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Texts -- Leviticus 27:4-34 (NET)

Context
27:4 If the person is a female , the conversion value is thirty shekels . 27:5 If the person is from five years old up to twenty years old , the conversion value of the male is twenty shekels , and for the female ten shekels . 27:6 If the person is one month old up to five years old , the conversion value of the male is five shekels of silver , and for the female the conversion value is three shekels of silver . 27:7 If the person is from sixty years old and older , if he is a male the conversion value is fifteen shekels , and for the female ten shekels . 27:8 If he is too poor to pay the conversion value , he must stand the person before the priest and the priest will establish his conversion value ; according to what the man who made the vow can afford , the priest will establish his conversion value .
Redemption of Vowed Animals
27:9 “‘If what is vowed is a kind of animal from which an offering may be presented to the Lord , anything which he gives to the Lord from this kind of animal will be holy . 27:10 He must not replace or exchange it, good for bad or bad for good , and if he does indeed exchange one animal for another animal , then both the original animal and its substitute will be holy . 27:11 If what is vowed is an unclean animal from which an offering must not be presented to the Lord , then he must stand the animal before the priest , 27:12 and the priest will establish its conversion value , whether good or bad . According to the assessed conversion value of the priest , thus it will be . 27:13 If , however, the person who made the vow redeems the animal, he must add one fifth to its conversion value .
Redemption of Vowed Houses
27:14 “‘If a man consecrates his house as holy to the Lord , the priest will establish its conversion value, whether good or bad . Just as the priest establishes its conversion value, thus it will stand . 27:15 If the one who consecrates it redeems his house , he must add to it one fifth of its conversion value in silver , and it will belong to him.
Redemption of Vowed Fields
27:16 “‘If a man consecrates to the Lord some of his own landed property , the conversion value must be calculated in accordance with the amount of seed needed to sow it, a homer of barley seed being priced at fifty shekels of silver . 27:17 If he consecrates his field in the jubilee year , the conversion value will stand , 27:18 but if he consecrates his field after the jubilee , the priest will calculate the price for him according to the years that are left until the next jubilee year , and it will be deducted from the conversion value . 27:19 If , however, the one who consecrated the field redeems it, he must add to it one fifth of the conversion price price and it will belong to him. 27:20 If he does not redeem the field , but sells the field to someone else , he may never redeem it. 27:21 When it reverts in the jubilee , the field will be holy to the Lord like a permanently dedicated field ; it will become the priest’s property . 27:22 “‘If he consecrates to the Lord a field he has purchased , which is not part of his own landed property , 27:23 the priest will calculate for him the amount of its conversion value until the jubilee year , and he must pay the conversion value on that jubilee day as something that is holy to the Lord . 27:24 In the jubilee year the field will return to the one from whom he bought it, the one to whom it belongs as landed property . 27:25 Every conversion value must be calculated by the standard of the sanctuary shekel ; twenty gerahs to the shekel .
Redemption of the Firstborn
27:26 “‘Surely no man may consecrate a firstborn that already belongs to the Lord as a firstborn among the animals ; whether it is an ox or a sheep , it belongs to the Lord . 27:27 If , however, it is among the unclean animals , he may ransom it according to its conversion value and must add one fifth to it, but if it is not redeemed it must be sold according to its conversion value .
Things Permanently Dedicated to the Lord
27:28 “‘Surely anything which a man permanently dedicates to the Lord from all that belongs to him, whether from people , animals , or his landed property , must be neither sold nor redeemed ; anything permanently dedicated is most holy to the Lord . 27:29 Any human being who is permanently dedicated must not be ransomed ; such a person must be put to death .
Redemption of the Tithe
27:30 “‘Any tithe of the land , from the grain of the land or from the fruit of the trees , belongs to the Lord ; it is holy to the Lord . 27:31 If a man redeems part of his tithe , however, he must add one fifth to it. 27:32 All the tithe of herd or flock , everything which passes under the rod , the tenth one will be holy to the Lord . 27:33 The owner must not examine the animals to distinguish between good and bad , and he must not exchange it. If , however, he does exchange it, both the original animal and its substitute will be holy . It must not be redeemed .’”
Final Colophon
27:34 These are the commandments which the Lord commanded Moses to tell the Israelites at Mount Sinai .

