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The last verse of the foregoing chapter seemed to close up the statute-book; yet this chapter is added as an appendix. Having given laws concerning instituted services, here he directs concerning vows and voluntary services, the free-will offerings of their mouth. Perhaps some devout serious people among them might be so affected with what Moses had delivered to them in the foregoing chapter as in a pang of zeal to consecrate themselves, or their children, or estates to him: this, because honestly meant, God would accept; but, because men are apt to repent of such vows, he leaves room for the redemption of what had been so consecrated, at a certain rate. Here is, I. The law concerning what was sanctified to God, persons (Lev 27:2-8), cattle, clean or unclean (Lev 27:9-13), houses and lands (Lev 27:15-25), with an exception of firstlings, (Lev 27:26, Lev 27:27). II. Concerning what was devoted (Lev 27:28, Lev 27:29). III. Concerning tithes (Lev 27:30, etc.).

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, Lev 26:1; or of beasts, clean and unclean, good or bad, Lev 26:9; 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, Lev 26:14; 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, Lev 26:26; 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, Lev 26:30;.

And when a man shall sanctify his house to be holy unto the Lord,.... Shall set it apart for sacred service, devote it to holy uses, so that it may be sold, and the money laid out in sacrifices, the repairs of the temple, &c. under this any other goods are comprehended, concerning which the Jews say,"he that sanctifieth his goods, and his wife's dowry is upon him, or he is a debtor; his wife cannot demand her, dowry out of that which is sanctified, nor a creditor his debt; but if he will redeem he may redeem, on condition that he gives the dowry to the wife, and the debt to the creditor; if he has set apart ninety pounds and his debt is an hundred, he may add a penny more, and with it redeem those goods, on condition he gives the wife her dowry and the creditor his debt: whether he sanctifies or estimates his goods, he has no power over his wife's or children's clothes, nor over coloured things, died on their account, nor on new, shoes he has bought for them (z), &c.''again it is said (a),"if anyone sanctified his goods, and there were among them things fit for the altar; wine, oil, and fowls, R. Eliezer says, they might be sold to those that need any of, that kind, and with the price of them burnt offerings might be bought, and the rest of the goods fell to the repair of the temple:" then the priest shall estimate it whether it be good or bad; shall examine it of what size and in what condition it is, whether a large well built house or not, and whether in good repair or not, and accordingly set a price upon it: as the priest shall estimate it, so shall it stand; according to the price he shall set upon it, it may be sold; whoever will give it may purchase it, excepting the owner or he that has sanctified it, he must pay a fifth part more, as follows. (z) Misn. Eracin, c. 6. sect. 2, 5. (a) Misn. Shekalim, c. 4. sect. 8.

Laws concerning vows, Lev 27:1, Lev 27:2. Of males and females from twenty to sixty years of age, and their valuation, Lev 27:3, Lev 27:4. Of the same from five to twenty years, Lev 27:5. Of the same from a month to five years of age, Lev 27:6. Of males and females from sixty years old and upwards, and their valuation, Lev 27:7. The priest shall value the poor according to his ability, Lev 27:8. Concerning beasts that are vowed, and their valuation, Lev 27:9-13. Concerning the sanctification of a house, Lev 27:14, Lev 27:15. Concerning the field that is sanctified or consecrated to the Lord, to the year of jubilee, Lev 27:16-24. Every estimation shall be made in shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, Lev 27:25. The firstlings of clean beasts, being already the Lord's, cannot be vowed, Lev 27:26. That of an unclean beast may be redeemed, Lev 27:27. Every thing devoted to God shall be unalienable and unredeemable, and continue the Lord's property till death, Lev 27:28, Lev 27:29. All the tithe of the land is the Lord's, Lev 27:30; but it may be redeemed by adding a fifth part, Lev 27:31. The tithe of the herd and the flock is also his, Lev 27:32. The tenth that passes under the rod shall not be changed, Lev 27:33. The conclusion of the book, Lev 27:34.

Shall add a fifth part - This was probably intended to prevent rash vows and covetous redemptions. The priest alone was to value the thing; and to whatever his valuation was, a fifth part must be added by him who wished to redeem the consecrated thing. Thus, if the priest valued it at forty shekels, if the former owner redeemed it he was obliged to give forty-eight.

CONCERNING VOWS. (Lev. 27:1-18) When a man shall make a singular vow, &c.--Persons have, at all times and in all places, been accustomed to present votive offerings, either from gratitude for benefits received, or in the event of deliverance from apprehended evil. And Moses was empowered, by divine authority, to prescribe the conditions of this voluntary duty. the persons shall be for the Lord, &c.--better rendered thus:--"According to thy estimation, the persons shall be for the Lord." Persons might consecrate themselves or their children to the divine service, in some inferior or servile kind of work about the sanctuary (Sa1 3:1). In the event of any change, the persons so devoted had the privilege in their power of redeeming themselves; and this chapter specifies the amount of the redemption money, which the priest had the discretionary power of reducing, as circumstances might seem to require. Those of mature age, between twenty and sixty, being capable of the greatest service, were rated highest; young people, from five till twenty, less, because not so serviceable; infants, though devotable by their parents before birth (Sa1 1:11), could not be offered nor redeemed till a month after birth; old people were valued below the young, but above children; and the poor--in no case freed from payment, in order to prevent the rash formation of vows--were rated according to their means.

The directions concerning vows follow the express termination of the Sinaitic lawgiving (Lev 26:46), as an appendix to it, because vows formed no integral part of the covenant laws, but were a freewill expression of piety common to almost all nations, and belonged to the modes of worship current in all religions, which were not demanded and might be omitted altogether, and which really lay outside the law, though it was necessary to bring them into harmony with the demands of the law upon Israel. Making a vow, therefore, or dedicating anything to the Lord by vowing, was not commanded, but was presupposed as a manifestation of reverence for God, sanctified by ancient tradition, and was simply regulated according to the principle laid down in Deu 23:22-24, that it was not a sin to refrain from vowing, but that every vow, when once it had been made, was to be conscientiously and inviolably kept (cf. Pro 20:25; Ecc 5:3-5), and the neglect to keep it to be atoned for with a sin-offering (Lev 5:4). - The objects of a vow might be persons (Lev 27:2-8), cattle (Lev 27:9-13), houses (Lev 27:14, Lev 27:15), and land (Lev 27:16-25), all of which might be redeemed with the exception of sacrificial animals; but not the first-born (Lev 27:26), nor persons and things dedicated to the Lord by the ban (Lev 27:28, Lev 27:29), nor tithes (Lev 27:30-33), because all of these were to be handed over to the Lord according to the law, and therefore could not be redeemed. This followed from the very idea of the vow. For a vow was a promise made by any one to dedicate and given his own person, or a portion of his property, to the Lord for averting some danger and distress, or for bringing to his possession some desired earthly good. - Besides ordinary vowing or promising to give, there was also vowing away, or the vow of renunciation, as is evident from Num 30. The chapter before us treats only of ordinary vowing, and gives directions for redeeming the thing vowed, in which it is presupposed that everything vowed to the Lord would fall to His sanctuary as corban, an offering (Mar 7:11); and therefore, that when it was redeemed, the money would also be paid to His sanctuary. - (On the vow, see my Archaeologie, 96; Oehler in Herzog's Cycl.)

But if the person vowing wanted to redeem it, he was to add a fifth above the valuation price, as a kind of compensation for taking back the animal he had vowed (cf. Lev 5:16).