1 And Jehovah speaketh unto Moses, saying,
2 `Speak unto the sons of Israel, and thou hast said unto them, When a man maketh a wonderful vow, by thy valuation the persons `are' Jehovah's.
3 When thy valuation hath been of the male from a son of twenty years even unto a son of sixty years, then hath been thy valuation fifty shekels of silver by the shekel of the sanctuary.
4 And if it `is' a female -- then hath thy valuation been thirty shekels;
5 and if from a son of five years even unto a son of twenty years -- then hath thy valuation been of the male twenty shekels, and for the female, ten shekels;
6 and if from a son of a month even unto a son of five years -- then hath thy valuation been of the male five shekels of silver, and for the female thy valuation `is' three shekels of silver;
7 and if from a son of sixty years and above -- if a male, then hath thy valuation been fifteen shekels, and for a female, ten shekels.
8 `And if he is poorer than thy valuation, then he hath presented himself before the priest, and the priest hath valued him; according to that which the hand of him who is vowing doth reach doth the priest value him.
9 `And if `it is' a beast of which they bring near an offering to Jehovah, all that `one' giveth of it to Jehovah is holy;
10 he doth not change it nor exchange it, a good for a bad, or a bad for a good; and if he really change beast for beast, -- then it hath been -- it and its exchange is holy.
11 `And if `it is' any unclean beast of which they do not bring near an offering to Jehovah, then he hath presented the beast before the priest,
12 and the priest hath valued it; whether good or bad, according to thy valuation, O priest, so it is;
13 and if he really redeem it, then he hath added its fifth to thy valuation.
14 `And when a man sanctifieth his house, a holy thing to Jehovah, then hath the priest valued it, whether good or bad; as the priest doth value it so it standeth;
15 and if he who is sanctifying doth redeem his house, then he hath added a fifth of the money of thy valuation to it, and it hath become his.
16 `And if of the field of his possession a man sanctify to Jehovah, then hath thy valuation been according to its seed; a homer of barley-seed at fifty shekels of silver;
17 if from the year of the jubilee he sanctify his field, according to thy valuation it standeth;
18 and if after the jubilee he sanctify his field, then hath the priest reckoned to him the money according to the years which are left, unto the year of the jubilee, and it hath been abated from thy valuation.
19 `And if he really redeem the field -- he who is sanctifying it -- then he hath added a fifth of the money of thy valuation to it, and it hath been established to him;
20 and if he do not redeem the field, or if he hath sold the field to another man, it is not redeemed any more;
21 and the field hath been, in its going out in the jubilee, holy to Jehovah as a field which is devoted; to the priest is its possession.
22 `And if the field of his purchase (which `is' not of the fields of his possession) `one' sanctify to Jehovah --
23 then hath the priest reckoned to him the amount of thy valuation unto the year of jubilee, and he hath given thy valuation in that day -- a holy thing to Jehovah;
24 in the year of the jubilee the field returneth to him from whom he bought it, to him whose `is' the possession of the land.
25 And all thy valuation is by the shekel of the sanctuary: twenty gerahs is the shekel.
26 `Only, a firstling which is Jehovah's firstling among beasts -- no man doth sanctify it, whether ox or sheep; it `is' Jehovah's.
27 And if among the unclean beasts, then he hath ransomed `it' at thy valuation, and he hath added its fifth to it; and if it is not redeemed, then it hath been sold at thy valuation.
28 `Only, no devoted thing which a man devoteth to Jehovah, of all that he hath, of man, and beast, and of the field of his possession, is sold or redeemed; every devoted thing is most holy to Jehovah.
29 `No devoted thing, which is devoted of man, is ransomed, it is surely put to death.
30 And all tithe of the land, of the seed of the land, of the fruit of the tree, is Jehovah's -- holy to Jehovah.
31 `And if a man really redeem `any' of his tithe, its fifth he addeth to it.
32 `And all the tithe of the herd and of the flock -- all that passeth by under the rod -- the tenth is holy to Jehovah;
33 he enquireth not between good and bad, nor doth he change it; and if he really change it -- then it hath been -- it and its exchange is holy; it is not redeemed.'
34 These `are' the commands which Jehovah hath commanded Moses for the sons of Israel, in mount Sinai.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Leviticus 27
Commentary on Leviticus 27 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 27
Le 27:1-18. Concerning Vows.
