer= about 11 bushels (p. 115). Kennedy (HDB, Weights) points out that in the Mishna the size of a field is often computed by the amount of seed needed to sow it. The area of 2 seahs is fixed in the Mishna as the area of the Tabernacle, 100 × 50 cubits. Thus, the standard taken is a field which will need 11 bushels to sow it, i.e. about 4 acres. If the period of fifty years has run part of its course, deductions are made on the principle of a partly expired lease. If the field is bought back for a lump sum, the additional 20 per cent, is to be paid. If the person who has vowed the land had himself bought it on lease (i.e. till the Jubile) he must pay the price in cash, as the original owner could at any time redeem the field. The sacred shekel weighed nearly twice the ordinary shekel; the gerah (Leviticus 27:25) weighed probably about 10 grains.
Leviticus 27:16-25
16 And if a man shall sanctify unto the LORD some part of a field of his possession, then thy estimation shall be according to the seed thereof: an homer of barley seed shall be valued at fifty shekels of silver.
17 If he sanctify his field from the year of jubile, according to thy estimation it shall stand.
18 But if he sanctify his field after the jubile, then the priest shall reckon unto him the money according to the years that remain, even unto the year of the jubile, and it shall be abated from thy estimation.
19 And if he that sanctified the field will in any wise redeem it, then he shall add the fifth part of the money of thy estimation unto it, and it shall be assured to him.
20 And if he will not redeem the field, or if he have sold the field to another man, it shall not be redeemed any more.
21 But the field, when it goeth out in the jubile, shall be holy unto the LORD, as a field devoted; the possession thereof shall be the priest's.
22 And if a man sanctify unto the LORD a field which he hath bought, which is not of the fields of his possession;
23 Then the priest shall reckon unto him the worth of thy estimation, even unto the year of the jubile: and he shall give thine estimation in that day, as a holy thing unto the LORD.
24 In the year of the jubile the field shall return unto him of whom it was bought, even to him to whom the possession of the land did belong.
25 And all thy estimations shall be according to the shekel of the sanctuary: twenty gerahs shall be the shekel.