Leviticus 27:26-33

EXCLUSIONS FROM THE VOW

Leviticus 27:26

"Only the firstling among beasts, which is made a firstling to the Lord, no man shall sanctify it; whether it be ox or sheep, it is the Lord's. And if it be of an unclean beast, then he shall ransom it according to thine estimation, and shall add unto it the fifth part thereof: or if it be not redeemed, then it shall be sold according to thy estimation. Notwithstanding, no devoted thing, that a man shall devote unto the Lord of all that he hath, whether of man or beast, or of the field of his possession shall be sold or redeemed i every devoted thing is most holy unto the Lord. None devoted, which shall be devoted of men shall he ransomed; he shall surely be put to death. And all the tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land, or of the fruit of the tree, is the Lord's: it is holy unto the Lord. And if a man will redeem aught of his tithe, he shall add unto it the fifth part thereof. And all the tithe of the herd or the flock, whatsoever passeth under the rod, the tenth shall be holy unto the Lord. He shall not search whether it he good or bad, neither shall he change it: and if he change it at all then both it and that for which it is changed shall be holy; it shall not be redeemed."

The remaining verses of this chapter specify three classes of property which could not be dedicated by a special vow, namely, "the firstling among beasts" (Leviticus 27:26); any "devoted thing" (Leviticus 27:28), i.e., anything which had been devoted to the Lord by the ban-as, e.g., all the persons and property in the city of Jericho by Joshua; Joshua 7:17 and, lastly, "the tithe of the land" (Leviticus 27:30). The reason for prohibiting the vowing of any of these is in every case one and the same; either by the law or by a previous personal act they already belonged to the Lord. To devote them in a vow would therefore be to vow to the Lord that over which one had no right. As for the firstborn, the Lord had declared His everlasting claim on these at the time of the Exodus; Exodus 13:12 to vow to give the Lord His own, had been absurd. To the law previously given, however, concerning the firstling of unclean beasts, Exodus 13:13 it is here added that, if a man wish to redeem such a firstling, the same law shall apply as in the redemption of what has been vowed; namely, the priest was to appraise it, and then the man whose it had been might redeem it by the payment of the amount thus fixed, increased by one fifth.