One does not consecrate [ancestral land] less than two years before the Yovel, nor does one redeem [it] less than a year after the Yovel. We do not reckon months in [respect to] the Temple treasury; but the Temple treasury reckons months. [If] one consecrates his field at the time of Yovel, he gives for [an area in which] a chomer of barley may be sown fifty silver shekels. [If] there were clefts ten tefachim deep there, or rocks ten tefachim high, they are not measured with it; [if they are] less than that, they are measured with it. [If] he consecrated it two or three years before the Yovel, he gives a sela and pundyon per year. If he said, ‘I will give the amount for each year in [that] year,’ we pay him no heed, but he must give it all at once.

[This applies to] both the owner and any [other] person. What is the difference between the owner and any [other] person? Only that the owner gives an [additional] fifth, whereas any [other] person does not give a fifth.

[If] he consecrated it and redeemed it, it does not go out of his possession at Yovel. [If] his son redeemed it, it goes out to his father at Yovel. [If] another [person] redeemed it, or one of the kinsmen, and he redeemed it from his possession, it does not go out of his possession at Yovel. [If] one of the Kohanim redeemed it, and it is [still] in his possession, he should not say, ‘Since it goes out to the Kohanim at Yovel, and it is [already] in my possession, it is mine;’ rather, it goes out to all his fellow Kohanim.

[If] the Yovel arrived and it was not redeemed, the Kohanim enter it and pay its worth; [these are] the words of R’ Yehudah. R’ Shimon says: They enter but do not pay. R’ Eliezer says: They neither enter nor pay; rather, it is known as ‘an abandoned field’ until the second Yovel. [If] the second Yovel arrives and it was [still] not redeemed, it is known as ‘a twice-abandoned field’ until the third Yovel. The Kohanim never enter it until another person redeems it.

[If] one buys a field from his father — [if] his father died and he then consecrated it, it is like an ancestral field; [if] he consecrated it, and then his father died, it is like an acquired field; [these are] the words of R’ Meir. R’ Yehudah and R’ Shimon, however, say: [It is] like an ancestral field; as it says (Lev. 27:22): But if it is the field of his acquisition, which is not of the fields of his ancestral holding — [it must be] a field that does not stand to become the field of [his] ancestral holding. That excludes this [field], which stands to become the field of [his] ancestral holding. An acquired field does not go out to the Kohanim at Yovel, because a person cannot consecrate something that is not his. Kohanim and Leviim may always consecrate and may always redeem, both before Yovel and after Yovel.

One who consecrates his field at a time when the Yovel is not in force, they say to him, ‘You bid first;’ for the owner gives a fifth, whereas any other person does not give a fifth. [There was] a story of a person who consecrated his field because of its poor quality. They said to him: ‘You bid first,’ [and] he said, ‘It is mine for an issar.’ R’ Yose said: This one said nothing other than, ‘for an egg;’ for consecrated property may be redeemed with money or with something worth money. He said to him, ‘It is yours!’ Thus, he was found to have lost an issar, and his field was still his.

[If] one said, ‘It is mine for ten selaim,’ and one said, ‘for twenty,’ and one said, ‘for thirty,’ and one said, ‘for forty,’ and one said, ‘for fifty’ — [if] the one who [bid] fifty retracted, they secure from his property up to ten [selaim]. [If] the one who [bid] forty retracted, they secure from his property up to ten [selaim]. [If] the one who [bid] thirty retracted, they secure from his property up to ten [selaim]. [If] the one who [bid] twenty retracted, they secure from his property up to ten [selaim]. [If] the one who [bid] ten retracted, they sell it for its worth, and collect the balance from the one who bid ten [selaim]. [If] the owner says, ‘for twenty,’ and others say, ‘for twenty,’ the owner is given preference, because he adds a fifth.

[If] one said, ‘It is mine for twenty-one’ — the owner must give twenty-six; ‘for twenty-two’ — the owner must give twenty-seven; ‘for twenty-three’ — the owner must give twenty-eight; ‘for twenty-four’ — the owner must give twenty-nine; ‘for twenty-five’ — the owner must give thirty; for we do not add a fifth to the increment from this one’s [bid]. [If] one said, ‘It is mine for twenty-six’ — if the owner wished to give thirtyone and a dinar, the owner is given preference; and if not, they say, ‘It is yours.’

A person may declare cherem part of his flock or his cattle, some of his male and female Canaanite slaves, or part of his ancestral land; but if he declared all of them to be cherem, they do not become cherem; [these are] the words of R’ Elazar. R’ Elazar ben Azaryah said: If one may not declare all his property cherem to the Most High, how much more so must a person spare his property!

[If] someone declares cherem his son or daughter, his Hebrew manservant or maidservant, and his acquired land, they do not become cherem, because a person cannot render cherem something that is not his. Kohanim and Leviim cannot declare a cherem; [these are] the words of R’ Yehudah. R’ Shimon says: Kohanim cannot declare a cherem, because the charamim belong to them; [however,] Leviim can declare a cherem, because the charamim do not belong to them. Rabbi said: The view of R’ Yehudah is indicated with respect to real property, as it says (Lev. 25:34): For it is an eternal holding for them; and the view of R’ Shimon with respect to movable property, inasmuch as the charamim do not belong to them.

The charamim dedicated to the Kohanim are not redeemable, but are given to the Kohanim. R’ Yehudah ben Beseira says: Unspecified charamim are for the repairs of the Temple, as it says (Lev. 27:28): Any cherem is most holy to HASHEM. But the Sages say: Unspecified charamim are for the Kohanim, as it says (Lev. 27:21): Like the cherem field; his ancestral holding shall go to the Kohen. If so, why does it say, Any cherem is most holy to HASHEM? [To teach] that it takes effect for kodshei kodashim and kodashim kalim.

A person can declare cherem his consecrated animals, be they kodshei kodashim or kodashim kalim. If it is a neder, he gives the worth [of the animal]; if it is a nedavah, he gives its benefit to him. [If one had said,] ‘This ox shall be an olah offering,’ we evaluate how much a person would be willing to give for this ox to offer it as an olah offering that he is not obligated [to bring]. A bechor — whether it is unblemished or blemished, one may declare it cherem. How do they redeem it? The redeemers evaluate how much a person would be willing to give for this bechor, that it be given to his daughter’s son, or his sister’s son. R’ Yishmael says: One verse states, you shall consecrate, while another verse states that one may not consecrate. It is impossible to say consecrate, for it is already stated that one may not consecrate. It is [similarly] impossible to say not to consecrate, for it has already been stated, consecrate. [Therefore,] you must now say: You may consecrate it as a consecration of assessment, but you cannot consecrate it as a consecration to the Altar.