(Lev 27:1 NASB) Again, the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,
(Lev 27:2 NASB) “Speak to the sons of Israel, and say to them, ‘When a man makes a difficult vow, he shall be valued according to your valuation of persons belonging to the LORD.
Lev 27:2: The prophecies contained in this chapter of Leviticus in conjunction with Ezekiel chapter 4 are nothing short of miraculous. Elohim tells the Israelites their future over 3300 years before it happens. In lieu of that person or thing, a monetary compensation could be made and that person or thing can be redeemed. These compensations varied according to the item or the age and sex of the person. These vows are voluntary. But if they are made, they must be adhered to (Ecc. 5:4-5).
There are at least two examples of people that were dedicated to Elohim. One was in the case of Jephthah. This vow encompasses one of the more misunderstood accounts in Scripture. Jephthah vows to Elohim the first one to cross the threshold of his house, if Elohim would grant him victory in Battle. He vowed that person “as a burnt sacrifice.” He meant that this person would be dedicated to His service and Jephthah would not be able to take her back just as he could not take back a burnt sacrifice. That “sacrifice” happened to be his only child, his daughter. She mourned the loss of the possibility of marriage and was dedicated solely to service to Elohim all of her life (Judges 11:30-40).
The other obvious instance of such a vow was with Hannah, the mother of Samuel (1 Sam. 1:9-11). Hannah not only dedicated Samuel in service to Elohim, but also dedicated him as a Nazerite in special service to Elohim. This was probably why Samuel could not be redeemed according to the Laws in this chapter also.
(Lev 27:3 NASB) ‘If your valuation is of the male from twenty years even to sixty years old, then your valuation shall be fifty shekels of silver, after the shekel of the sanctuary.
(Lev 27:4 NASB) ‘Or if it is a female, then your valuation shall be thirty shekels.
Lev 27:4: A male between the ages of 20 years old to 60 years old could be redeemed for fifty shekels. A female of that age group could be redeemed for thirty shekels.
(Lev 27:5 NASB) ‘And if it be from five years even to twenty years old then your valuation for the male shall be twenty shekels, and for the female ten shekels.
(Lev 27:6 NASB) ‘But if they are from a month even up to five years old, then your valuation shall be five shekels of silver for the male, and for the female your valuation shall be three shekels of silver.
(Lev 27:7 NASB) ‘And if they are from sixty years old and upward, if it is a male, then your valuation shall be fifteen shekels, and for the female ten shekels.
Lev 27:7: Men are valued at twice that of women due to the greater physical labor able to be performed. However, with the older man and older woman, being almost past labor, and the very young man and very young woman, they were much closer to an equal value of redemption to one another.
(Lev 27:8 NASB) ‘But if he is poorer than your valuation, then he shall be placed before the priest, and the priest shall value him; according to the means of the one who vowed, the priest shall value him.
Lev 27:8: There was consideration for the poor also. The priest would determine the value of a poor person who was vowed to Elohim so that he may be redeemed.
(Lev 27:9 NASB) ‘Now if it is an animal of the kind which men can present as an offering to the LORD, any such that one gives to the LORD shall be holy.
(Lev 27:10 NASB) ‘He shall not replace it or exchange it, a good for a bad, or a bad for a good; or if he does exchange animal for animal, then both it and its substitute shall become holy.
Lev 27:10: A clean animal could not be redeemed for another clean animal even if they are comparable in health and stature. If that is attempted, then both animals become property of the Sanctuary.
(Lev 27:11 NASB) ‘If, however, it is any unclean animal of the kind which men do not present as an offering to the LORD, then he shall place the animal before the priest.
(Lev 27:12 NASB) ‘And the priest shall value it as either good or bad; as you, the priest, value it, so it shall be.
(Lev 27:13 NASB) ‘But if he should ever wish to redeem it, then he shall add one-fifth of it to your valuation.
Lev 27:13: An unclean animal, such as a donkey, could be redeemed. The redemption cost was 120% of whatever the priest values the unclean animal.
(Lev 27:14 NASB) ‘Now if a man consecrates his house as holy to the LORD, then the priest shall value it as either good or bad; as the priest values it, so it shall stand.
(Lev 27:15 NASB) ‘Yet if the one who consecrates it should wish to redeem his house, then he shall add one-fifth of your valuation price to it, so that it may be his.
Lev 27:15: If someone wishes to redeem their house that was consecrated to Elohim, he could do so at 120% of it’s value.
(Lev 27:16 NASB) ‘Again, if a man consecrates to the LORD part of the fields of his own property, then your valuation shall be proportionate to the seed needed for it: a homer of barley seed at fifty shekels of silver.
(Lev 27:17 NASB) ‘If he consecrates his field as of the year of jubilee, according to your valuation it shall stand.
Lev 27:17: If a part of a man’s field is consecrated to Elohim, he can redeem that land. The value of the land is according to how much seed it takes to seed that land. Each homer of barley seed it would take to seed that field with would be redeemed at the cost of fifty shekels each.
