Leviticus 27

AND the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,

Speak unto the children, and say unto them; When a man shall make a singular vow Or, an eminent or hard or wonderful vow, not concerning things, which was not strange, but customary, but concerning persons as it here follows which he vowed or by vow devoted unto the Lord, which indeed was unusual and difficult: yet there want not instances of such vows, and of persons which devoted either themselves or their children to the service of God, and that either more strictly and particularly, as the Nazarites, and the Levites, 1 Sam. 1. 11. and for these there was no redemption admitted but they were in person to perform the service to which they were devoted: or more largely and generally, as some who were not Levites nor intended themselves or their children should be Nazarites, might yet through zeal to God and his service, or to obtain Gods help in giving them some mercy which they wanted and desired or in freeing them from some evil felt or feared, devoted themselves or their children to the service of God and of the Sanctuary, though not in such a way as the Levites, which they were forbidden to do, yet in some kind of subserviency to them. And because there might be too great a number of persons thus dedicated, which might be burdensome and chargeable to the Sanctuary, therefore an exchange is allowed, and the Priests are directed to impose and require a tax for their redemption., the persons shall be for the LORD (i. e.) Dedicated to the Lord, and consequently to the Priest., by thy estimation By whose estimation? Ans. Either 1. thine, O Priest, to whom the valuation of things belonged, and here is ascribed, ver. 12. Or rather 2. thine, O man that vowest, as appears from ver. 8. where his estimation is opposed to the Priests valuation. Nor was there any fear of his partiality in his own cause, for the price is particularly limited. But where the price is undetermined, there, to avoid that inconvenience the Priest is to value it, as ver. 8, 12..

And thy estimation shall be, of the male from twenty years old, even unto sixty years old Which is the best time for strength and service, and therefore is prized at the highest rate., even thy estimation shall be fifty shekels of silver, after the shekel of the sanctuary.

And if it be a female, then thy estimation shall be thirty shekels Less than the mans price, because she is inferiour to him both in strength and serviceableness..

And if it be from five years old At what age they might be vowed by their parents, as appears from 1 Sam. 1. though not by themselves; and the children were obliged by their parents vow, which is not strange considering the parents power and right to dispose of their children so far as is not contrary to the mind of God., even unto twenty years old, then thy estimation shall be of the male twenty shekels, and for the female ten shekels.

And 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.

And 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.

But if he be poorer then thy estimation If after his vow he be decayed and impoverished and not able to pay the price which thou, according to the rules here given, requirest of him., then he shall present himself before the priest, and the Priest shall value him: according to his ability Which God also considered in other cases, as Levit, 12. 8. Compare 2 Cor. 8. 12. that vowed, shall the priest value him.

And if it be a beast whereof men bring To wit, usually and according to Gods appointment. an offering unto the LORD, all that any man giveth (i. e.) Voweth to give. of such unto the LORD, shall be holy (i. e.) Consecrated to God, either to be sacrificed, or to be given to the Priest according to the manner of the vow, and the intention of him that voweth..

He shall not alter it, nor change it Two words expressing the same thing more emphatically, q. d. He shall in no wise change it, neither for one of the same, nor of another, kind., a good for a bad, or a bad for a good Partly because God would preserve the sanctity and reverence of consecrated things and therefore would not have them alienated, and partly to prevent abuses of them who on this pretence might exchange it for the worse, as reserving the judgement to himself.: and if he shall at all change beast for beast, then it, and the exchange thereof (i. e.) both the thing first vowed and thing offered or given in exchange. This was inflicted upon him as a just penalty for his rashness and levity in such weighty matters. shall be holy.

And if it be any unclean Either for the kind or for the quality of it, if it were such an one as might not be offered. The dog only may seem to be excepted, for his price might not be offered. See Deut. 23. 18. beast of which they do not offer a sacrifice unto the LORD, then he shall present the beast before the priest.

And the priest shall value it, whether it be good or bad: as thou valuest it, who art the Priest, so shall it be.

But if he will at all redeem it, then he shall add a fifth part thereof unto thy estimation.

And when a man shall sanctifie To wit, by a vow, for of that way and manner of sanctification he speaks in this whole chapter. his house to be holy unto the LORD In which case the benefit of it redounded either to the Priests for their maintenance, Num. 18. 14. or to the Sanctuary for its reparations or expences., then the priest shall estimate it, whether it be good or bad: as the priest shall estimate it, so shall it stand Supposing that the Priests estimation does not notoriously swerve from the rules of valuation prescribed by God. For if the Priest determined most unrighteously & unreasonably, as suppose an hundred times more than the true value of it, I presume no man is so void of sense as to say they were all bound to stand to the Priests determination in that case. Even as in case a mans leprosy was notorious and unquestionable, if a Priest should through partiality pronounce him clean, this did not make him clean. And therefore all those passages of Scripture which leave things to and command men to acqu... esce in, the determination of the Priest or Priests, are to be understood with this exception, that their determinations be not evidently contrary to the revealed will of God to whom Priests are subject and accountable. Otherwise if the Priests had commanded men to pro... ane the sabbath this would have acquitted them from the obligation of Gods command of keeping it holy, which is impiou... and absurd to affirm. And this consideration will give light to many Scriptures..

