UNROLL
Early morning at the court of the tabernacle: a small bronze balance stands on a woven mat before the white linen hangings, a few pieces of cut silver in one pan and smooth stone weights in the other.

The Book of

Leviticus 27

What you promise God, and what already belongs to Him.

34 verses≈ 7 minBSB

Images are artistic interpretations.

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Where we are

  1. 1–7The offeringsHow sinners draw near
  2. 8–10The priestsOrdained, and a warning
  3. 11–15Clean and uncleanLife before a holy God
  4. 16The Day of AtonementSins carried away
  5. 17–27A holy peopleBe holy, for I am holyChapter 27

Rules about Valuations

Then the LORD said to Moses, “Speak to the Israelites and say to them, ‘When someone makes a special vow to the LORD involving the value of persons,

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Close on a bronze balance: rough pieces of cut silver in one pan, smooth stone weights in the other, a priest’s hand in a white linen sleeve steadying the beam.

The sanctuary shekel

Valuing a person

  1. Adults

    Men 20 to 60: fifty shekels

    if the valuation concerns a male from twenty to sixty years of age, then your valuation shall be fifty shekels of silver, according to the sanctuary shekel.

  2. Women 20 to 60: thirty shekels

    Or if it is a female, then your valuation shall be thirty shekels.

  3. Youth

    Ages 5 to 20: twenty or ten

    And if the person is from five to twenty years of age, then your valuation for the male shall be twenty shekels, and for the female ten shekels.

  4. Children

    One month to 5: five or three

    Now if the person is from one month to five years of age, then your valuation for the male shall be five shekels of silver, and for the female three shekels of silver.

  5. Older

    60 and older: fifteen or ten

    And if the person is sixty years of age or older, then your valuation shall be fifteen shekels for the male and ten shekels for the female.

  6. Mercy

    Too poor: as he can afford

    But if the one making the vow is too poor to pay the valuation, he is to present the person before the priest, who shall set the value according to what the one making the vow can afford.

who shall set the value according to what the one making the vow can afford

Leviticus 27:8

Reflect

A promise kept

No one in Israel had to make “a special vow to the LORD.” It was freely given. But once a vow was made, it was weighed out in silver and paid. Think of a promise you have made to God: in a prayer, at your baptism, in a hard season, or at your wedding. Write it down. How are you keeping it today?

The law

Vowing an animal

  1. A clean animal becomes holy

    If he vows an animal that may be brought as an offering to the LORD, any such animal given to the LORD shall be holy.

  2. No swap

    No exchanging, good or bad

    He must not replace it or exchange it, either good for bad or bad for good.

  3. Swap it, and both are holy

    But if he does substitute one animal for another, both that animal and its substitute will be holy.

  4. Unclean

    An unclean animal: to the priest

    But if the vow involves any of the unclean animals that may not be brought as an offering to the LORD, the animal must be presented before the priest.

  5. The priest sets its value

    The priest shall set its value, whether high or low; as the priest values it, the price will be set.

  6. Plus a fifth

    To redeem it, add a fifth

    If, however, the owner decides to redeem the animal, he must add a fifth to its value.

God

The law

A field he bought

  1. A bought field, not his inheritance

    Now if a man consecrates to the LORD a field he has purchased, which is not a part of his own property,

  2. Its value to the Jubilee, paid now

    then the priest shall calculate for him the value up to the Year of Jubilee, and the man shall pay the assessed value on that day as a sacred offering to the LORD.

  3. Jubilee

    In Jubilee, back to the first owner

    In the Year of Jubilee the field shall return to the one from whom it was bought—the original owner of the land.

  4. One standard

    Twenty gerahs to the shekel

    Every valuation will be according to the sanctuary shekel, twenty gerahs to the shekel.

Pray

A willing heart

A house, a field, an animal: in Israel, a gift vowed to God was valued honestly and could not be traded down. Ask God for a heart that gives Him the best and not the leftovers, and for the honesty to keep your word. Thank Him that everything you have came from Him first.

But no one may consecrate a firstborn of the livestock, because a firstborn belongs to the LORD. Whether it is an ox or a sheep, it is the LORD’s. But if it is among the unclean animals, then he may redeem it according to your valuation and add a fifth of its value. If it is not redeemed, then it shall be sold according to your valuation.

Nothing that a man sets apart to the LORD from all he owns—whether a man, an animal, or his inherited land—can be sold or redeemed; everything so devoted is most holy to the LORD.

No person set apart for destruction may be ransomed; he must surely be put to death.

What may be redeemed?

yesnoHoly to theLORDmay it be bought back?A person vowedvalued in silver (3–8)House or fieldredeem: add a fifth(15, 19)Tithe of cropsredeem: add a fifth(31)Clean animal ortenthholy; no swap (10, 33)The firstbornalready the LORD’s(26)Devoted thingsnever redeemed (28)

Whiteboard

Some gifts could be bought back. A person vowed to God was paid for in silver, and a house, a field or a tenth of the crops could be redeemed by adding a fifth. Others could never come back: a clean animal given for sacrifice, the firstborn, which already “belongs to the LORD,” and anything devoted, which was “most holy to the LORD.” What was God’s stayed God’s.

Instruction on Tithes

Thus any tithe from the land, whether from the seed of the land or the fruit of the trees, belongs to the LORD; it is holy to the LORD. If a man wishes to redeem part of his tithe, he must add a fifth to its value.

Dusk at the narrow gate of a stone sheepfold: a shepherd holds his staff out low across the opening as the sheep pass beneath it one by one.

Every tenth animal from the herd or flock that passes under the shepherd’s rod will be holy to the LORD. He must not inspect whether it is good or bad, and he shall not make any substitution. But if he does make a substitution, both the animal and its substitute shall become holy; they cannot be redeemed.’”

0:17

Narrated by Bob Souer · BSB audio, public domain

Evening at the foot of Mount Sinai: the camp of dark tents and the tabernacle in its white linen court, a thin smoke rising from the altar, the great granite mountain above in the last light.

These are the commandments that the LORD gave to Moses for the Israelites on Mount Sinai.

Leviticus 27:34

Question

Quick question

A man could give his house to the LORD and later want it back.

What did a man have to add to buy back a house he had consecrated?

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Leviticus 27

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A verse to carry with you

These are the commandments that the LORD gave to Moses for the Israelites on Mount Sinai.

Leviticus 27:34

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