Leviticus 27

This is the final chapter of Leviticus. After Leviticus 26 concludes the covenant stipulations with blessings and curses, this chapter serves as a kind of appendix on vows and offerings, bringing the book to a close.

Outline

• Verses 1–8: When a person is vowed to the LORD, a valuation is set according to age and sex. A male aged twenty to sixty is valued at fifty shekels of silver and a female at thirty shekels. A male aged five to twenty is valued at twenty shekels and a female at ten shekels. A male from one month to five years old is valued at five shekels and a female at three shekels. A male aged sixty or older is valued at fifteen shekels and a female at ten shekels. If the one making the vow is poor, the priest sets the value according to his means.
• Verses 9–13: An animal that has been vowed may not be exchanged; if it is exchanged, both animals become holy. For an unclean animal, the priest sets the value, and anyone who wishes to redeem it must add a fifth to its value.
• Verses 14–15: When a house is dedicated, the priest sets its value; to redeem it, a fifth is added.
• Verses 16–21: A field from one's inherited possession is valued at fifty shekels for each homer of barley seed, calculated according to the years remaining until the Jubilee. If it is not redeemed, or if it has been sold to another, it becomes the priest's possession at the Jubilee.
• Verses 22–25: A purchased field returns to its original owner at the Jubilee. Values are set according to the shekel of the sanctuary, twenty gerahs to the shekel.
• Verses 26–27: The firstborn of animals already belongs to the LORD, so it cannot be offered as a vowed gift.
• Verses 28–29: A devoted thing may be neither sold nor redeemed, and a person who has been devoted is to be put to death.
• Verses 30–33: The tithe of the produce of the land and of the herd and flock belongs to the LORD. Of the livestock, every tenth animal that passes under the rod is given.
• Verse 34: The chapter ends with a closing statement that these commandments were given at Mount Sinai.

Key Verses

• Leviticus 27:2 "When a man shall make a singular vow, the persons shall be for the LORD by thy estimation." This regulation allowed vows to be fulfilled by converting them into a monetary value.
• Leviticus 27:28 "Every devoted thing is most holy unto the LORD." This verse states the principle of irrevocable "devotion."
• Leviticus 27:30 "All the tithe of the land … is the LORD's." This verse is frequently cited in discussions of the tithe.

People and Places

• Moses: Receives the word of the LORD and delivers it to the children of Israel.
• Priest: The one who sets the value of vowed offerings.
• Mount Sinai: The place where these commandments were given, mentioned in verse 34.

Points for Reflection

• The differing valuations by sex and age are commonly explained as reflecting differences in capacity for labor.
• The text does not specify what cases the "devotion" (Hebrew herem) of verses 28–29 refers to, and interpretations therefore differ. Some read it in connection with those devoted to destruction in warfare, while others read it as referring to those subject to judicial execution.
• Verses 30–33 are frequently cited in the tithing debate over the church's practice of tithing today. One side reads this passage as stating a principle that still applies. The other regards it as a regulation belonging to the Mosaic law and distinguishes it from New Testament principles of giving.
• In the New Testament, Jesus criticizes the practice of "Corban," in which a vow was used as a pretext for avoiding the duty to honor one's parents (Mark 7:11).

In the Korean Church

In sermons on tithing, verse 30 of this chapter is frequently cited together with Malachi 3:8–10.