Leviticus 27:2

_SPEAK UNTO THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL, AND SAY UNTO THEM, WHEN A MAN SHALL MAKE A SINGULAR VOW, THE PERSONS SHALL BE FOR THE LORD BY THY ESTIMATION._ When a man shall make ... 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 PERSON SHALL BE FOR THE LORD ... - better rendered thus: 'According to thy estimation, the person shall be for the Lord.' Verse 3. THY ESTIMATION SHALL BE FIFTY SHEKELS OF SILVER. An Israelite servant was usually valued at 50 silver shekels, a non-Israelite servant at 30 shekels (Exodus 21:32). Since the context relates to those who voluntarily dedicated themselves to the service of the sanctuar

1-13 Zeal for the service of God disposed the Israelites, on some occasions, to dedicate themselves or their children to the service of the Lord, in his house for life. Some persons who thus dedicated themselves might be employed as assistants; in general they were to be redeemed for a value. It is good to be zealously affected and liberally disposed for the Lord's service; but the matter should be well weighed, and prudence should direct as to what we do; else rash vows and hesitation in doing them will dishonour God, and trouble our own minds....

Verse Leviticus 27:2. _WHEN A MAN SHALL MAKE A SINGULAR VOW_] The verse is short and obscure, and may be translated thus: _A man who shall_ _have separated a vow, according to thy estimation, of souls unto_ _the Lord_; which may be paraphrased thus: He who shall have vowed or consecrated a soul, i. e., a living creature, whether _man_ or _beast_, if he wish to redeem what he has thus vowed or consecrated, he shall ransom or redeem it according to the priest's estimation; for the priest shall judge of the properties, qualifications, and age of the person or beast, and the circumstances of the person who has vowed it, and shall regulate the value accordingly; and the money shall be put into his hands for the service of the sanctuary. A vow (says Mr. Ainsworth) is a religious promise made unto the Lord, and for the most part with prayer, and paid with thanksgi...

Rather, When a man makes a special vow which concerns thy valuation of persons to Yahweh, if thy estimation shall be of the male, etc. The expression “thy estimation” is addressed either to Moses or to the priest Leviticus 27:12 : it denoted a legal valuation. The vow of a person was perhaps most frequently made in cases of illness or danger, under the impulse of religions feeling, either in the way of thankfulness for blessings received, or of supplication for something desired. A man might dedicate himself, his wife, his child, or his bondservant. This might have been an old custom; but the Law ordained that he who had taken such a vow should pay a sum of money to the sanctuary, determined according to the age and sex of the person....

APPENDIX. EXPOSITION The final chapter, attached to the book after the concluding exhortation, is a short treatise on persons (Leviticus 27:2), animals (Leviticus 27:9-3), houses (Leviticus 27:14, Leviticus 27:15), lauds (Leviticus 27:16-3), vowed to God; and on the commutation of vows. A man might vow to the service of God whatever he had a right over, that is, himself, his wife, his children, his slaves, his beasts, his houses, his fields. In case persons were vowed, the rule was

SPEAK UNTO THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL, AND SAY UNTO THEM,.... This being an affair which only concerned them; for the Jewish writers say h, by this phrase, the children of Israel, Gentiles are excluded: WHEN A MAN SHALL MAKE A SINGULAR VOW; an unusual, an uncommon one, a very distinguished one, and even what is wonderful, as the word signifies; as when a man, through uncommon zeal for God and his service, devotes himself, or his children, or his cattle, or his houses or fields, to the Lord: the word "man", the Jewish writers say i, includes every male, and even a Gentile; yea, it is said all estimate and are estimated, vow and are vowed, priests, and Levites, and Israelites, women and servants k: the persons shall be for the Lord by thy estimation: as when a man devoted himself or any that belonged to him to the service of the sanctuary, out of his great zeal for it, as to assist the priest...

VII. CONCERNING VOWS The Claims of Jehovah Realized CHAPTER 27 _ 1. The singular vow (Leviticus 27:1)_ 2. The sacrifice (Leviticus 27:9) 3. Concerning the house (Leviticus 27:14) 4. Concerning the land (Leviticus 27:16) 5. Concerning the firstling (Leviticus 27:26) 6. Devoted things (Leviticus 27:28) 7. All holy to Jehovah ...

COMMUTATION FOR A PERSON. Where an individual vows himself or herself to Yahweh (_cf._ Judges 11:30 f., 1 Samuel 1:28) the commutation price will vary in proportion to the valuation of his or her labour; for a man in the prime of life this will amount to 50 sacred silver shekels (_cf._ thirty pieces of silver). This would be equivalent in early post-exilic times to something under £ 7 (the sacred silver shekel probably being equivalent to the heavy Phœ nician silver shekel, p. 116). For an infant or young child, a boy is valued at a sum roughly equivalent to 14s., a girl about 8s., and so on. In cases of poverty a special valuation is to be made....

CHILDREN. sons. MAKE. SINGULAR VOW. make. _special_ vow. Hebrew "separate. vow" because. vow was separated into negative or positive, restraining or promising, i.e., "binding" or "loosing". PERSONS. souls. Hebrew. _nephesh._ App-13....

_The case of persons_...