And if he that sanctified it, will redeem his house, then he shall add the fifth part Which he might the better do, because the Priests did usually put a moderate rare upon it. of the mony of thy estimation unto it, and it shall be his.

And i... a man shall sanctifie unto the LORD some part of a field of his possession (i. e.) Which is his by inheritance, because particular direction is given about purchased lands, ver. 22 And he says part of it, because it was unlawful to vow away all his possessions, because thereby he had disenabled himself from the performance of divers duties by way of sacrifice, almesgiving, &c. and made himself burdensome to his brethren., then thy estimation shall be according to the seed thereof (i. e.) According to the quantity and quality of the land, which is known by the quantity of seed which it can receive and return. an homer of barley seed shall be valued at fifty shekels of silver. Not to be paid yearly, till the year of Jubilee, as some would have it, but once for all, as is most probable, 1. because here is no mention of any yearly payment, but only of one payment, and we must not add to the text. 2. because it is most probable that lands and all things were favourably and moderately valued, so that men might be rather encouraged to make such vows upon just occasions than to be deterred from them by excessive impositions. But if this were yearly rent, it was an excessive rate and much more than the land ordinarily yielded. For an Omer is but the tenth part of an Ephah, Exod. 16. 36. and therefore not above a pottle of our measure, which quantity of seed would not extend very far, and in some lands would yield but an inconsiderable crop, especially in barley, which was cheaper than wheat, and which for that reason, among others, may seem to be here mentioned rather than wheat..

If he sanctifie his field from the year of Jubile, (i. e.) Immediately after the year of Jubilee is past., according to thy estimation Now mentioned, to wit, of 50 shekels for an homer of barley seed. it shall stand. (i. e.) That price shall be paid without diminution..

But if he sanctifie his field after the Jubile (i. e.) Some considerable time after the Jubilee, as appears from the following words., then the priest shall reckon unto him the mony, according to the years that remain, even unto the year of the Jubile The defalcation from the full price of fifty shekels being to be more or less as the years are more or fewer. See Levit. 25. 15, 16, 17., and it shall be abated from thy estimation.

And if he that sanctified the field, will in any wise redeem it, then he shall add the fifth part of the mony of thy estimation unto it, and it shall be assured to him.

And if he will not redeem the field To wit, when the Priest shall set a price upon it, and offer it to him in the first place to redeem it., or if he have sold the field He, who? Either 1. the man that vowed it, if he, after such a vow made shall neglect to pay his vow, and shall sacrilegiously sell the same land to another man: or, if he sell it, i. e. suffer it to be sold to another, and will not prevent that by redeeming it to himself. Or rather 2. the Priest, or some in his name, who though not expressed is sufficiently understood out of the foregoing clause, If he will not redeem or buy again the field, to wit, of the Priest, who is now the seller of it, or, or rather and, for this seems to be added by way of accumulation, if he, i. e. the Priest, of whom he might have redeemed it, upon his refusal, offers it to sale, and have sold the field to another man. Add to this, that none but the Priest could sell this land, after it was once vowed and declared to be so, and offered by the Priest to him again to redeem it, which is apparently the present case., to another man, it shall not be redeemed any more (i. e) He shall for ever lose the benefit of redemption..

But the field when it goeth out (i. e.) Out of the possession of the other man to whom the Priest sold it. in the Jubile, shall be holy unto the LORD, as a field devoted: the possession thereof shall be the priests For their maintenance. Nor is this repugnant to that law, that the Priests should have no inheritance in the land, Numb. 18. 20. for that is only spoken of them and the whole Tribe of Levi in general and in reference to the first division of the land, wherein the Levites were not to have a distinct part of land, as other tribes had, but this does not hinder but some particular lands might be vowed and given to the Priests either for their own benefit or for the service of the Sanctuary..

And if a man sanctifie unto the LORD a field which he has bought, which is not of the fields of his possession Which is not his patrimony or inheritance.;

Then the priest shall reckon unto him the worth of thy estimation (i. e.) The price or summe at which thou, O Priest, shalt reckon it. So it is only a change of the person, which is frequent: or, the price which thou, O Moses, by my direction hast set in such cases., even unto the year of the Jubile (i. e.) As much as it is worth, for that space of time between the making of the vow and the year of Jubilee: for he had no right to it for any longer time, as the next verse tells us., and he shall give thine estimation Without the addition of the fifth part, which he was to pay for his lands of inheritance, ver. 19. as being of a better and more durable tenure than purchased lands which were his only till the Jubile. in that day, as a holy thing As that which is to be consecrated to God in stead of the land redeemed by it. unto the LORD.

In the year of the jubilee the field shall return unto him of whom it was bought, even to him to whom the possession of the land did belong By original right, which no other person by vow or otherwise could give away from him..