2-8. When a man shall make a singular vow, &c.—Persons have, at all times and in all places, been accustomed to present votive offerings, either from gratitude for benefits received, or in the event of deliverance from apprehended evil. And Moses was empowered, by divine authority, to prescribe the conditions of this voluntary duty.
the persons shall be for the Lord, &c.—better rendered thus:—"According to thy estimation, the persons shall be for the Lord." Persons might consecrate themselves or their children to the divine service, in some inferior or servile kind of work about the sanctuary (1Sa 3:1). In the event of any change, the persons so devoted had the privilege in their power of redeeming themselves; and this chapter specifies the amount of the redemption money, which the priest had the discretionary power of reducing, as circumstances might seem to require. Those of mature age, between twenty and sixty, being capable of the greatest service, were rated highest; young people, from five till twenty, less, because not so serviceable; infants, though devotable by their parents before birth (1Sa 1:11), could not be offered nor redeemed till a month after birth; old people were valued below the young, but above children; and the poor—in no case freed from payment, in order to prevent the rash formation of vows—were rated according to their means.
9-13. if it be a beast, whereof men bring an offering unto the Lord—a clean beast. After it had been vowed, it could neither be employed in common purposes nor exchanged for an equivalent—it must be sacrificed—or if, through some discovered blemish, it was unsuitable for the altar, it might be sold, and the money applied for the sacred service. If an unclean beast—such as an ass or camel, for instance, had been vowed, it was to be appropriated to the use of the priest at the estimated value, or it might be redeemed by the person vowing on payment of that value, and the additional fine of a fifth more.
14, 15. when a man shall sanctify his house to be holy unto the Lord, &c.—In this case, the house having been valued by the priest and sold, the proceeds of the sale were to be dedicated to the sanctuary. But if the owner wished, on second thought, to redeem it, he might have it by adding a fifth part to the price.
16-24. if a man shall sanctify unto the Lord some aprt of a field of his possession, &c.—In the case of acquired property in land, if not redeemed, it returned to the donor at the Jubilee; whereas the part of a hereditary estate, which had been vowed, did not revert to the owner, but remained attached in perpetuity to the sanctuary. The reason for this remarkable difference was to lay every man under an obligation to redeem the property, or stimulate his nearest kinsman to do it, in order to prevent a patrimonial inheritance going out from any family in Israel.
26, 27. Only the firstling of the beasts—These, in the case of clean beasts, being consecrated to God by a universal and standing law (Ex 13:12; 34:19), could not be devoted; and in that of unclean beasts, were subject to the rule mentioned (Le 27:11, 12).
28, 29. no devoted thing, that a man shall devote unto the Lord of all that he hath, … shall be sold or redeemed—This relates to vows of the most solemn kind—the devotee accompanying his vow with a solemn imprecation on himself not to fail in accomplishing his declared purpose.
29. shall surely be put to death—This announcement imported not that the person was to be sacrificed or doomed to a violent death; but only that he should remain till death unalterably in the devoted condition. The preceding regulations were evidently designed to prevent rashness in vowing (Ec 5:4) and to encourage serious and considerate reflection in all matters between God and the soul (Lu 21:4).
30-33. all the tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land—This law gave the sanction of divine authority to an ancient usage (Ge 14:20; 28:22). The whole produce of the land was subjected to the tithe tribute—it was a yearly rent which the Israelites, as tenants, paid to God, the owner of the land, and a thank offering they rendered to Him for the bounties of His providence. (See Pr 3:9; 1Co 9:11; Ga 6:6).
32. whatsoever passeth under the rod, &c.—This alludes to the mode of taking the tithe of cattle, which were made to pass singly through a narrow gateway, where a person with a rod, dipped in ochre, stood, and counting them, marked the back of every tenth beast, whether male or female, sound or unsound.
34. These are the commandments, &c.—The laws contained in this book, for the most part ceremonial, had an important spiritual bearing, the study of which is highly instructive (Ro 10:4; Heb 4:2; 12:18). They imposed a burdensome yoke (Ac 15:10), but yet in the infantine age of the Church formed the necessary discipline of "a schoolmaster to Christ" [Ga 3:24].