The big picture
The book closes with rules for things promised to God. Moses, Israel's leader, receives commands about people, animals, houses, fields, and harvest shares. Israel, the people making these vows, cannot treat a sacred promise as empty speech. Priests, the men responsible for holy place service, assess certain values and oversee redemption, the payment used to recover a dedicated item. Some gifts can be recovered at added cost; others cannot be taken back.
In this chapter
- A Personal Vow Has an Assessed Value Leviticus 27:1-8
God gives Moses a scale of payments for vows concerning people.
- Dedicated Animals and Houses Cannot Be Swapped Leviticus 27:9-15
An animal suitable for sacrifice becomes holy when given to the Lord.
- Field Values Depend on Years Remaining Leviticus 27:16-25
A field dedicated to God is valued by its sowing capacity and the years left until the jubile, the year when inherited land normally returns.
- Some Claims Cannot Be Bought Back Leviticus 27:26-29
Firstborn animals already belong to the Lord, so they cannot be presented as a new voluntary dedication.
- Produce and Livestock Supply the Tithe Leviticus 27:30-34
A tenth of the land's produce and fruit belongs to the Lord.
Central truth
Promises to God carry defined obligations, with fixed values, support for poverty, and clear limits on recovering dedicated property.
Scripture beside the summary
Leviticus · King James Version · 34Leviticus 27:1-8
A Personal Vow Has an Assessed Value
God gives Moses a scale of payments for vows concerning people. The values differ by age and sex, with the largest amount assigned to an adult man between twenty and sixty. Lower amounts are listed for women, children, and older people. These are the sums attached to the vow under this law, not a stated measure of someone's worth as a person. If the giver is too poor, the priest assesses an amount suited to what that person can afford.
In everyday life
A charity-pledge organiser checks a donor's promised payment after his income falls sharply. She adjusts the instalment to what he can actually meet instead of pretending the original figure remains possible. The promise still receives serious attention. Leviticus uses a set age-and-sex valuation scheme rather than a donor's freely chosen pledge.
Notice
Leviticus 27:8 The priest assesses the poor person's ability to pay. The fixed schedule does not remove the support for a giver who lacks the means.
Leviticus 27:1-8
King James Version1And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
2Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When a man shall make a singular vow, the persons shall be for the LORD by thy estimation.
3And thy estimation shall be of the male from twenty years old even unto sixty years old, even thy estimation shall be fifty shekels of silver, after the shekel of the sanctuary.
4And if it be a female, then thy estimation shall be thirty shekels.
5And if it be from five years old even unto twenty years old, then thy estimation shall be of the male twenty shekels, and for the female ten shekels.
6And if it be from a month old even unto five years old, then thy estimation shall be of the male five shekels of silver, and for the female thy estimation shall be three shekels of silver.
7And if it be from sixty years old and above; if it be a male, then thy estimation shall be fifteen shekels, and for the female ten shekels.
8But if he be poorer than thy estimation, then he shall present himself before the priest, and the priest shall value him; according to his ability that vowed shall the priest value him.
Leviticus 27:9-15
Dedicated Animals and Houses Cannot Be Swapped
An animal suitable for sacrifice becomes holy when given to the Lord. The giver must not exchange it, whether the replacement is better or worse; an attempted exchange makes both animals holy. An animal unsuitable for sacrifice is assessed by the priest and can be recovered by paying its value plus one fifth. A house dedicated to God follows a similar valuation and recovery rule. The original giver cannot reclaim the gift merely by changing their mind after promising it.
In everyday life
A gallery donor asks to take back a painting after a better place opens on her own wall. The curator points to the signed gift terms and explains the needed recovery process. A completed promise is not a temporary loan. The biblical rules set property apart to God and sometimes forbid any exchange.
Notice
Leviticus 27:10 Even replacing a good animal with a better one is banned. The rule protects the binding gift itself rather than merely preventing a poor substitute.
Leviticus 27:9-15
King James Version9And if it be a beast, whereof men bring an offering unto the LORD, all that any man giveth of such unto the LORD shall be holy.
10He shall not alter it, nor change it, a good for a bad, or a bad for a good: and if he shall at all change beast for beast, then it and the exchange thereof shall be holy.
11And if it be any unclean beast, of which they do not offer a sacrifice unto the LORD, then he shall present the beast before the priest:
12And the priest shall value it, whether it be good or bad: as thou valuest it, who art the priest, so shall it be.
13But if he will at all redeem it, then he shall add a fifth part thereof unto thy estimation.
14And when a man shall sanctify his house to be holy unto the LORD, then the priest shall estimate it, whether it be good or bad: as the priest shall estimate it, so shall it stand.
15And if he that sanctified it will redeem his house, then he shall add the fifth part of the money of thy estimation unto it, and it shall be his.
Leviticus 27:16-25
Field Values Depend on Years Remaining
A field dedicated to God is valued by its sowing capacity and the years left until the jubile, the year when inherited land normally returns. Recovering an inherited field requires its assessed value plus one fifth. If it is not recovered under the stated conditions, it passes to the priests at the jubile. Land merely purchased for use has different terms: its value covers the remaining years, and it returns to the original family then. A giver cannot promise lasting ownership of borrowed time.