This valuation is the valuation at the Year of Jubilee.
(Lev 27:18 NASB) ‘If he consecrates his field after the jubilee, however, then the priest shall calculate the price for him proportionate to the years that are left until the year of jubilee; and it shall be deducted from your valuation.
Lev 27:18: A shekel of silver would be deducted for each year after the Year of Jubilee. The value of the land decreased as the Year of Jubilee approached.
(Lev 27:19 NASB) ‘And if the one who consecrates it should ever wish to redeem the field, then he shall add one-fifth of your valuation price to it, so that it may pass to him.
Lev 27:19: The value of the land is determined according to its size and how many years are left until the Year of Jubilee. The redemption cost is 120% of that value.
(Lev 27:20 NASB) ‘Yet if he will not redeem the field, but has sold the field to another man, it may no longer be redeemed;
(Lev 27:21 NASB) and when it reverts in the jubilee, the field shall be holy to the LORD, like a field set apart; it shall be for the priest as his property.
Lev 27:21: If a man has sold his land that has been consecrated to Elohim, he can no longer redeem it. When the next Year of Jubilee comes around, the field becomes the property of the priests.
(Lev 27:22 NASB) ‘Or if he consecrates to the LORD a field which he has bought, which is not a part of the field of his own property,
(Lev 27:23 NASB) then the priest shall calculate for him the amount of your valuation up to the year of jubilee; and he shall on that day give your valuation as holy to the LORD.
(Lev 27:24 NASB) ‘In the year of jubilee the field shall return to the one from whom he bought it, to whom the possession of the land belongs.
Lev 27:24: Allowances are made for land that was bought and then consecrated.
(Lev 27:25 NASB) ‘Every valuation of yours, moreover, shall be after the shekel of the sanctuary. The shekel shall be twenty gerahs.
(Lev 27:26 NASB) ‘However, a first-born among animals, which as a first-born belongs to the LORD, no man may consecrate it; whether ox or sheep, it is the LORD’S.
Lev 27:26: The first-born among animals already belongs to Elohim. To make a dedication to him of these animals would be to make a mockery of this consecration.
(Lev 27:27 NASB) ‘But if it is among the unclean animals, then he shall redeem it according to your valuation, and add to it one-fifth of it; and if it is not redeemed, then it shall be sold according to your valuation.
Lev 27:27: Unclean animals will either be redeemed or sold. The redemption cost of 120% of the value is probably to prevent rash vows.
(Lev 27:28 NASB) ‘Nevertheless, anything which a man sets apart to the LORD out of all that he has, of man or animal or of the fields of his own property, shall not be sold or redeemed. Anything devoted to destruction is most holy to the LORD.
Lev 27:28: As opposed to vowing or consecrating, if a man devotes or “sets-apart” something to Elohim, he may not redeem it or sell it. This appears to be the level reached by Jephthah and Hannah in their vow to Elohim.
(Lev 27:29 NASB) ‘No one who may have been set apart among men shall be ransomed; he shall surely be put to death.
Lev 27:29: Any person who has been given the death penalty under the instructions of Torah cannot be ransomed. This is clearer in the NKJV.
No one who is condemned by Torah may be redeemed (Heb. 10:27-28).
(Lev 27:30 NASB) ‘Thus all the tithe of the land, of the seed of the land or of the fruit of the tree, is the LORD’S; it is holy to the LORD.
(Lev 27:31 NASB) ‘If, therefore, a man wishes to redeem part of his tithe, he shall add to it one-fifth of it.
(Lev 27:32 NASB) ‘And for every tenth part of herd or flock, whatever passes under the rod, the tenth one shall be holy to the LORD.
Lev 27:32: Tithe is already His. It cannot be vowed or consecrated. The tithe can be redeemed at a price of 120% of its value.
(Lev 27:33 NASB) ‘He is not to be concerned whether it is good or bad, nor shall he exchange it; or if he does exchange it, then both it and its substitute shall become holy. It shall not be redeemed.'”
(Lev 27:34 NASB) These are the commandments which the LORD commanded Moses for the sons of Israel at Mount Sinai.
Lev 27:34: The commandments given in this chapter are valuable beyond measure. We are given the price of redemption for things dedicated to Elohim for His use. The price is determined according to the value of the person, place or land. The cost of redemption is cast in stone in Scripture and must be adhered to. We cannot be redeemed by something of lesser or even equal value according to Scripture. Therefore Elohim sent His most beloved possession, His only begotten Son, His Word made flesh, to redeem us by the spilling of His life-giving blood (1 Peter 1:17-19).
Yeshua did not come into this world to do away with Torah as some claim. He came to make it more full. And He came that we might have life and have it abundantly.
Patrick McGuire
Copyright 2014 Patrick McGuire and Beit Yeshua Torah Assembly All rights reserved, no portion of this Lesson may be reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations in articles and reviews. Beit Yeshua Torah Assembly Fort Smith, Arkansas