Leviticus 27

Le 27:1-18.

CONCERNING

VOWS.

2-8. When a man shall make a singular vow, &c.--Persons have, at

all times and in all places, been accustomed to present votive

offerings, either from gratitude for benefits received, or in the event

of deliverance from apprehended evil. And Moses was empowered, by

divine authority, to prescribe the conditions of this voluntary duty.

the persons shall be for the Lord, &c.--better rendered

thus:--"According to thy estimation, the persons shall be for the

Lord." Persons might consecrate themselves or their children to the

divine service, in some inferior or servile kind of work about the

sanctuary

(1Sa 3:1).

In the event of any change, the persons so devoted had the privilege in

their power of redeeming themselves; and this chapter specifies the

amount of the redemption money, which the priest had the discretionary

power of reducing, as circumstances might seem to require. Those of

mature age, between twenty and sixty, being capable of the greatest

service, were rated highest; young people, from five till twenty, less,

because not so serviceable; infants, though devotable by their parents

before birth

(1Sa 1:11),

could not be offered nor redeemed till a month after birth; old people

were valued below the young, but above children; and the poor--in no

case freed from payment, in order to prevent the rash formation of

vows--were rated according to their means.

9-13. if it be a beast, whereof men bring an offering unto the

Lord--a clean beast. After it had been vowed, it could neither be

employed in common purposes nor exchanged for an equivalent--it must be

sacrificed--or if, through some discovered blemish, it was unsuitable

for the altar, it might be sold, and the money applied for the sacred

service. If an unclean beast--such as an ass or camel, for instance,

had been vowed, it was to be appropriated to the use of the priest at

the estimated value, or it might be redeemed by the person vowing on

payment of that value, and the additional fine of a fifth more.

14, 15. when a man shall sanctify his house to be holy unto the

Lord, &c.--In this case, the house having been valued by the priest

and sold, the proceeds of the sale were to be dedicated to the

sanctuary. But if the owner wished, on second thought, to redeem it,

he might have it by adding a fifth part to the price.

16-24. if a man shall sanctify unto the Lord some aprt of a field of

his possession, &c.--In the case of acquired property in land, if

not redeemed, it returned to the donor at the Jubilee; whereas the part

of a hereditary estate, which had been vowed, did not revert to the

owner, but remained attached in perpetuity to the sanctuary. The reason

for this remarkable difference was to lay every man under an obligation

to redeem the property, or stimulate his nearest kinsman to do it, in

order to prevent a patrimonial inheritance going out from any family in

Israel.

26, 27. Only the firstling of the beasts--These, in the case of

clean beasts, being consecrated to God by a universal and standing law

(Ex 13:12; 34:19),

could not be devoted; and in that of unclean beasts, were subject to

the rule mentioned

(Le 27:11, 12).

28, 29. no devoted thing, that a man shall devote unto the Lord of

all that he hath, . . . shall be sold or redeemed--This

relates to vows of the most solemn kind--the devotee accompanying his

vow with a solemn imprecation on himself not to fail in accomplishing

his declared purpose.

29. shall surely be put to death--This announcement imported not

that the person was to be sacrificed or doomed to a violent death; but

only that he should remain till death unalterably in the devoted

condition. The preceding regulations were evidently designed to

prevent rashness in vowing

(Ec 5:4)

and to encourage serious and considerate reflection in all matters

between God and the soul

(Lu 21:4).

30-33. all the tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the

land--This law gave the sanction of divine authority to an ancient

usage

(Ge 14:20; 28:22).

The whole produce of the land was subjected to the tithe tribute--it

was a yearly rent which the Israelites, as tenants, paid to God, the

owner of the land, and a thank offering they rendered to Him for the

bounties of His providence. (See

Pr 3:9;

1Co 9:11;

Ga 6:6).

32. whatsoever passeth under the rod, &c.--This alludes to the

mode of taking the tithe of cattle, which were made to pass singly

through a narrow gateway, where a person with a rod, dipped in ochre,

stood, and counting them, marked the back of every tenth beast, whether

male or female, sound or unsound.

34. These are the commandments, &c.--The laws contained in this

book, for the most part ceremonial, had an important spiritual bearing,

the study of which is highly instructive

(Ro 10:4;

Heb 4:2; 12:18).

They imposed a burdensome yoke

(Ac 15:10),

but yet in the infantine age of the Church formed the necessary

discipline of "a schoolmaster to Christ"

[Ga 3:24].

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