And all thy estimation shall be according to the shekel of the sanctuary: twenty gerahs shall be the shekel.

Only the firstling of the beast, which should be the LORDS firstling, no man shall sanctifie it To wit, by vow; because it is not his own, but the Lords already, and therefore to vow such a thing to God is a tacit derogation from, and an usurpation of the Lords right, and a mocking of God by pretending to give him what we cannot withhold from him., whether it be ox or sheep Under these two eminent kinds he comprehends all other beasts which might be sacrificed to God, the firstlings whereof could not be redeemed but were to be sacrificed, whereas the firstlings of men were to be redeemed and therefore were capable of being vowed, as we see 1 Sam. 1. 11.: it is the LORDS.

And if it be of an unclean beast (i. e.) If it be the first-born of an unclean beast, as appears from ver. 26. which could not be vowed, because it was a first-born, nor offered, because it was unclean, and therefore is here commanded to be redeemed or sold. Others understand it of all unclean beasts in general, and not of the first-born of them, because the first-born of such were to be redeemed by a sheep, Exod. 13. 13. without the addition of any such fifth part as is here enjoyned. Which is true of the first redemption of them, but then as after they were redeemed they might be again vowed unto God, so when the owners would redeem them a second time, it was but reasonable they should pay a better price for them. And if this were meant of unclean beasts in general, this were the very same law which is mentioned before ver. 11, 12, 13. which, it is not probable, would after a few verses be unnecessarily repeated again like a distinct law., 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 And the price thereof was given to the Priests, or brought into the Lords treasury. according to thy estimation.

Notwithstanding, no devoted thing (i. e.) Nothing which is absolutely devoted to God with a curse upon themselves or others if they disposed not of it according to their vow; as the Hebrew word implies. that a man shall devote unto the LORD, of all that he has To wit, in his power or possession., 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 (i. e.) Only to be touched or employed by the Priests, and by no other persons, no not by their own families, for that was the state of the most holy things..

None devoted, which shall be devoted of men Not by men, as some would elude it, but of men, for it i... manifest both from this and the foregoing verses that men here are not the persons devoting, but devoted. Quest. Was it then lawful for any man or men thus to devote another person to the Lord and in pursuance of such vow to put him to death? Ans. This was unquestionably lawful and a duty in some cases, when persons have been devoted to destruction either by Gods sentence, as Idolaters Exod. 22. 20. Deut. 23. 15. the Canaanites, Deut. 20. 1.... the Amalekites, Deut. 25. 19. & 1 Sam. 15. 3, 26. Benhadad, 1 King. 20. 42. or by men, in pursuance of such a sentence of God, as Numb. 21. 2, 3. and 31. 17. or for any crime of an high nature, as Iudg. 21. 5. Ios. 7. 15. But this is not to be generally understood, as some have taken it, as if a Iew might by virtue of this Text devote his child or his servant to the Lord, and thereby oblige himself to put them to death, which peradventure was Iepthe's errour. For this is expresly limited to all that a man has, or which is his, i. e. which he has a power over. But the Iews had no power over the lives of their children or servants, but were directly forbidden to take them away by that great command, thou shalt do no murder. And seeing he that killed his servant casually by a blow with a rod was surely to be punished, as is said Exod. 21. 20. it could not be lawful wilfully and intentionally to take away his life upon pretence of any such vow as this. But for the Canaanites, Amalekites, &c. God the undoubted Lord of all mens lives, gave to the Israelites a power over their persons and lives, and a command to put them to death. And this verse may have a special respect to them or such as them. And although the general subject of this and the former verse be one and the same, yet there are two remarkable differences to this purpose. The verb is active ver. 28. and the agent there expressed, that a man shall devote, but it is passive ver. 29, and the agent undetermined, which shall be devoted, to wit, by God, or men in conformity to Gods revealed will. 2. The devored person or thing is only to be sold or redeemed, and said to be most holy, ver. 28. but here it is to be put to death, and this belongs only to men, and those such as either were or should be devoted in manner now expressed., shall be redeemed: but shall surely be put to death.

And all the tithe of the land There are divers sorts of Tithes, but this seems to be understood only of the ordinary and yearly tithes belonging to the Levites, &c. as the very expression intimates, and the addition of the fifth part in case of redemption thereof implies., whether of the seed of the land or of the fruit of the tree, is the LORDS: it is holy unto the LORD.

And if a man will at all redeem ought of his tithes, he shall add thereto the fifth part thereof.

And concerning the tithe of the herd, or of the flock, even of whatsoever passeth under the rod Either 1. the tithers rod, it being the manner of the Iews in tithing to cause all their cattel to pass through some gate or narrow passage, where the tenth was marked by a person appointed for that purpose and reserved for the Priest. Or 2. the shepherds rod, under which the herds and flocks passed, and by which they were governed and numbred. See Ier. 33. 13. Ezek. 20. 37., the tenth shall be holy unto the LORD.

He 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.

These are the commandments which the LORD commanded Moses for the children of Israel in Mount Sinai.