In everyday life
A shopkeeper offers the remaining use of a rented storeroom to a relief group. The group checks the lease expiry before valuing the gift, because the owner will regain it then. The gift is real but limited by an earlier claim. Israel's inherited fields follow the divine jubile law rather than commercial lease terms.
Notice
Leviticus 27:24 Purchased land returns to the person whose family owns it. A vow does not let the temporary holder give away another family's lasting right.
Leviticus 27:16-25
King James Version16And if a man shall sanctify unto the LORD some part of a field of his possession, then thy estimation shall be according to the seed thereof: an homer of barley seed shall be valued at fifty shekels of silver.
17If he sanctify his field from the year of jubile, according to thy estimation it shall stand.
18But if he sanctify his field after the jubile, then the priest shall reckon unto him the money according to the years that remain, even unto the year of the jubile, and it shall be abated from thy estimation.
19And if he that sanctified the field will in any wise redeem it, then he shall add the fifth part of the money of thy estimation unto it, and it shall be assured to him.
20And if he will not redeem the field, or if he have sold the field to another man, it shall not be redeemed any more.
21But the field, when it goeth out in the jubile, shall be holy unto the LORD, as a field devoted; the possession thereof shall be the priest’s.
22And if a man sanctify unto the LORD a field which he hath bought, which is not of the fields of his possession;
23Then the priest shall reckon unto him the worth of thy estimation, even unto the year of the jubile: and he shall give thine estimation in that day, as a holy thing unto the LORD.
24In the year of the jubile the field shall return unto him of whom it was bought, even to him to whom the possession of the land did belong.
25And all thy estimations shall be according to the shekel of the sanctuary: twenty gerahs shall be the shekel.
Leviticus 27:26-29
Some Claims Cannot Be Bought Back
Firstborn animals already belong to the Lord, so they cannot be presented as a new voluntary dedication. An unclean animal can be recovered at its assessed value plus one fifth, or sold. Things devoted to God for good cannot be sold or redeemed. The law also says a person devoted to ruin cannot be bought free but must die. The precise setting of that final rule is not explained here. It is distinct from the ordinary vows whose values were listed earlier.
In everyday life
A public trustee checks a gift deed and finds that its terms remove a parcel from ordinary sale for good. The family cannot reverse it by offering a higher price. She separates that case from gifts with a recovery clause. The biblical rule also requires the death of a devoted person, which a property deed cannot explain.
Notice
Leviticus 27:29 The final rule denies payment as a way to avert the stated death. Its setting is not detailed, so it should not be treated as an ordinary priced vow.
Leviticus 27:26-29
King James Version26Only the firstling of the beasts, which should be the LORD’s firstling, no man shall sanctify it; whether it be ox, or sheep: it is the LORD’s.
27And if it be of an unclean beast, then he shall redeem it according to thine estimation, and shall add a fifth part of it thereto: or if it be not redeemed, then it shall be sold according to thy estimation.
28Notwithstanding no devoted thing, that a man shall devote unto the LORD of all that he hath, both of man and beast, and of the field of his possession, shall be sold or redeemed: every devoted thing is most holy unto the LORD.
29None devoted, which shall be devoted of men, shall be redeemed; but shall surely be put to death.
Leviticus 27:30-34
Produce and Livestock Supply the Tithe
A tenth of the land's produce and fruit belongs to the Lord. A person who wants to recover part of that share must add one fifth to its value. For herds and flocks, every tenth animal passing under the counting rod is holy. The owner must not select good or bad animals or exchange the chosen one. Attempted substitution makes both holy without redemption. The book ends by identifying these commands as God's commands through Moses for Israel at Sinai.
In everyday life
A stockroom volunteer counts donated books into groups and sets aside every tenth one for a partner library. She does not pick through that share to keep the best volumes for her own shelves. The agreed portion is taken as counted. Israel's tenth belongs to God by command, not by a voluntary library arrangement.
Notice
Leviticus 27:33 The owner cannot choose the quality of the tenth animal. Counting determines the share, preventing the gift from becoming a selection of unwanted stock.
Leviticus 27:30-34
King James Version30And all the tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land, or of the fruit of the tree, is the LORD’s: it is holy unto the LORD.
31And if a man will at all redeem ought of his tithes, he shall add thereto the fifth part thereof.
32And concerning the tithe of the herd, or of the flock, even of whatsoever passeth under the rod, the tenth shall be holy unto the LORD.
33He shall not search whether it be good or bad, neither shall he change it: and if he change it at all, then both it and the change thereof shall be holy; it shall not be redeemed.
34These are the commandments, which the LORD commanded Moses for the children of Israel in mount Sinai.
Details worth noticing
The opening image
Leviticus 27:1 begins with “And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,”
Where the chapter turns
Leviticus 27:18 forms a natural hinge: “But if he sanctify his field after the jubile, then the priest shall reckon unto him the money according to the years that remain, even unto the year of…”
The final note
Leviticus 27:34 leaves the reader with “These are the commandments, which the LORD commanded Moses for the children of Israel in mount Sinai.”
A word trail through the chapter
The words estimation, LORD, field, priest, holy, shekels help reveal the chapter’s repeated concerns.
KJV words made clear
- tithe
- One tenth of produce or livestock, set apart for God.
- redeem
- Recover something by paying the amount required under the law.
Music and video connected to the passage
Related media appears when its Scripture reference overlaps this study. Music and video can illuminate a theme while the biblical text remains the foundation.