Pericope

NET

Bible Dictionary

  • TITHE

    [ebd] a tenth of the produce of the earth consecrated and set apart for special purposes. The dedication of a tenth to God was recognized as a duty before the time of Moses. Abraham paid tithes to Melchizedek (Gen. 14:20; Heb. 7:6...
    [isbe] TITHE - tith (ma`aser; dekate): The custom of giving a 10th part of the products of the land and of the spoils of war to priests and kings (1 Macc 10:31; 11:35; 1 Sam 8:15,17) was a very ancient one among most nations. That ...

  • CRITICISM

    [isbe] CRITICISM - (The Graf-Wellhausen Hypothesis) I. PRELIMINARY 1. Thesis 2. Historical Perspective 3. Inspiration and Criticism II. THE LEGISLATION 1. Groups 2. Covenant Code 3. The Sanctuary 4. Kinds of Sacrifice 5. Sacrifice ...

  • Israel

    [nave] ISRAEL 1. A name given to Jacob, Gen. 32:24-32; 2 Kin. 17:34; Hos. 12:3, 4. 2. A name of the Christ in prophecy, Isa. 49:3. 3. A name given to the descendants of Jacob, a nation. Called also Israelites, and Hebrews, Gen. 4...

  • Consecrated Things

    [nave] CONSECRATED THINGS, laws regarding, Lev. 27; Num. 18:8-32. See: Firstborn; Firstfruits.

  • VOW

    [isbe] VOW - vou (nedher; euche; 'iccar, found only in Nu 30:6,8,10 and translated horismos, by the Septuagint: A vow could be positive (nedher) and included all promises to perform certain things for, or bring certain offerings to...

  • LEVITICUS, 1

    [isbe] LEVITICUS, 1 - le-vit'-i-kus: I. GENERAL DATA 1. Name 2. Character of Book 3. Unity of Book: Law of Holiness Examination of Critical Theory II. STRUCTURE 1. Modern Analyses (1) Theories of Disintegration (2) Reasons for Dism...

  • Dedication

    [nave] DEDICATION Law concerning dedicated things, Lev. 27; Num. 18:14; 1 Chr. 26:26, 27. Must be without blemish, Lev. 22:18-23; Mal. 1:14. Not redeemable, Lev. 27:28, 29. Offering must be voluntary, Lev. 1:3; 22:19. See: Offe...

  • Redemption

    [nave] REDEMPTION Of persons or property, Lev. 25:25-34; 27:2-13, 14-33; Ruth 4:3-10. Redemption money paid to priests, Num. 3:46-51. Of firstborn, See: Firstborn; of land, See: Jubilee. Of our Souls Psa. 111:9; Psa. 130:7; Mat...

  • Vows

    [smith] A vow is a solemn promise made to God to perform or to abstain from performing a certain thing. The earliest mention of a vow is that of Jacob. (Genesis 28:18-22; 31:13) Vows in general are also mentioned in the book of Job, ...
    [nave] VOWS Mosaic laws concerning, Lev. 23:37, 38; Num. 29:39. Must be voluntary, see below. Must be performed, see below. Estimation of the redemption price of things offered in vows, to be made by the priest, according to age a...

  • Property

    [nave] PROPERTY. In Real Estate Gen. 23:17, 18; 26:20. Rights in, violated, Gen. 21:25-30; 26:18-22. Dedicated, Lev. 27:16-25. See: Land. Dwellings. Alienated for debt, Lev. 25:29, 30; by absence, 2 Kin. 8:1-6; in villages, i...

  • LAW OF MOSES

    [smith] It will be the object of this article to give a brief analysis of the substance of this law, to point out its main principles, and to explain the position which it occupies in the progress of divine revelation. In order to do...

  • Jubilee

    [ebd] a joyful shout or clangour of trumpets, the name of the great semi-centennial festival of the Hebrews. It lasted for a year. During this year the land was to be fallow, and the Israelites were only permitted to gather the sp...
    [nave] JUBILEE Called Acceptable Year of the Lord, Isa. 61:2. The Year of Liberty, Ezek. 46:17. Laws Concerning Lev. 25:8-55; Lev. 27:17-24; Num. 36:4 See: Sabbatic Year.

  • INHERITANCE

    [isbe] INHERITANCE - in-her'-i-tans (nahalah, "something inherited," "occupancy," "heirloom," "estate," "portion"): The word is used in its widest application in the Old Testament Scriptures, referring not only to an estate receive...

  • AGRARIAN LAWS

    [isbe] AGRARIAN LAWS - a-gra'-ri-an loz: 1. The Sabbath Year 2. The Jubilee 3. Its Object 4. The Legal Rules 5. Ideas and Circumstances of the Legislation 6. Form of the Legislation 7. Its Operation and Extension 8. Other Laws Affe...

