Context at a Glance
Author:Traditional Attribution
Topic:leviticus Chapter 27 Study
This chapter provides a foundational look at the theological themes of leviticus, analyzed across multiple historic translations for maximum scholarly depth.
Leviticus 27
New Revised Standard Version
1The LORD spoke to Moses, saying:
2Speak to the people of Israel and say to them: When a person makes an explicit vow to the LORD concerning the equivalent for a human being,
3the equivalent for a male shall be: from twenty to sixty years of age the equivalent shall be fifty shekels of silver by the sanctuary shekel.
4If the person is a female, the equivalent is thirty shekels.
5If the age is from five to twenty years of age, the equivalent is twenty shekels for a male and ten shekels for a female.
6If the age is from one month to five years, the equivalent for a male is five shekels of silver, and for a female the equivalent is three shekels of silver.
7And if the person is sixty years old or over, then the equivalent for a male is fifteen shekels, and for a female ten shekels.
8If any cannot afford the equivalent, they shall be brought before the priest and the priest shall assess them; the priest shall assess them according to what each one making a vow can afford.
9If it concerns an animal that may be brought as an offering to the LORD, any such that may be given to the LORD shall be holy.
10Another shall not be exchanged or substituted for it, either good for bad or bad for good; and if one animal is substituted for another, both that one and its substitute shall be holy.
11If it concerns any unclean animal that may not be brought as an offering to the LORD, the animal shall be presented before the priest.
12The priest shall assess it: whether good or bad, according to the assessment of the priest, so it shall be.
13But if it is to be redeemed, one-fifth must be added to the assessment.
14If a person consecrates a house to the LORD, the priest shall assess it: whether good or bad, as the priest assesses it, so it shall stand.
15And if the one who consecrates the house wishes to redeem it, one-fifth shall be added to its assessed value, and it shall revert to the original owner.
16If a person consecrates to the LORD any inherited landholding, its assessment shall be in accordance with its seed requirements: fifty shekels of silver to a homer of barley seed.
17If the person consecrates the field as of the year of jubilee, that assessment shall stand;
18but if the field is consecrated after the jubilee, the priest shall compute the price for it according to the years that remain until the year of jubilee, and the assessment shall be reduced.
19And if the one who consecrates the field wishes to redeem it, then one-fifth shall be added to its assessed value, and it shall revert to the original owner;
20but if the field is not redeemed, or if it has been sold to someone else, it shall no longer be redeemable.
21But when the field is released in the jubilee, it shall be holy to the LORD as a devoted field; it becomes the priest's holding.
22If someone consecrates to the LORD a field that has been purchased, which is not a part of the inherited landholding,
23the priest shall compute for it the proportionate assessment up to the year of jubilee, and the assessment shall be paid as of that day, a sacred donation to the LORD.
24In the year of jubilee the field shall return to the one from whom it was bought, whose holding the land is.
25All assessments shall be by the sanctuary shekel: twenty gerahs shall make a shekel.
26A firstling of animals, however, which as a firstling belongs to the LORD, cannot be consecrated by anyone; whether ox or sheep, it is the LORD's.
27If it is an unclean animal, it shall be ransomed at its assessment, with one-fifth added; if it is not redeemed, it shall be sold at its assessment.
28Nothing that a person owns that has been devoted to destruction for the LORD, be it human or animal, or inherited landholding, may be sold or redeemed; every devoted thing is most holy to the LORD.
29No human beings who have been devoted to destruction can be ransomed; they shall be put to death.
30All tithes from the land, whether the seed from the ground or the fruit from the tree, are the LORD's; they are holy to the LORD.
31If persons wish to redeem any of their tithes, they must add one-fifth to them.
32All tithes of herd and flock, every tenth one that passes under the shepherd's staff, shall be holy to the LORD.
33Let no one inquire whether it is good or bad, or make substitution for it; if one makes substitution for it, then both it and the substitute shall be holy and cannot be redeemed.
