Leviticus · chapter 27 of 27
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Leviticus 27 regulates vows and voluntary gifts to the Lord. It explains how to redeem a person, an animal, a house or a field that has been promised, with values set in shekels and an added fifth. It teaches that firstborn animals already belong to the Lord, that what is devoted completely cannot be redeemed, and that the tithe of the land and of the herd is holy to the Lord.
Leviticus 27 is the last chapter of the book and reads like a practical appendix after the warnings of chapter 26. Having heard what the Lord has done for his people, Israel responds with promises and voluntary gifts. The chapter shows how to make them in an orderly way and without carelessness, because what is promised to the Lord is serious.
The Lord speaks to Moses about someone who makes a special vow to dedicate a person to the Lord. The person is redeemed by paying a set value according to age and sex: fifty shekels of silver for a man between twenty and sixty, thirty for a woman, and smaller amounts for children and for the elderly. Someone too poor to pay presents the person to the priest, who sets the value according to what he can afford.
If the vow concerns an animal that can be offered in sacrifice, it is holy and cannot be exchanged. If it is an unclean animal, the priest values it and the owner may redeem it by adding a fifth. Something similar applies to a house or field that has been dedicated: the priest values it, and anyone who wants it back pays the value plus a fifth. Fields are valued by the seed they take and by the years remaining until the Jubilee, and they return to their owner in that year.
Firstborn animals already belong to the Lord and cannot be dedicated again, and what is devoted completely to the Lord is neither sold nor redeemed. Finally, the tithe of the land, of the seed and of the fruit, and also of the herd and flock, is holy to the Lord. Anyone who wants to redeem part of his tithe adds a fifth. So the book ends: these are the commandments the Lord gave Moses on Mount Sinai for the people of Israel.
References follow ESV book names and verse numbers. Read each verse in your Bible before the explanation.
The chapter begins with someone who fulfills a special vow to dedicate a person to the Lord. The vow was voluntary, but once made it was binding, which is why clear rules are given for carrying it out.
An animal promised to the Lord may not be swapped for another, good for bad or bad for good. If it is exchanged, both become holy. What is promised to God is not something to bargain over or haggle about.
The tithe of the land, of the seed and of the fruit of the trees belongs to the Lord and is holy to him. The tithe acknowledged that the land and its fruit are a gift from God, and it supported the Levites, who had no inheritance.
The book closes by noting that all of this consists of the commandments the Lord gave Moses for the people of Israel on Mount Sinai. Leviticus is not a loose collection of rules but teaching on how to live with a holy God who dwells among his people.
6 questions with answers and references, ready for Sunday school, small group or a Bible quiz night.
Answer: Fifty shekels of silver, by the shekel of the sanctuary. — Leviticus 27:3
Answer: He was presented to the priest, who set the value according to what the person could afford. — Leviticus 27:8
Answer: Both animals, the original and the substitute, became holy to the Lord. — Leviticus 27:10
Answer: A fifth of the value set by the priest. — Leviticus 27:15
Answer: They already belong to the Lord and no one may dedicate them again. — Leviticus 27:26
Answer: The tithe, one tenth, of the land, the seed, the fruit, the herd and the flock. — Leviticus 27:30-32
This chapter invites us to take seriously what we say to God. In church it is easy to promise in a moment of emotion, in a prayer, a campaign or at the start of the year, and then forget. Leviticus 27 teaches that a word given to the Lord is not decoration, and keeping it is a way of honoring him. In a small group you can talk about the difference between commitments made on impulse and those taken on after prayer and counsel.
The chapter also reminds us that everything belongs to the Lord, and that giving is not losing but acknowledging who the owner is. Christians are not under these redemption rules, and the New Testament encourages giving with joy and generosity rather than calculating percentages. Even so, the principle remains: what we give to God we give in gratitude, with integrity and without haggling.
Leviticus 27 closes the book with rules about vows and tithes, making clear that everything Israel has belongs to the Lord. With it ends the teaching given at Sinai about living in holiness with a God who is near. The book of Numbers continues the story: the people, still at Sinai, are counted and organized to set out toward the promised land.
It was a voluntary promise made to the Lord, such as dedicating something or someone to his service. No one was required to make a vow, but whoever did had to keep it. The chapter explains how to redeem what was promised by paying its value when a literal gift was not possible or fitting.
The tithe laws were part of Israel's covenant, and Christians are not under that law. Believers differ on whether the tithe is still a useful guide, but the New Testament calls for regular, generous and cheerful giving, recognizing that everything comes from God.
It is what is consecrated totally and irrevocably to the Lord, so that it can no longer be sold or redeemed. The text distinguishes this from ordinary vows, which could be redeemed by paying the value plus a fifth.