  • JUBILEE YEAR

    [isbe] JUBILEE YEAR - (shenath ha-yobhel; etos tes apheseos; annus jubilaeus, "year of jubilee" (Lev 25:13), or simply ha-yobhel, "the jubilee" (Lev 25:28; compare Nu 36:4), the King James Version and the English Revised Version Ju...

  • Corban

    [ebd] a Hebrew word adopted into the Greek of the New Testament and left untranslated. It occurs only once (Mark 7:11). It means a gift or offering consecrated to God. Anything over which this word was once pronounced was irrevoca...

  • Land

    [nave] LAND Appeared on third creative day, Gen. 1:9. Original title to, from God, Gen. 13:14-17; 15:7; Ex. 23:31; Lev. 25:23. Bought and sold, Gen. 23:3-18; 33:19; Acts 4:34; 5:1-8. Sale and redemption of, laws concerning, Lev....

  • Firstborn

    [smith] Under the law, in memory of the exodus (when the first-born of the Egyptians were slain), the eldest son was regarded as devoted to God, and was in very case to be redeemed by an offering not exceeding five shekels, within on...
    [nave] FIRSTBORN, of human and beast, reserved to himself by God, Ex. 13:2, 12-16; 22:29, 30; 34:19, 20; Lev. 27:26; Num. 3:13; 8:17, 18; Deut. 15:19-23; Neh. 10:36. Redemption of, Ex. 13:13; 34:20; Lev. 27:27; Num. 3:40-51; 18:15-...

  • Priest

    [smith] The English word is derived from the Greek presbyter , signifying an "elder" (Heb. cohen). Origin. --The idea of a priesthood connects itself in all its forms, pure or corrupted, with the consciousness, more or less distinct ...
    [nave] PRIEST. Before Moses Melchizedek, Gen. 14:18; Heb. 5:6, 10, 11; 6:20; 7:1-21. Jethro, Ex. 2:16. Priests in Israel before the giving of the law, Ex. 19:22, 24. Called angel, Eccl. 5:6. Mosaic Ex. 28:1-4; 29:9, 44; Num....

  • ANATHEMA

    [ebd] anything laid up or suspended; hence anything laid up in a temple or set apart as sacred. In this sense the form of the word is anath(ee)ma, once in plural used in the Greek New Testament, in Luke 21:5, where it is rendered ...
    [smith] which literally means a thing suspended, is the equivalent of the Hebrew word signifying a thing or person voted. Any object so devoted to Jehovah was irredeemable. If an inanimate object, it was to be given to the priests, (...
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Questions

  • The following material from The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia should be helpful here: III. Significant numbers Numbers are also used with a symbolical or theological significance. One is used to convey th...

Sermon Illustrations

Meaning of Tithe; Ten Biblical & Practical Reasons to Give to the Lord’s Work; Why Give 10% or More of Your Income to the Lord's Work

Resources/Books

Expository Notes on the Bible (Constable)

