Leviticus
Summary
Leviticus Chapter 27 concludes the book with regulations concerning vows, dedications, and the tithe. It provides a system of valuations for people, animals, and property dedicated to the LORD, allowing for their redemption through payment of a fixed price. The chapter emphasizes that once something was given to God, it was "most holy" and could not be taken back without proper restitution. It also reaffirms that the tenth of everything: whether from the land or the flock: belongs to the LORD. The book of Leviticus thus ends with a focus on the practical commitment and total dedication required of a people living in the presence of a holy God.
The LORD spoke to Moses, saying,
'Speak to the Israelites and say to them: "If anyone makes a special vow to dedicate someone to the LORD by giving their equivalent value,
set the value of a male between the ages of twenty and sixty at fifty shekels of silver, according to the sanctuary shekel.
If it is a female, set the value at thirty shekels.
If the person is between the ages of five and twenty, set the value of a male at twenty shekels and a female at ten shekels.
If the person is between one month and five years old, set the value of a male at five shekels of silver and a female at three shekels of silver.
If the person is sixty years old or older, set the value of a male at fifteen shekels and a female at ten shekels.
If anyone is too poor to pay the set value, they must be brought before the priest, who will set a value according to what they can afford."
'"If what they vowed is an animal that is acceptable as an offering to the LORD, any such animal given to the LORD becomes holy.
They must not replace it or exchange it, a good one for a bad one, or a bad one for a good one. If they do exchange one animal for another, both the original and the replacement become holy."
'"If what they vowed is a ceremonially unclean animal, one that is not acceptable as an offering to the LORD, the animal must be brought before the priest,
who will judge its quality. The priest's valuation will be final.
If the owner wishes to buy it back, they must add a fifth of the value to its original price."
'"If anyone dedicates their house as holy to the LORD, the priest will judge its quality. Whatever value the priest sets, it shall stand.
If the one who dedicated their house wants to buy it back, they must add a fifth of the value to its price, and it will be theirs again."
'"If anyone dedicates part of their family land to the LORD, its value must be based on the amount of seed required for it, fifty shekels of silver for every homer of barley seed.
If they dedicate their field during the Year of Jubilee, the full value stands.
But if they dedicate it after the Jubilee, the priest must calculate the value based on the number of years remaining until the next Year of Jubilee, and the price will be reduced accordingly.
If the one who dedicated the field wants to buy it back, they must add a fifth of the value, and it will be returned to them.
If they do not buy it back, or if they have sold it to someone else, it can never be bought back again.
When the field is released in the Jubilee, it will become holy, like a field permanently devoted to the LORD, and it will belong to the priests."
'"If anyone dedicates to the LORD a field they have bought, which is not part of their family land,
the priest will calculate its value up to the Year of Jubilee, and the person must pay that value on that day as something holy to the LORD.
In the Year of Jubilee, the field must be returned to the person from whom it was bought, the one whose family land it was."
'"Every value must be set according to the sanctuary shekel, which is twenty gerahs."
'"No one 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.
If it is an unclean animal, they may buy it back at its set value plus a fifth; if it is not bought back, it must be sold at its set value."
'"But nothing that anyone permanently devotes to the LORD from their property, whether a person, an animal, or family land, can be sold or bought back; everything so devoted is most holy to the LORD.
No person devoted to destruction can be bought back; they must certainly be put to death."
'"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.
If anyone wants to buy back some of their tithe, they must add a fifth of the value to it.
Every tenth animal from the herd or flock, every animal that passes under the shepherd's rod, will be holy to the LORD.
No one should pick out the good from the bad or make any substitution. If they do make a substitution, both the original and the replacement become holy and cannot be bought back."
These are the commands the LORD gave Moses at Mount Sinai for the Israelites.