레위기 Chapter 27

Translation: ESV

1

The LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

Key Message

Dedications to God must be made seriously; vows must be either kept or properly redeemed.

▸Leviticus 27 is the final chapter of Leviticus, containing regulations about the redemption of vows made to God and about tithes.

Leviticus 27 is the final chapter of Leviticus, containing regulations about the redemption of vows made to God and about tithes. This chapter appears to be an appendix after the declaration of blessings and curses in Leviticus 26, prescribing how voluntary dedications (vows) made by Israelites to God are to be handled.

Related Verses

When you vow a vow to God, do not delay paying it, for he has no pleasure in fools. Pay what you vow.
2

"Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, If anyone makes a special vow to the LORD involving the valuation of persons,

Key Message

Dedication to God must be made in a concrete and measurable way.

▸A vow to offer a person to God could not be fulfilled by physically handing over the person, so a monetary equivalent could be paid instead.

3

then the valuation of a male from twenty years old up to sixty years old shall be fifty shekels of silver, according to the shekel of the sanctuary.

Key Message

Dedication to God involves real and concrete cost.

▸The redemption value of a person is set according to age and gender.

8

And if someone is too poor to pay the valuation, then he shall be made to stand before the priest, and the priest shall value him; the priest shall value him according to what the vowing person can afford.

Key Message

God ensures that all people can dedicate themselves to him regardless of their circumstances.

▸This is the regulation for the poor.

14

"When a man dedicates his house as a holy gift to the LORD, the priest shall value it as either good or bad; as the priest values it, so it shall stand.

Key Message

Material assets too can be dedicated to God; this is the practice of the stewardship principle.

▸This is the method of redeeming a vow to give one's house to God.

28

"But no devoted thing that a man devotes to the LORD, of anything that he has, whether man or beast, or of his inherited field, shall be sold or redeemed; every devoted thing is most holy to the LORD.

Key Message

What has been completely dedicated to God cannot be reclaimed; this is the prototype of the Christian's total dedication to God.

▸'A devoted thing (cherem)' is something specially set apart to God — it cannot be redeemed or bought back.

30

"Every tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land or of the fruit of the trees, is the LORD's; it is holy to the LORD.

Key Message

The tithe is a confession of faith that all produce comes from God and a practice acknowledging God's sovereignty.

▸The principle of the tithe (one-tenth) is declared.

32

And every tithe of herds and flocks, every tenth animal of all that pass under the herdsman's staff, shall be holy to the LORD.

Key Message

What is given to God must be given with integrity according to God's standard, not by our own selection.

▸The tithe of livestock was carried out by letting them pass under a staff and taking every tenth one.

34

These are the commandments that the LORD commanded Moses for the people of Israel on Mount Sinai.

Key Message

All the regulations of Leviticus are God's revelation — a complete guidebook for the holy relationship between God and his people.

▸This is the final verse of Leviticus.