Chapter 27
Leviticus 27 - GENERAL REMARKS - One would think that the Book of Leviticus should end at chapter 26 by the way Moses concludes. But we have in chapter 27 an addendum concerning how to assign value to property.
Leviticus 27:2 - "...makes a difficult vow..." In English, we use "difficult" as an adverb of "to vow". For what it's worth, the verb in Hebrew is "to be wonderful", and "vow" is used to modify that verb. So the grammar is opposite in Hebrew.
The vows a man might make were free-will vows. They were not obligatory.
What follows will be guidelines on how to set the value of human life. A man, in his great zeal for the Lord, might dedicate himself, his children, or his slave to the Lord.
Leviticus 27:3 - Males from 20-60 were valued the highest price. This tells us something about God's expectation of a man near 60. He should be able to perform and produce on par with men in their twenties. Having been raised in a family of carpenters, I have seen both my grandfather and my father out-perform younger men even while they were over sixty. The human body has a far greater capacity for work than our modern society grants it.
Leviticus 27:4 - Females will be valued between 1/2 and 2/3 that of males. This was based on their capacity to do profitable work. A tractor that can do 5 things is not as valuable as a tractor that can do 10 things.
Leviticus 27:5 - The value is less here only because their life-span is more uncertain at these younger ages. More people die in the 5-20 age range than the 20-60 range.
Leviticus 27:6 - Again, the value is less here to because the infant mortality rate is so high.
Leviticus 27:7 - Beyond sixty, mortality rates increase again, so the value drops again, and the capacity for profitable work decreases.
Leviticus 27:8 - This verse concerns a poor man that wishes to vow a man to the Lord, but he cannot afford the normal valuation standards. The Hebrew reads, "according to that which the hand of him who is vowing doth reach doth the priest value him" (Young's Literal Translation). So according to the means of the poor man will the vow be valued.
Leviticus 27:9-13 - These verses concern gifts of animals a man presents to the Lord as a free-will offering.
Leviticus 27:9 - This verse concerns itself with the type of animals that are fit for offering as sacrifices (e.g., sheep, goats, rams).
Leviticus 27:10 - Some take the two words in the phrase, "He shall not replace it or exchange it" (NASB) as referring to the same thing. However, Jewish commentators believe that to "replace" is to substitute for another type of animal. And "exchange" refers to the same type of animal, just a different one from the herd.
Any kind of exchanging or replacing was not to be done. If someone did try to change out the offering, he was not to receive back the original animal. Both animals become holy, and they were not to go back to ordinary life. John Gill reports on this verse that the man whom tried to change out an offering was to be beaten - so the Jewish custom was at one time.
The purpose and application of this verse is to make us cautious and thoughtful before we present something to the Lord as an offering, lest we become fickle and regret our free-will offering. Ecclesiastes 5:2 has similar advice. It instructs us not to be "hasty in word or impulsive in thought to bring up a matter in the presence of God" (NASB).
Leviticus 27:11-13 - These verses concern animals that are not fit for sacrificing, such as swine. The priest is to make a valuation of the animal. If the man changes his mind, he is permitted to redeem the animal (contrasting with the former) by adding a fifth to the valuation.
Leviticus 27:14-15 - This passage concerns a man consecrating his house to the Lord. Yet the Hebrew explicitly states that only the one devoting it to the Lord may redeem the house. Other laws permitted the next nearest relation to redeem property. (See Ruth chapter 4 for an example.)
Leviticus 27:16 - The field "of his own property" (NASB) or "in his grasp" (literal Hebrew) refers to property inherited from his father. God distinguishes inherited property in this verse from acquired property, which is covered in verse 22. A man may only consecrate a portion of the inherited field, lest his own family suffer. The value of the land depends upon how much seed it took to plant it. The amount of seed to plant the field is a gauge of the size of the field. The more seed, the larger the field, the greater the value.
Leviticus 27:17 - If a man sanctifies his field in the year of Jubilee, then the priest will name a price, and so it shall be.
Leviticus 27:18 - In determining the value of the land, the number of years left until Jubilee must be considered. For all property reverts back to the owner in that year. In this way, the families' land is preserved. I personally really like the idea of the Year of Jubilee. Decisions are not so permanent, and if you make a mistake, you can always wait it out until Jubilee, and start over. Our society has bankruptcy as a means of starting over. But going that route is extremely painful and costly. Not to mention it has stigmas and consequences that will follow you for years after.
Leviticus 27:19 - The Hebrew grammar here employs the familiar "adjectival intensification." However, in this instance, it is not meant to intensify the action, but rather to communicate a wish, desire, or even a subjunctive (meaning "might or possibly") sense. Thus we read, "If the one who consecrates it should ever wish to redeem the field" (NASB). This is not a typical use of this grammatic device.
