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LEVITICUS 27

PARAGRAPH DIVISIONS OF MODERN TRANSLATIONS

 NASB  NKJV  NRSV  TEV   NJB
(MT versing)
Rules Concerning Valuations Redeeming Persons and Property Dedicated to God An Appendix Dealing with Religious Vows Laws Concerning Gifts to God Appendix: Tariffs and Valuations
a. Persons
27:1-8 27:1-8 27:1-8 27:1-7 27:1-2
27:3-4
27:5
27:6
27:7
27:8 27:8
b. Animals
27:9-13 27:9-13 27:9-13 27:9-13 27:9-13
c. Houses
27:14-15 27:14-15 27:14-15 27:14-15 27:14-15
d. Fields
27:16-25 27:16-25 27:16-25 27:16-21 27:16
27:17-18
27:19-21
27:22-24 27:22-25
27:25 Particular Rules for Redemption
a. of the firstborn
27:26-27 27:26-27 27:26-27 27:26-27 27:26-27
b. of things vowed unconditionally
27:28-33 27:28-33 27:28-29 27:28-29 27:28-29
27:30-33 27:30-33 27:30-31
27:32-33
27:34 27:34 27:34 27:34 27:34

READING CYCLE THREE (see "Bible Interpretation Seminar")

FOLLOWING THE ORIGINAL AUTHOR'S INTENT AT THE PARAGRAPH LEVEL

This is a study guide commentary, which means that you are responsible for your own interpretation of the Bible. Each of us must walk in the light we have. You, the Bible, and the Holy Spirit are priority in interpretation. You must not relinquish this to a commentator.

Read the chapter in one sitting. Identify the subjects. Compare your subject divisions with the five translations above. Paragraphing is not inspired, but it is the key to following the original author's intent, which is the heart of interpretation. Every paragraph has one and only one subject.

  1. First paragraph
  2. Second paragraph
  3. Etc.

CONTEXTUAL INSIGHTS

  1. Brief outline of Leviticus 27 ‒ the monetary evaluation of vows concerning:
    1. human beings, Lev. 27:1-8
    2. animals, Lev. 27:9-14
    3. possessions, Lev. 27:14-24
      1. houses
      2. fields
    4. things that belong to God
      1. firstborn of animals, Lev. 27:26-27
      2. tithes, Lev. 27:30-34
    5. special category of vows called the herem (i.e., under the ban, Joshua 6-7), Lev. 27:28-29

  2. This chapter is contextually related to chapter 25, especially the sabbath year and the Year of Jubilee, in how a priest should evaluate the monetary value of a gift.

  3. The best outline, of the translations whose paragraphing is compared, is the NJB.

  4. There are several items taken into consideration when "evaluating" gifts to the sanctuary.
    1. time to the year of Jubilee
    2. the age of the persons giving themselves for service
    3. the sex of the persons giving themselves for service
    4. the social status of the person forced into service

  5. In Israel vows were very important and highly regulated (cf. Lev. 7:16; 22:18-23; 23:38; Num. 30:3-16; Deut. 12:6-12; 23:19-24; Pro. 7:14; 20:25; Eccl. 5:1-7). In this chapter Israelites are instructed on how to give these freewill gifts and how the priest should evaluate their worth.

    Leviticus 27:30-33 are not voluntary.

WORD AND PHRASE STUDY

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 27:1-8
  1Again, the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2"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. 3If 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. 4Or if it is a female, then your valuation shall be thirty shekels. 5If 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. 6But 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. 7If 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. 8But 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."

27:2 "When a man makes a difficult vow" This "vow" is not a typical promise to God but the monetary worth of the period of the agreement of service for a particular number of years.

The same VERB (BDB 810, KB 927, Hiphil IMPERFECT) is used of a "Nazirite vow" in Num. 6:2.

The word translated "difficult" is one connotation of the word for "extraordinary" or "wonderful." See SPECIAL TOPIC: WONDERFUL THINGS (OT).