34These are the commandments that the LORD gave to Moses for the people of Israel on Mount Sinai. NUMBERS
266NUMBERS Introduction Numbers, the fourth book of the Torah or Pentateuch, is concerned with events during the Israelites' travels in the wilderness. Its English name, which derives from that of early Greek translation, refers to the censuses that occur at the beginning and end of the wilderness period chs
1and 26). The book consists of prescriptions woven around a narrative thread. It has two main sources: the Priestly writings (chs 1-9; 15; 17-19; 26-31; 3436; and parts of 10; 13-14; 16; 20; 25; 32-33), mostly legal in character but having their own basic narrative; and a non-Priestly narrative source (the remaining portions). Neither of these is a single, unified body of work. The Priestly materials consist of the "Priestly Torah" (PT) and the "Holiness School" (HS). Of the two, HS largely predominates. Some of the chief concerns of the HS include the centrality of the sanctuary and, with this, God's presence among the people, and the installation of the Levites as sanctuary servants. The non-Priestly narrative sections have been ascribed to a combination of the Yahwist (Jahwist) and Elohist sources (JE), which are not easily distinguished in Numbers. For possible dates of PT and HS, see the Introduction to Leviticus. Though the date and extent of the non-Priestly material is debated by scholars, it predates the Priestly Torah/Holiness School portions. HT TH The book has three main sections. (1) Preparations for travel in the wilderness (chs 1-10). This section is mainly prescriptive. Its focus is the census and camp arrangement of the Israelites (chs 1-2; 5.1-4); the census, camp arrangement, duties, and consecration of the Levites (chs 3-4; 7-8); and the arrangement of the tribes and sanctuary while on the march (9.15-10.36). Interspersed in this are various prescriptions or descriptions concerning the guilt offering, suspected adultery, the nazirite vow, and the priestly blessing NUMBERS
267(5.5-6.27); and the delayed passover (9.1-4). It is not always clear why these laws are placed where they are now found. The section is almost entirely Priestly in origin. (2) Travels in the wilderness (chs 11-25). This is mostly narrative, and combines Priestly and non-Priestly materials. The narrative elements include rebellions and complaints by Israelites, Miriam and Aaron, and the scouts (chs 11-14); the rebellion of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram (chs 16-17); and Israel's encounters with various enemies, Balaam's blessing, and the Baal-peor incident (chs 20-25). Sections of prescriptions interspersed among these chapters include rules on offerings, sabbath violation (in a narrative context), and wearing fringes (ch 15); priesthood and Levitical duties (ch 18); and corpse contamination (ch 19). (3) The end of the wilderness travels and preparations for entering the land of Canaan (chs 26-36). This section is mostly prescriptive. Portions that are closely connected with the narrative flow or the topic of acquiring the land of Canaan include the second census (ch 26); laws on female inheritance (27.1-11); the transfer of civil leadership to Joshua (27.12-23); revenge against the Midianites (ch 31); the distribution of the Transjordan land (ch 32); Levitical cities and homicide laws (ch 35); and a supplement to laws of female inheritance (ch 36). Portions less visibly connected with the narrative context are the ritual calendar (chs 2829); and rules about women's vows (ch 30). This section is almost entirely Priestly in origin. At first reading the book might begin with the main narrative, chs 1; 10-14; 16-17; 20-27; 31-33. The legal sections are more difficult to understand, and my best be read according to different topics: the Levites (chs 3-4; 7-8; 18; 35); priestly and Levitical duties (chs 3-4; 16-17; 18; 35); the arrangement of camp (chs 2-3; 10); laws pertaining to women (ch 5; 27.1-11; chs 30; 36); holy days (9.1-14; 15.32-36; chs 28-29); impurity and holiness (5.1-4; chs 6; 16-17; 19; 35); sacrifices and offerings (chs 7; 15; 28-29); and distribution of the land (27.1-11; chs 32; 34-36). For suggestions on reading legal sections, see the Introduction to the book of Leviticus. Any reading of the legal material in Numbers must ultimately be done in the larger context of the Priestly writings in Some of these are especially difficult, and might be studied together HT TH NUMBERS
268and in connection with the style of the Psalms (6.24-26; 10.35-36; 20.1415, 17-18, 27-30; 23.7-10, 18-24; 24.3-9, 15-24).