Chapter Twenty-Seven
On the redemption of those consecrated to the Lord; cases when redemption is impossible; the tithe to the Lord from the land
Leviticus 27:1. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: Leviticus 27:2. Declare to the children of Israel and say to them: If anyone makes a vow to consecrate a person to the Lord according to your valuation, Leviticus 27:3. your valuation for a male from twenty years old to sixty years shall be fifty shekels of silver, according to the shekel of the sanctuary; Leviticus 27:4. but if it is a female, then your valuation shall be thirty shekels; Leviticus 27:5. from five years to twenty years your valuation for a male shall be twenty shekels, and for a female ten shekels; Leviticus 27:6. and from a month to five years your valuation for a male shall be five shekels of silver, and for a female your valuation shall be three shekels of silver; Leviticus 27:7. from sixty years and upward, a male your valuation shall be fifteen shekels of silver, and for a female ten shekels. As a parallel to the redemption of sold property (Lev 25), the law permits and regulates the redemption of those consecrated to the Lord – not by virtue of legal obligation, but by free zeal or vow, by virtue of a free movement of religious feeling. One who has consecrated, by this impulse, either himself or another person to the Lord, thereby gives the life of the consecrated one to the Lord; in exchange for this life, the Lord permits giving redemption money for the benefit of the sanctuary. The amount of redemption varies depending on sex and age: for males: a) in mature age from 20 to 60 years – 50 shekels of the sanctuary (not of the people, which were less than the sanctuary shekel by 1/7 of silver); b) from 5 to 20 years – 20 shekels; c) from 1 month to 5 years – 5 shekels; d) over 60 years – 15 shekels. Females in all the indicated ages are valued lower: a) 30 shekels; b) 10 shekels; c) 3 shekels; d) 10 shekels. Obviously, in each case the unequal work capacity of the person consecrated to the sanctuary was valued, and physical labor was required from him for the sanctuary: chopping wood, carrying water, and so forth.
Leviticus 27:8. But if he is poor and not able to pay according to your valuation, then let him present himself to the priest, and the priest shall value him; according to the means of the one who makes the vow, let the priest value him. If the stated valuation should prove too high for a poor man, the priest made a special valuation for him: in accordance with his means.
Leviticus 27:9. But if it is livestock, which one brings as an offering to the Lord, then all that is given to the Lord shall be holy: Leviticus 27:10. it shall not be exchanged or replaced, good for bad, or bad for good; but if one does exchange livestock for livestock, then both it and the exchange shall be holy. Leviticus 27:11. But if it is any unclean livestock, which one does not bring as an offering to the Lord, then the livestock shall be presented to the priest, Leviticus 27:12. and the priest shall value it, whether it be good or bad; as the priest values it, so it shall be; Leviticus 27:13. but if one wishes to redeem it, then let him add a fifth to your valuation. In the case of the consecration of sacrificial livestock, it must unconditionally be given as a sacrifice (Lev 27:9), and to prevent selfish choice, any exchange of the promised animal is forbidden, even for a better one (Lev 27:10). In the case of consecration to the Lord of an unclean animal, it either was used for the sanctuary in kind, or was sold for the benefit of the sanctuary by the priest, or – in the case that the one who consecrated it wished to receive the animal back – the priest valued it, and the owner paid the price with an addition of 1/5 of it (Lev 27:13) – a kind of penalty for the thoughtlessness of the vow and improper use of the holy possession (compare Lev 5:16).
Leviticus 27:14. If someone consecrates his house as a holy place to the Lord, then the priest shall value it, whether it be good or bad, and as the priest values it, so it shall be made; Leviticus 27:15. but if the one who consecrated it wishes to redeem his house, then let him add a fifth of the silver of your valuation, and then it shall be his. The same applied to a house that was consecrated (for example, in case of illness) and then redeemed, as with a field (Lev 27:19).
Leviticus 27:16. If someone consecrates a field from his own possession to the Lord, your valuation shall be according to the measure of its sowing: for the sowing of a homer of barley, fifty shekels of silver; The measure of the field is determined by the amount of seed sown. The homer (compare Num 11:32) or cor – a measure of dry goods, approximately equal to 6 seahs, consequently somewhat less than our Russian chetvyork. In 50 shekels is valued the yield of the field on which a homer of barley is sown, probably not for one year, but for several years of lease occupation.