▣
NASB, NKJV, REB  "valuation"
NRSV, JPSOA  "equivalent"
TEV  "the official standard"
NJB, LXX  "value"
Peshitta  "price"

This NOUN (BDB 789) relates to the estimated price of something.

  1. a person for service, Lev. 27:2-8
  2. an animal to sacrifice, Lev. 5:15,18,25
  3. a field to sell
  4. priest's portion of sacrifices, Num. 18:1-13 (for "firstborn," Lev. 27:15-20)

27:3 "the male" The evaluation of a male depended on

  1. his age (Lev. 27:5,7)
  2. the time to the Sabbath Year or Year of Jubilee
  3. social status (Lev. 27:8)

These values also relate to women (Lev. 27:4) and children (27:6). This evaluation had to do with how much work that person could perform.

▣ "the shekel of the sanctuary" There were many different kinds of weights of metal in the ANE. This particular shekel is defined by its equivalent in Babylonian gerahs (cf. Num. 30:13). See SPECIAL TOPIC: ANE WEIGHTS AND VOLUMES.

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 27:9-13
  9"'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. 10He 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. 11If, 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. 12The priest shall value it as either good or bad; as you, the priest, value it, so it shall be. 13But if he should ever wish to redeem it, then he shall add one-fifth of it to your valuation.'"

27:10, 33 "He shall not replace it or exchange it" One supposed reason for the writing of this chapter is to show that that which is consecrated to God should not be taken back. However, if it is taken back, a fifth part had to be added to it (cf. Lev. 27:13, 19, 27, 31). Some things could not be exchanged at all (cf. Lev. 27:10, 33). Also, that which was not treated properly became the full property of the priests at the year of jubilee (cf. Lev. 27:20-21).

27:10 The word translated "exchange" by NASB (BDB 558, KB 560) is used six times in this chapter (vv. 10, 33).

  1. the IMPERFECT
  2. the IMPERFECT with the INFINITIVE ABSOLUTE of the same root

Some offerings could not be substituted or redeemed (cf. Leviticus 27:13,19; see SPECIAL TOPIC: RANSOM/REDEEM).

27:11 "any unclean animal" See Leviticus 11 and Deuteronomy 14.

27:12 The priest's evaluation of the monetary worth of a person, animal, field, or house was final (cf. Lev. 27:12, 14, 17, 27d). YHWH knew humans would argue over the value of people, animals, and property.

27:13 If a person wants to exchange or substitute one animal for another he must add one-fifth more of value (cf. Lev. 27:13, 15, 19, 31).

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 27:14-15
  14"'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. 15Yet 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.'"

27:14-15 This was a special gift to YHWH (cf. Lev. 27:21, "set apart," BDB 356 I).

  1. joy at answered vow (cf. Numbers 30; Deut. 23:21-23; Pro. 20:25; Eccl. 5:5)
  2. sense of YHWH's goodness
  3. beneficial circumstances of life

This kind of gift is what Jesus accused

  1. the Pharisees of exploiting (cf. Matt. 23:14)
  2. the Israelites of exploiting (Matt. 15:5-6; Mark 7:11-13)

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 27:16-25
  16"'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. 17If he consecrates his field as of the year of jubilee, according to your valuation it shall stand. 18If 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. 19If 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. 20Yet if he will not redeem the field, but has sold the field to another man, it may no longer be redeemed; 21and 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. 22Or if he consecrates to the Lord a field which he has bought, which is not a part of the field of his own property, 23then 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. 24In the year of jubilee the field shall return to the one from whom he bought it, to whom the possession of the land belongs. 25Every valuation of yours, moreover, shall be after the shekel of the sanctuary. The shekel shall be twenty gerahs.'"

27:16 Land was evaluated by the amount of seed

  1. it took to sow it
  2. yielded, which fits v. 30's use of seed better (NIC, OT, Gordon Wenham, Leviticus, p. 340, #8; and Roland deVaux, Ancient Israel, p. 168)

A specific price is given to a homer of barley.

