Leviticus 27
Big idea: An appendix on vows: what it costs to give something to God, and what it costs to buy it back. A person consecrated by vow is valued on a fixed scale by age and sex — and immediately, before anything else, comes the exception: if he is poorer than your valuation, the priest assigns a value according to his ability to pay. Animals, houses and fields follow, each redeemable by adding a fifth. Some things cannot be vowed at all because they are already God's: the firstborn among animals, and the tithe of the land and the herd. The tithe of the flock is counted by whatever passes under the rod, with no picking and choosing — he shall not examine whether it is good or bad. Leviticus ends where it has stood throughout: what belongs to God is not negotiable, and no one is priced out of giving.
Leviticus ends with vows made at Sinai. Numbers opens in the same wilderness a month later, counting the people who made them and arranging them to march.
27:1–8 — Valuing a person — and the one who can't pay
When a man consecrates a person to Yahweh by vow, a fixed scale applies: a male from twenty to sixty, fifty shekels of silver by the sanctuary shekel; a female, thirty. From five to twenty, twenty and ten; from a month to five years, five and three; from sixty and up, fifteen and ten. Then the clause that governs the chapter: but if he is poorer than your valuation, he shall be set before the priest, and the priest shall assign a value to him according to his ability to pay.
1 Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them, ‘When a man consecrates a person to Yahweh in a vow, according to your valuation, 3 your valuation of a male from twenty years old to sixty years old shall be fifty shekels of silver, according to the shekel of the sanctuary. 4 If she is a female, then your valuation shall be thirty shekels. 5 If the person is from five years old to twenty years old, then your valuation shall be for a male twenty shekels, and for a female ten shekels. 6 If the person is from a month old to five years old, then your valuation shall be for a male five shekels of silver, and for a female your valuation shall be three shekels of silver. 7 If the person is from sixty years old and upward; if he is a male, then your valuation shall be fifteen shekels, and for a female ten shekels. 8 But if he is poorer than your valuation, then he shall be set before the priest, and the priest shall assign a value to him. The priest shall assign a value according to his ability to pay.
27:9–15 — Animals and houses
An animal that may be offered becomes holy once given, and may not be altered or exchanged, good for bad or bad for good — and if it is exchanged, both animals become holy. An unclean animal, which cannot be offered, is set before the priest, who evaluates it; his valuation stands. If the owner redeems it, he adds a fifth. The same applies to a house dedicated to Yahweh: the priest evaluates it, his valuation stands, and redemption costs the valuation plus a fifth.
9 “‘If it is an animal of which men offer an offering to Yahweh, all that any man gives of such to Yahweh becomes holy. 10 He shall not alter it, nor exchange it, a good for a bad, or a bad for a good. If he shall at all exchange animal for animal, then both it and that for which it is exchanged shall be holy. 11 If it is any unclean animal, of which they do not offer as an offering to Yahweh, then he shall set the animal before the priest; 12 and the priest shall evaluate it, whether it is good or bad. As the priest evaluates it, so it shall be. 13 But if he will indeed redeem it, then he shall add the fifth part of it to its valuation. 14 “‘When a man dedicates his house to be holy to Yahweh, then the priest shall evaluate it, whether it is good or bad. As the priest evaluates it, so it shall stand. 15 If he who dedicates it will redeem his house, then he shall add the fifth part of the money of your valuation to it, and it shall be his.
27:16–25 — Fields, and the jubilee clock
A field of one's own possession is valued by the seed it takes: a homer of barley's sowing at fifty shekels of silver. Dedicated from the Year of Jubilee, the valuation stands in full; dedicated later, the priest reckons the years remaining and abates the price. Redemption costs the valuation plus a fifth. If he does not redeem it, or has sold it to another, it can never be redeemed — and when it goes out in the jubilee it becomes holy to Yahweh, a devoted field, owned by the priests. A field bought rather than inherited is valued to the jubilee and paid that day, and returns in the jubilee to the family that owns it. All valuations use the sanctuary shekel: twenty gerahs to the shekel.
16 “‘If a man dedicates to Yahweh part of the field of his possession, then your valuation shall be according to the seed for it. The sowing of a homer of barley shall be valued at fifty shekels of silver. 17 If he dedicates his field from the Year of Jubilee, according to your valuation it shall stand. 18 But if he dedicates his field after the Jubilee, then the priest shall reckon to him the money according to the years that remain to the Year of Jubilee; and an abatement shall be made from your valuation. 19 If he who dedicated the field will indeed redeem it, then he shall add the fifth part of the money of your valuation to it, and it shall remain his. 20 If he will not redeem the field, or if he has sold the field to another man, it shall not be redeemed any more; 21 but the field, when it goes out in the Jubilee, shall be holy to Yahweh, as a devoted field. It shall be owned by the priests. 22 “‘If he dedicates a field to Yahweh which he has bought, which is not of the field of his possession, 23 then the priest shall reckon to him the worth of your valuation up to the Year of Jubilee; and he shall give your valuation on that day, as a holy thing to Yahweh. 24 In the Year of Jubilee the field shall return to him from whom it was bought, even to him to whom the possession of the land belongs. 25 All your valuations shall be according to the shekel of the sanctuary: twenty gerahs to the shekel.
27:26–34 — What is already his: the firstborn and the tithe
The firstborn among animals cannot be dedicated — it is Yahweh's already. An unclean firstborn is bought back at valuation plus a fifth, or sold at valuation. Nothing permanently devoted may be sold or redeemed; it is most holy to Yahweh, and no one devoted to destruction may be ransomed. All the tithe of the land, of seed or fruit, is Yahweh's and holy to him; redeeming any of it costs a fifth extra. The tithe of the herds and flocks is whatever passes under the rod — the tenth is holy, and he shall not examine whether it is good or bad, nor exchange it; if he exchanges it, both become holy and it cannot be redeemed. These are the commandments Yahweh commanded Moses for Israel on Mount Sinai.
26 “‘However the firstborn among animals, which belongs to Yahweh as a firstborn, no man may dedicate, whether an ox or a sheep. It is Yahweh’s. 27 If it is an unclean animal, then he shall buy it back according to your valuation, and shall add to it the fifth part of it; or if it isn’t redeemed, then it shall be sold according to your valuation. 28 “‘Notwithstanding, no devoted thing that a man devotes to Yahweh of all that he has, whether of man or animal, or of the field of his possession, shall be sold or redeemed. Everything that is permanently devoted is most holy to Yahweh. 29 “‘No one devoted to destruction, who shall be devoted from among men, shall be ransomed. He shall surely be put to death. 30 “‘All the tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land or of the fruit of the trees, is Yahweh’s. It is holy to Yahweh. 31 If a man redeems anything of his tithe, he shall add a fifth part to it. 32 All the tithe of the herds or the flocks, whatever passes under the rod, the tenth shall be holy to Yahweh. 33 He shall not examine whether it is good or bad, neither shall he exchange it. If he exchanges it at all, then both it and that for which it is exchanged shall be holy. It shall not be redeemed.’” 34 These are the commandments which Yahweh commanded Moses for the children of Israel on Mount Sinai.
Scripture text: World English Bible (public domain).