Leviticus 27:17. if from the jubilee year someone consecrates his field, – it shall stand according to your valuation; Leviticus 27:18. but if after the jubilee he consecrates his field, then the priest shall reckon the silver according to the years remaining until the jubilee year, and it shall be reduced from your valuation; Leviticus 27:19. but if the one who consecrates it wishes to redeem the field, then let him add a fifth of the silver of your valuation, and it shall remain with him; Leviticus 27:20. but if he does not redeem the field, and the field is sold to another man, then it can no longer be redeemed: Leviticus 27:21. the field, when it becomes holy in the jubilee, shall be a holy place for the Lord, like a field devoted to destruction; it shall become the possession of the priest. Leviticus 27:22. And if someone consecrates to the Lord a field which is purchased, which is not of his own fields, Leviticus 27:23. then the priest shall reckon for him the amount of the valuation up to the jubilee year, and he shall give the amount according to the reckoning on that very day, as a holy thing to the Lord; Leviticus 27:24. but the field in the jubilee year shall pass again to him from whom it was purchased, to whom the possession of the land belongs. The aforementioned (see note to Lev 25) calculation of the value of land parcels being consecrated to the sanctuary, in connection with the law of the jubilee year. Two cases characteristic of the Old Testament theocracy appear in this context: 1) a field consecrated to the Lord, not redeemed by its owner, and sold to another, became as it were devoted to destruction (cherem, LXX: ὥσπερ γῆ ἁφωρισμένη ἀνάθεμα), Lev 27:20-21); a distinction is drawn between a field acquired by purchase, purchased property, of which the purchaser had no right to dispose after the jubilee year, and ancestral property, which could not be turned into a devoted thing, into an eternal possession of the sanctuary.
Leviticus 27:25. All your valuations shall be according to the shekel of the sanctuary; twenty gerahs shall be in the shekel. The ancient Hebrew shekel (compare Exod 30:13), as specimens of it in the Louvre Museum show, weighed somewhat less than our silver ruble (about 4 zlotniks, while a ruble is 4 zlotniks and 21 parts), from which comes the approximate value of 80–86 kopecks. In a shekel there are 20 gerahs, 10 gerahs or 1/2 shekel is a beka (in 1 Sam 9:8 there is also mentioned 1/4 shekel).
Leviticus 27:26. Only the firstborn of the livestock, which by right of firstborn belong to the Lord, no one shall consecrate: whether it be an ox or small livestock – they belong to the Lord. Leviticus 27:27. But if it is unclean livestock, it shall be redeemed according to your valuation and a fifth shall be added to it; if not redeemed, then it shall be sold according to your valuation. One could consecrate to the Lord out of zeal only what, by itself, without such consecration, already by law did not belong to Him. Therefore, one could not consecrate the firstborn to the Lord, as they belonged to the Lord by law – Exod 13:2.
Leviticus 27:28. But all that is devoted, which a man devotes to the Lord from his own property – whether a person, livestock, or a field of his possession – shall not be sold and shall not be redeemed: all that is devoted is most holy to the Lord; Leviticus 27:29. all that is devoted from among men shall not be redeemed: it shall be put to death. No redemption is permitted for “all that is devoted, cherem (Slavonic: “vow”), which a man devotes to the Lord from his own property, a person, livestock, or field...” The devoted – herem – is, first, “qodesch qodaschim lajhovah,” “most holy to the Lord,” and as such, in no way can become a matter of ownership or use by man (Lev 27:28); second, the devoted – whether person or livestock – cannot remain alive, but must be put to death (Lev 27:29). So that the condemnation to death of a person would have a moral foundation and religious sanctification, it could extend among God’s people to persons and peoples hostile to the Kingdom of God (see Num 21:2; Deut 12:16; Josh 6:17; 1 Sam 15:18-19; 1 Sam 20:42).
Leviticus 27:30. And all the tithe of the land, from the seed of the land and from the fruit of the tree, belongs to the Lord: this is holy to the Lord; Leviticus 27:31. but if anyone wishes to redeem his tithe, let him add to its price a fifth part. Leviticus 27:32. And all the tithe of the herd and the flock, of all that passes under the rod, every tenth one, shall be devoted to the Lord; Leviticus 27:33. it shall not be examined whether it be good or bad, and it shall not be exchanged; if one does exchange it, then both it and the exchange shall be holy and cannot be redeemed. The tithe was not a devoted thing; together with the firstborn and the firstfruits, the tithe was an obligatory theocratic offering to the sanctuary: “what passes under the rod – the tenth” (Lev 27:32) – a characteristic feature of daily life.