27:17 "the year of jubilee" In Leviticus 25, "the year of jubilee" (every 50 years) is defined as that year in which the land reverts to its original owner (Lev. 27:24) and all slaves go free. From the history of the Old Testament, we do not have one account of either the Day of Atonement or the Year of Jubilee being observed.

27:20-21 "Yet if he will not redeem the field" An Israelite was expected to redeem his vowed field before the year of jubilee. It he did not do this, the land at jubilee reverted to the priests as a full and permanent possession (Lev. 27:21).

27:25 "shekel. . .gerahs" See SPECIAL TOPIC: ANE WEIGHTS AND VOLUMES.

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 27:26-27
  26"'However, a firstborn among animals, which as a firstborn belongs to the Lord, no man may consecrate it; whether ox or sheep, it is the Lord's. 27But 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.'"

27:26 "a firstborn among animals" This verse deals with that which already belongs to God (cf. Exod. 13:2; 22:28-29; 34:19-20), therefore, it could not be dedicated to God, unless it was an unclean animal.

27:27 "the unclean animals" Although unclean animals could not be offered on the altar, they could still be given to God (cf. Exod. 34:20).

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 27:28-33
  28"'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. 29No one who may have been set apart among men shall be ransomed; he shall surely be put to death. 30Thus 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. 31If, therefore, a man wishes to redeem part of his tithe, he shall add to it one-fifth of it. 32For every tenth part of herd or flock, whatever passes under the rod, the tenth one shall be holy to the Lord. 33He 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.'"

27:28-29 This deals with a very special kind of ban called the herem (cf. Lev. 27:21; usually things or animals or persons taken in battle, cf. Deut. 7:2; 20:17; 1 Sam. 15:3). It was something that was dedicated to God and became "holy" to such a degree that it could not be used by human beings ever again (i.e., Jericho of Joshua 6). Notice that someone who tried to ransom this or use it was worthy of the death penalty (cf. Lev. 27:29, cf. Joshua 7:19-21,25).

27:30 "all the tithe of the land" All the tithes belonged to the Lord but this seems to deal with the special case possibly delineated in Deut. 14:22-27. There are either two or three tithes in Israel (see footnote in NASB Study Bible, p. 172). The two tithes would be: one every year for the Levites (cf. Num. 18:21-29; Deut. 12:6-7; 14:22-27) and one every three years for the local poor (cf. Deut. 14:28-29). Some divide this into three categories making Numbers a separate tithe from Deuteronomy 14. See SPECIAL TOPIC: TITHING and SPECIAL TOPIC: TITHING IN THE MOSAIC LEGISLATION.

27:32-33 Flocks were counted when they were let out of the pen. The shepherds counted them as they passed under his outstretched staff (cf. Jer. 33:13).

The point of this paragraph is that every tenth one belonged to YHWH, whether it was a very good animal or a weak one. The shepherd could not exchange animals (see negative example in Mal. 1:13-14).

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 27:34
  34These are the commandments which the Lord commanded Moses for the sons of Israel at Mount Sinai.

27:34 Leviticus was given to Moses by YHWH on Mt. Sinai (cf. Lev. 1:1; 7:38; 26:46; 27:34).

▣ "Mount Sinai" See SPECIAL TOPIC: LOCATION OF MT. SINAI.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

This is a study guide commentary which means that you are responsible for your own interpretation of the Bible. Each of us must walk in the light we have. You, the Bible, and the Holy Spirit are priority in interpretation. You must not relinquish this to a commentator.

These discussion questions are provided to help you think through the major issues of this section of the book. They are meant to be thought-provoking, not definitive.

  1. Why is chapter 27 thought to be an appendix to Leviticus?
  2. Are all of the gifts to the sanctuary voluntary in Leviticus 27?
  3. What was the "standard" process for someone to redeem his gift?
  4. How do the Sabbath Year and Year of Jubilee fit into the evaluation process?
  5. Are the "firstborn" and "tithe" gifts or requirements?
  6. Explain the difference between "a gift" and "a ban."
  7. Explain Lev. 27:28-29 in your own words.
  8. What does "pass under the rod" mean?

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