Leviticus 27:27-34

27 If it is one of the unclean livestock, it must be ransomed according to your valuation by adding a fifth of its value to it. If it is not redeemed, it can be sold according to your valuation.^[a]

28 "Nothing that a man permanently sets apart to the Lord from all he owns, whether a person, an animal, or his inherited landholding, can be sold or redeemed; everything set apart is especially holy to the Lord.

29 No person who has been set apart [for destruction] is to be ransomed; he must be put to death.^[b]

30 "Every tenth of the land's produce, grain from the soil or fruit from the trees, belongs to the Lord;^[c] it is holy to the Lord.

31 If a man decides to redeem any part of this tenth, he must add one-fifth to its value.

32 Every tenth animal from the herd or flock, which passes under the [shepherd's] rod,^[d] will be holy to the Lord.

33 He is not to inspect whether it is good or bad, and he is not to make a substitution for it. But if he does make a substitution, both the animal and its substitute will be holy; they cannot be redeemed."^[e]

34 These are the commands the Lord gave Moses for the Israelites on Mount Sinai.^[f]

Leviticus 27:27-34 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO LEVEITICUS 27

This chapter contains various laws concerning vows made unto the Lord, whether of persons whose estimation was to be made by the priest, according to their age, sex, and condition, Le 26:1-8; or of beasts, clean and unclean, good or bad, Le 26:9-13; or of houses, fields, and lands, the estimation of which was to be according to its seed, and the time of its being set apart, whether from or after the year of jubilee, and the number of years to it, Le 26:14-25; with this exception to the above laws, that no firstling of the Lord's might be sanctified, and if an unclean beast it might be redeemed, but nothing devoted to the Lord, whether of man, beast, or field, might be sold or redeemed, Le 26:26-29; and the chapter is concluded with some laws concerning the redemption or change of tithes, what might or what might not be redeemed or changed, Le 26:30-34;

Footnotes

• [a] Ex 13:13; 34:20
• [b] Jos 6:17; Nm 21:1-3; 31:7,13-17; 1 Sm 15:17-33
• [c] Nm 18:21-32; Dt 14:22-29; Neh 10:37-39
• [d] Gn 28:22; 2 Ch 31:6; Jr 33:13
• [e] Lv 27:10
• [f] Nm 36:13