  • Joseph's brothers met his second recorded visit to them with great antagonism. They plotted to kill him and so render his dreams impossible to fulfill. For practical reasons they decided to sell him and to deceive Jacob into ...
  • "At first sight the book of Leviticus might appear to be a haphazard, even repetitious arrangement of enactments involving the future life in Canaan of the Israelite people. Closer examination will reveal, however, that quite...
  • Leviticus continues revelation concerning the second of three elements necessary for any nation to exist, namely, a people (Gen. 12:10--Exod. 19), their law (Exod. 20--Num. 10:10), and their land (Num. 10:11--Josh. 24).Leviti...
  • The structure of 4:1-6:7 indicates that this offering has a close relationship to the sin offering. This offering removed the guilt of certain sins that involved trespassing against God. Trespassing means going beyond the lim...
  • The laws of purification begun in this chapter connect in principle with the preceding ones that deal with unclean food and animals. The defilement dealt with in this group (chs. 12-15) proceeded from the human body. Pollutio...
  • The sacrifices and offerings that Moses described thus far in the law were not sufficient to cleanse all the defilement that the sins of the people created. Much sinfulness still needed covering. Therefore God appointed a yea...
  • The people were to buy and sell property in view of the upcoming year of jubilee since in that year all property would revert to its original tribal leasees. This special year reminded the Israelites that they did not really ...
  • In this section God explained that His discipline for disobedience would be to produce repentance and return to Himself by the Israelites.26:34-39 The length of the Babylonian captivity was 70 years because the Israelites fai...
  • The blessings and curses (ch. 26) were in a sense God's vows to His people. This chapter deals with His people's vows to Him. Another connection between these chapters is that in times of divine discipline (26:14-33) people t...
  • The amount of money that a person had to pay at the end of a vow in which he pledged a person depended on the age and sex of the individual. Some people were worth more in this respect than others."These figures are very larg...
  • God treated houses (vv. 14-15) the same as unclean cattle (cf. vv. 11-12). He calculated land value in relationship to the year of jubilee. The people evidently were to pay for land they inherited and then vowed year by year ...
  • God claimed as His possession one tenth of the seed, fruit, and livestock of the Israelites. If the owner wished to keep some of this himself, he had to pay the value of what he kept to God plus 20 percent. This tithe was a c...
  • Genesis reveals how people can have a relationship with God. This comes through trust in God and obedience to Him. Faith is the key word in Genesis. God proves Himself faithful in this book.Exodus reveals that God is also sov...
  • The emphasis in this section continues to be on the importance of maintaining purity in the camp so God's blessing on Israel might continue unabated.The Nazarite (from the Hebrew root nazar, meaning "to separate") illustrated...
  • A complete and comprehensive explanation of the official duties and revenues of the priests and Levites appropriately follows the confirmation of Aaron's priesthood. This was God's reply to the frightened cries of the people ...
  • The last chapter of Leviticus (ch. 27) contains instructions regarding how the Israelites were to handle vows under the Mosaic Law. In contrast this chapter deals with when and under what circumstances they could annul vows a...
  • There was a yearly tithe (vv. 22-27) and an additional three-year tithe (vv. 28-29) in Israel. The Israelites were to invite the Levites to the celebration at the tabernacle when the Israelites consumed the yearly tithe (v. 2...
  • 5:13-15 "Despite Joshua's long military experience he had never led an attack on a fortified city that was prepared for a long siege. In fact, of all the walled cities in Palestine, Jericho was probably the most invincible. T...
  • Verses 1-33 record Jephthah's success. The rest of his story (11:34-12:7) relates his failure. The writer likewise recorded Gideon's success first (6:1-8:23) and then his failure (8:24-9:57). We shall find a similar pattern w...
  • "Scenes 3 [vv. 19-20] and 4 [vv. 21-28a] are a pair, not unlike the pairing of 1 [vv. 3-8] and 2 [vv. 9-19]. They are the two scenes of resolution. . . . These two scenes are concerned not with the birth, but with Hannah comi...
  • This was the first such project the writer recorded in Kings. Later Hezekiah and Josiah also repaired the temple. Until now temple expenses came out of the royal treasury, but Josiah moved this obligation into the private sec...
  • The king organized the priests and Levites again into the divisions David had specified. Evidently Hezekiah's predecessors had not observed these divisions. He also instituted tithing again as the Mosaic Law commanded (cf. Le...
  • The text does not record exactly when the exiles arrived in Jerusalem, but it was probably sometime in 537 B.C. since Cyrus issued his decree in 538 B.C. The "seventh month"(v. 1) of the Jew's sacred calendar was Tishri (late...
  • 20:30 Ezekiel was to ask his hearers if they planned to defile themselves and to prostitute themselves to things the Lord detested as their ancestors had done.20:31 They were defiling themselves by practicing child sacrifice....
  • 44:15-16 The Levites from Zadok's branch of the priestly family, however, would have special privileges since Zadok and his sons had served the Lord faithfully in the past (cf. 40:46; 1 Sam. 2:35; 2 Sam. 8:17; 15:24-29; 1 Kin...
  • 46:16-17 The prince could give a gift to any of his sons out of his own inheritance from the Lord. This gift was theirs forever. However, if he gave such a gift to one of his servants, it would revert back to him on the year ...
  • The Lord had said that Israel's earlier history was a time when the priests and the people of Israel pleased Him (v. 4). Now He said that those early days were short-lived (cf. Exod. 32:7-9). In contrast to His faithfulness (...
  • Jesus now specified two examples of the Pharisees' spiritual myopia (vv. 42-43), and then He compared them to something similar that defiles (v. 44). Jesus announced His condemnation with the use of "woe."11:42-43 The Pharise...
  • Paul had attempted to reach the province of Asia earlier (16:6). Now the Lord permitted him to go there but from the west rather than from the east. Luke recorded his initial contact in Ephesus in this section to set the scen...
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