Single lesson
Vows, Valuations and Tithes
Leviticus 27:1–34
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.
Before you teach
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.
Explain the central teaching of Vows, Valuations and Tithes, using two details from the reading. This passage teaches that vows, dedicated property and holy portions were to be handled carefully according to Yahweh’s commands.
Welcome: Vows, Valuations and Tithes
5 minIntroduce “Vows, Valuations and Tithes” and locate Leviticus 27:1–34. This passage teaches that vows, dedicated property and holy portions were to be handled carefully according to Yahweh’s commands. Invite each learner to name a detail or question they will listen for.
Leviticus 27:1, Leviticus 27:18, Leviticus 27:34
Read and explain the passage
12 minIf 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.
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.
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.
Read the selected verses together, pausing at “Vows, Valuations and Tithes”. Use the source reading below and check the explanation against the words of the passage.
Leviticus 27:2, Leviticus 27:3, Leviticus 27:4, Leviticus 27:5, Leviticus 27:6, Leviticus 27:7, Leviticus 27:8, Leviticus 27:22, Leviticus 27:23, Leviticus 27:24, Leviticus 27:25, Leviticus 27:30, Leviticus 27:31, Leviticus 27:32, Leviticus 27:33, Leviticus 27:34
Discuss the details and their meaning
8 minUse the three questions below. Begin with “What does verse 8 add to the fixed valuations for vowed persons?” and allow time to find the supporting verses. This passage teaches that vows, dedicated property and holy portions were to be handled carefully according to Yahweh’s commands. Ask learners to explain which details support their answer and to identify a question they would like to explore further.
Leviticus 27:3, Leviticus 27:4, Leviticus 27:5, Leviticus 27:6, Leviticus 27:7, Leviticus 27:8, Leviticus 27:16, Leviticus 27:18, Leviticus 27:21, Leviticus 27:22, Leviticus 27:23, Leviticus 27:24, Leviticus 27:2, Leviticus 27:26, Leviticus 27:28
Make and respond: Instruction and context chart
12 minWork on “Vows, Valuations and Tithes: Instruction and context chart”. Follow the materials and steps below, using “Vows, Valuations and Tithes” as reading headings. Each learner should include at least two accurate details and their verse references. Share one observation from the finished sheet and explain how it connects with the central teaching.
Leviticus 27:1, Leviticus 27:18, Leviticus 27:34
Closing: return to Vows, Valuations and Tithes
3 minRevisit Leviticus 27:1–34. Invite a learner to summarise what the group has learned about Vows, Valuations and Tithes and another to support the summary with a verse. Give learners a moment to complete their response sheet. They can share a question or, if appropriate for the group, join the optional prayer.
Leviticus 27:1, Leviticus 27:18, Leviticus 27:34
Questions to explore
What 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.
Leviticus 27:3, Leviticus 27:4, Leviticus 27:5, Leviticus 27:6, Leviticus 27:7, Leviticus 27:8
How 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.
Leviticus 27:16, Leviticus 27:18, Leviticus 27:21, Leviticus 27:22, Leviticus 27:23, Leviticus 27:24
What 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.
Leviticus 27:2, Leviticus 27:26, Leviticus 27:28
Make, think or respond
Vows, Valuations and Tithes: Instruction and context chart
What you’ll need
- plain paper or card
- pencils or pens
- a Bible or the source reading on this page
Try it together
- Fold a sheet into three panels or draw three columns. Label them “Who is addressed?”, “What is required?”, “What reason or purpose is given?”.
- Read Leviticus 27:1–34. Use “Vows, Valuations and Tithes” as your reading headings and add a short quotation or detail with its verse reference to each panel.
- Compare your notes with a partner. Check that every quotation is accurate and every conclusion has support in the passage.
- Under the chart, distinguish instructions in their original setting from an application you could discuss today.
The finished sheet keeps the details of Vows, Valuations and Tithes connected to their Bible references and gives the group a way to explain what they noticed.
Adapt for your group
- For learners who need more support, prepare the reading headings “Vows, Valuations and Tithes” and let them match short quotations to the correct heading.
- For confident readers, compare two sections of Leviticus 27:1–34. Ask for a written explanation with two supporting references and one question that the text leaves open.
An optional closing prayer
“God, help us listen carefully as we read Leviticus 27:1–34. Help us understand what we have read, ask thoughtful questions and respond with care for others. Amen.”
Read the Bible passage World English Bible Classic
Leviticus 27
1 Yahweh 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,
3 your 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.
4 If she is a female, then your valuation shall be thirty shekels.
5 If 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.
6 If 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.
7 If 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.
8 But 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.
10 He 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.
11 If 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;
12 and the priest shall evaluate it, whether it is good or bad. As the priest evaluates it, so it shall be.
13 But 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.
15 If 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.
17 If he dedicates his field from the Year of Jubilee, according to your valuation it shall stand.
18 But 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.
19 If 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.
20 If he will not redeem the field, or if he has sold the field to another man, it shall not be redeemed any more;
21 but 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,
23 then 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.
24 In 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.
25 All 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.
27 If 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.
31 If a man redeems anything of his tithe, he shall add a fifth part to it.
32 All the tithe of the herds or the flocks, whatever passes under the rod, the tenth shall be holy to Yahweh.
33 He 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.’ ”
34 These are the commandments which Yahweh commanded Moses for the children of Israel on Mount Sinai.
World English Bible Classic. Public domain.