FRAMEWORKS:
Leviticus 27: Redeeming What Is the Lord's
[Preliminary
Notes: Vows have been briefly mentioned before – Lev
7:16, 22:18, 23:38 – and would have occurred where someone had
promised something to God (i.e. made a vow), for example Hannah
and Samuel (1 Sam 1:10,11) and the provision is now made that
instead of the person, animals, land etc. a sum of money could
be paid instead.]
v.1
The
Lord said to Moses,
v.2-8
Redeeming vows
v.2
“Speak
to the Israelites and say to them: ‘If anyone makes a special
vow to dedicate a person to the Lord by giving the equivalent
value,
v.3
set
the value of a male between the ages of twenty and sixty at fifty
shekels of silver, according to the sanctuary shekel;
v.4,5
for
a female, set her value at thirty shekels; for a person between
the ages of five and twenty, set the value of a male at twenty
shekels and of a female at ten shekels;
v.6
for
a person between one month and five years, set the value of a
male at five shekels of silver and that of a female at three shekels
of silver;
v.7
for
a person sixty years old or more, set the value of a male at fifteen
shekels and of a female at ten shekels.
v.8
If
anyone making the vow is too poor to pay the specified amount,
the person being dedicated is to be presented to the priest, who
will set the value according to what the one making the vow can
afford.
v.9-13
Redeeming vows about animals
v.9
“‘If
what they vowed is an animal that is acceptable as an offering
to the Lord, such an animal given to the Lord becomes holy.
v.10
They
must not exchange it or substitute a good one for a bad one, or
a bad one for a good one; if they should substitute one animal
for another, both it and the substitute become holy.
v.11
If
what they vowed is a ceremonially unclean animal—one that is not
acceptable as an offering to the Lord—the animal must be presented
to the priest,
v.12
who
will judge its quality as good or bad. Whatever value the priest
then sets, that is what it will be.
v.13
If
the owner wishes to redeem the animal, a fifth must be added to
its value.
v.14,15
Dedicating & Redeeming a House
v.14
“‘If
anyone dedicates their house as something holy to the Lord, the
priest will judge its quality as good or bad. Whatever value the
priest then sets, so it will remain.
v.15
If
the one who dedicates their house wishes to redeem it, they must
add a fifth to its value, and the house will again become theirs.
v.16-25
Dedicating & Redeeming Land
v.16
“‘If
anyone dedicates to the Lord part of their family land, its value
is to be set according to the amount of seed required for it—fifty
shekels of silver to a homer [That is, about 1 1/4 pounds or about
575 grams] of barley seed.
v.17
If
they dedicate a field during the Year of Jubilee, the value that
has been set remains.
v.18
But
if they dedicate a field after the Jubilee, the priest will determine
the value according to the number of years that remain until the
next Year of Jubilee, and its set value will be reduced.
v.19
If
the one who dedicates the field wishes to redeem it, they must
add a fifth to its value, and the field will again become theirs.
v.20
If,
however, they do not redeem the field, or if they have sold it
to someone else, it can never be redeemed.
v.21
When
the field is released in the Jubilee, it will become holy, like
a field devoted to the Lord; it will become priestly property.
v.22
“‘If
anyone dedicates to the Lord a field they have bought, which is
not part of their family land,
v.23
the
priest will determine its value up to the Year of Jubilee, and
the owner must pay its value on that day as something holy to
the Lord.
v.24
In
the Year of Jubilee the field will revert to the person from whom
it was bought, the one whose land it was.
v.25
Every
value is to be set according to the sanctuary shekel, twenty gerahs
to the shekel.
v.26,27
Dedicating & Redeeming Animals
v.26
“‘No
one, however, may dedicate the firstborn of an animal, since the
firstborn already belongs to the Lord; whether an ox or a sheep,
it is the Lord's.
v.27
If
it is one of the unclean animals, it may be bought back at its
set value, adding a fifth of the value to it. If it is not redeemed,
it is to be sold at its set value.
v.28-33
Limitations
v.28
“‘But
nothing that a person owns and devotes to the Lord—whether a human
being or an animal or family land—may be sold or redeemed; everything
so devoted is most holy to the Lord.
v.29
“‘No
person devoted to destruction may be ransomed; they are to be
put to death.
v.30
“‘A
tithe of everything from the land, whether grain from the soil
or fruit from the trees, belongs to the Lord; it is holy to the
Lord.
v.31
Whoever
would redeem any of their tithe must add a fifth of the value
to it.
v.32
Every
tithe of the herd and flock—every tenth animal that passes under
the shepherd's rod—will be holy to the Lord.
v.33
No
one may pick out the good from the bad or make any substitution.
If anyone does make a substitution, both the animal and its substitute
become holy and cannot be redeemed.'”
v.34
These
are the commands the Lord gave Moses at Mount Sinai for the Israelites.