Leviticus 27:20 - "if he will not redeem it..." There is some discussion about who "he" is. Is it the priest or the original owner? In either case, when the field changes hands and passes on to the next person, it is not redeemable. This is, to be sure, a way to prevent defrauding the system. If a man could devote a field to the Lord and receive some spiritual blessing according to the value, then the priest sells the field to another man. If the original owner could then redeem the same property for a lesser cost, then the system would be defrauded.
Leviticus 27:21 - This verse continues the above situation: In the year of Jubilee, the field was to pass back to the original owner, but it wouldn't in this case because it has changed hands again. It reverts back to the Lord, and the priests must pay for it.
Leviticus 27:22-24 - These verses concern a man that purchases a field (not of his inherited possession) and then dedicates it to the Lord. The field will be valued the same way according to the number of years left until Jubilee. Then in Jubilee, the field goes back to the original owner.
Leviticus 27:25 - The Lord gives instruction as to the currency of the valuation. One temple shekel equals 20 gerahs. There are good websites that discuss in more detail the currency systems found in the Bible.
Leviticus 27:26 - An Israelite may not consecrate a first born of his beasts, because the first born are already consecrated to the Lord by virtue of their birth order.
Leviticus 27:27 - We understand "unclean" to mean any of the beasts that are not first born. According to previous laws, an "unclean" beast in the proper sense (like swine) could not be offered to the temple. Thus God is referring to beasts not born first.
Why must the one whom consecrated the animal pay an additional one-fifth over the priest's valuation, if when the animal is sold to another person, he only need pay the price of the valuation? Because when the person consecrates an animal to the Lord, there is a spiritual blessing that attaches to that person. If, after consecrating the animal and receiving such a blessing, he were to redeem the animal for the same price as the valuation, he would have received more than he gave. The scales would be tipped in his favor. He would have received the blessing essentially for nothing. So the Lord commands that if he redeems the animal, he must add to it a fifth of the valuation to keep the scales balanced on account the spiritual blessing he received by dedicating the animal. Do you see how equitable the Lord is? Do you also see how savvy He is with men's hearts? He knows that men will try to get something for nothing.
You ask, "It sounds like the spiritual blessing isn't worth much if it is only valued at 20% of the valuation." If you have traveled over-seas or even shopped at Aldi foods in the USA, you know that you have to put a coin deposit for your shopping carts. Why? It is a deterrent from having shopping carts strewn all over the parking lot. Sometimes it is as little as a quarter deposit. However, people always return their cart and walk the extra distance just to get their quarter back. Now, one cannot justly place a monetary value on a spiritual blessing. However, by requiring an additional 20% from the one consecrating the animal in order to redeem it, God is essentially placing a deterrent for redemption. It is extremely unlikely that the man will redeem the animal that he knows someone else can purchase for less. He would rather go and purchase a different animal than redeem the one consecrated. That is exactly what the Lord wants.
Leviticus 27:28 - Here the NASB obscures the translation. In the beginning of the verse, they translate, "anything which a man sets apart to the Lord." That phrase "sets apart" is one word in Hebrew meaning "to devote to the ban." It is used throughout the verse. It is more than "to set apart", which could include consecration, however, we've already seen that things consecrated to the Lord can be redeemed. So the NASB does not make sense. However, if you read according to the Hebrew, "anything which a man devotes to the ban" and read it that way throughout, it totally makes sense. Things devoted to the ban cannot be redeemed, whereas most things consecrated to the Lord can be redeemed.
To "devote to the ban" is a different kind of consecration than we have previously encountered. This word is often used with property taken from conquest of gentile nations or even used regarding gentile cities themselves. Inherent in the meaning of this word is the connotation that the things "devoted to the ban" may not be redeemed. Any Israelite reading this verse would instantly know the difference between consecration as discussed previously and this word for devoting.
Leviticus 27:29 - This word "devote to the ban" shows up again, this time with specific respect to persons. Those devoted in this way "will surely die" (the Hebrew uses the adjectival intensifier to bring more force and certainty to the death). These are people that have broken a Law deserving death, and have justly received a sentence of death. They cannot be redeemed. This can be an Israelite or a foreigner. In Numbers 21:2, entire gentile cities are devoted to destruction. According to this law, they must all die.
Leviticus 27:30 - The tithe of the produce of the ground belonged to the Lord.
Leviticus 27:31 - Again, we see 20% added to the value, if the man wants to redeem his tithe. This too is a deterrent.
Leviticus 27:32 - This law only concerns cattle or sheep. Again, the NASB obscures this point by translating, "herd or flock", because it was only clean beasts that were tithed. Unclean animals could be redeemed, as previously seen.
Leviticus 27:33 - The man is not to distinguish between good or bad animals when devoting them to the Lord as a tithe. As a punishment, if he exchanges the animal for another, he will lose both animals. The two will become holy to the Lord. According to the Jewish Mishna entitled "Temurah" (Chapter 1, sections 2-3), the man breaking this law would receive the 39 lashes as a punishment.
Leviticus 27:34 - Here we have a repetition of the closing remarks (see also 26:46) that identify this book as the Laws God gave to Moses on Mount Sinai.
