Commentary for Bava Metzia 108:8

גופא א"ר יהושע בן לוי על הקדש ראשון מוסיף חומש ועל הקדש שני אין מוסיף חומש אמר רבא מ"ט דרבי יהושע בן לוי אמר קרא (ויקרא כז, טו) ואם המקדיש יגאל את ביתו המקדיש ולא המתפיס

just as a fifth is added to the assessed value, so is a fifth added to the fifth of its value.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' In point of fact the analogy appears defective, since a fifth is not added when the assessed value is itself redeemed, as has just been stated. But the argument is somewhat like this: the fifth is regarded in exactly the same light as the principal assessment: just as when the principal assessment is made, a fifth is to be added, so is a fifth of the fifth to be added likewise, and that is possible only in another redemption (Strashun, a. l.) ');">²²</span> The [above] text states: 'R. Joshua b. Levi said: A fifth is added to first [i.e., original] <i>hekdesh</i> [in redemption], but not to second hekdesh' Said Raba: What is R. Joshua b. Levi's reason? — Scripture says, <i>And if</i> he that sanctified <i>it will redeem his house, [then he shall add the fifth part]</i>: implying, only he who sanctified, but not he who transferred [its sanctity].<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Lit., 'who caused to seize,' i.e., who by means of redemption transferred sanctity from one object to another. The deduction is that a fifth is to be added only in the case of that which was sanctified itself, but not for that which received its sanctity through redemption. ');">²³</span> A tanna recited before R. Eleazar: <i>And if it be of the unclean beast,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' I.e., if an unclean animal was consecrated. The E.V. is 'and if it be of an unclean beast,' the def. art. being understood generically. But as the Talmud bases a particular conclusion upon it (55a), the literal translation has been given here. ');">²⁴</span></i>

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