Leviticus 27:3

_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 27:3. _FROM TWENTY YEARS OLD EVEN UNTO SIXTY-FIFTY SHEKELS_] A man from _twenty_ to _sixty_ years of age, if consecrated to the Lord by a vow, might be redeemed for _fifty shekels_, which, at 3_s_. each, amounted to 7_£_. 10_s_. sterling....

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

AND THY ESTIMATION SHALL BE,.... The estimation of the man himself that vowed, or of the priest for him, was not left to be made by either of them at their pleasure, but was to be made according to the following rules, in proportion to the age a person was of to be estimated: OF THE MALE FROM TWENTY YEARS OLD EVEN UNTO SIXTY YEARS OLD: the account begins with these, because men of an age from the one to the other are fittest for labour, and therefore to be set at the highest price, as they are in the next clause: EVEN THAT ESTIMATION SHALL BE FIFTY SHEKELS OF SILVER, AFTER THE SHEKEL OF THE SANCTUARY; a shekel was about half a crown of our money, or somewhat less, so that fifty of these amounted to about six pounds: these shekels were to be of the full weight, according to the standard that was kept in the sanctuary, and were the highest price that was set upon any; and this was paid e...

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....

_The case of persons_...

WHEN A MAN SHALL MAKE A SINGULAR VOW, &C.— Or, it may be read, _When any one shall set apart to the Lord a vow, according to such valuation of persons as thou shalt fix, and thy valuation shall be of a male from twenty years old to sixty years old; then thou shalt set the value at fifty shekels of silver, after the shekel of the sanctuary._ 4. _But if it be a female, the rate shall be,_ &c. The phrase in the original _shall separate,_ or _set apart, a vow,_ signifies to separate any thing from a common to a sacred use by solemn promise; for _vows_ were religious promises made to God, for obtaining some blessing, or for deliverance out of some danger; and were accompanied with prayer, and paid with thanksgiving, Numbers 21:2. Psalms 66:13. Eceles....