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Vows, Valuations and Tithes
Leviticus 27 closes with laws about vows, dedicated property and tithes. The details vary, but the chapter repeatedly shows that what is set apart to Yahweh is to be treated by his stated rules, not by personal convenience.
Understanding the passage
Understanding the setting
Yahweh speaks to Moses for the children of Israel. The chapter moves through vowed persons, animals, houses and fields, then rules about firstborn animals, devoted things and tithes. It finishes by saying these are commandments Yahweh commanded Moses on Mount Sinai.
Leviticus 27:1–34Main takeaway
This passage teaches that vows, dedicated property and holy portions were to be handled carefully according to Yahweh’s commands.
Explore the instructions
Open a card to explore the full explanation and its Bible references.
01Vowed persons were given set valuationsIf a person was consecrated to Yahweh in a vow, a valuation was assigned. The listed amounts differed by age and sex, and they were measured by the sanctuary shekel.
Explanation
If a person was consecrated to Yahweh in a vow, a valuation was assigned. The listed amounts differed by age and sex, and they were measured by the sanctuary shekel. Yet this was not blind to hardship, because a poorer person could be valued by the priest according to ability to pay.
02Animals, houses and inherited fields had clear rulesAn animal suitable for offering became holy and could not simply be swapped, since an exchange made both animals holy.
Explanation
An animal suitable for offering became holy and could not simply be swapped, since an exchange made both animals holy. An unclean animal and a dedicated house were evaluated by the priest and could be redeemed by adding a fifth. A field from a person’s possession was valued with the Year of Jubilee in view, and if not redeemed it became holy to Yahweh and belonged to the priests.
03A bought field was treated differentlyA field someone had bought, rather than inherited as a possession, was reckoned only up to the Year of Jubilee.
Explanation
A field someone had bought, rather than inherited as a possession, was reckoned only up to the Year of Jubilee. The person gave that valuation on that day as a holy thing to Yahweh. In the Jubilee, the field returned to the one to whom the land belonged. These valuations used the sanctuary shekel standard.
04Firstborn animals and devoted things were not ordinary vowsFirstborn animals could not be newly dedicated because they already belonged to Yahweh, though an unclean firstborn could be bought back at the valuation plus a fifth.
Explanation
Firstborn animals could not be newly dedicated because they already belonged to Yahweh, though an unclean firstborn could be bought back at the valuation plus a fifth. This differs from a vowed person in verse 2, who was valued. A devoted thing could not be sold or redeemed, and verse 29 says a person devoted from among men was not to be ransomed but put to death.
05Tithes were Yahweh’s holy portionThe tithe of the land, its seed and fruit, belonged to Yahweh and was holy to him. If part of a tithe was redeemed, a fifth was added.
Explanation
The tithe of the land, its seed and fruit, belonged to Yahweh and was holy to him. If part of a tithe was redeemed, a fifth was added. The tenth animal from herd or flock was holy, and it was not to be selected by quality or exchanged, since an exchange made both holy.
Questions to explore
Pause, look back at the verses and talk together.
01What does verse 8 add to the fixed valuations for vowed persons?
It shows that the priest could adjust the amount for someone poorer, assigning value according to ability to pay.
02How is a bought field treated differently from a field of a person’s own possession?
Compare the inherited field rules with the bought field rules, especially the payment up to Jubilee and the field returning to the landowner in Jubilee.
03What is the difference between a vowed person, a firstborn animal and a devoted thing?
Verse 2 speaks of valuation for a vow, verse 26 says a firstborn already belongs to Yahweh, and verse 28 says a devoted thing cannot be sold or redeemed.
Read the Bible passage
World English Bible ClassicScripture quotation · Public domain
Leviticus 27:1–34
1Yahweh 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,
3your 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.
4If she is a female, then your valuation shall be thirty shekels.
5If 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.
6If 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.
7If 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.
8But 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.
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.
10He 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.
11If 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;
12and the priest shall evaluate it, whether it is good or bad. As the priest evaluates it, so it shall be.
13But 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.
15If 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.
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.
17If he dedicates his field from the Year of Jubilee, according to your valuation it shall stand.
18But 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.
19If 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.
20If he will not redeem the field, or if he has sold the field to another man, it shall not be redeemed any more;
21but 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,
23then 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.
24In 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.
25All your valuations shall be according to the shekel of the sanctuary: twenty gerahs to the shekel.
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.
27If 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.
31If a man redeems anything of his tithe, he shall add a fifth part to it.
32All the tithe of the herds or the flocks, whatever passes under the rod, the tenth shall be holy to Yahweh.
33He 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.’ ”
34These are the commandments which Yahweh commanded Moses for the children of Israel on Mount Sinai.