Charles Ellicott Commentary Leviticus 27

And the Lord spake unto Moses.—Like the group of enactments contained in Leviticus 25:1-26:45, the regulations about the different kinds of vows are introduced with the formula that indicates that this section constitutes a separate divine communication.

Since various allusions to vows are made throughout this book, thus legally acknowledging the ancient practice of votive offerings (Leviticus 7:16; Leviticus 22:18; Leviticus 22:21; Leviticus 22:23; Leviticus 23:38), the Levitical code would be incomplete without defining the nature and obligation of these self-imposed sacrifices. This code is pre-eminently designed to uphold the holiness of the sanctuary and its sacrifices, as well as the holiness of the priests and the people.

Shall make a singular vow. —Better, shall consecrate a vow .

According to the interpretation of this phrase that prevailed during the second Temple, it denotes shall pronounce a vow. Therefore, the ancient Chaldee Versions render it, “shall distinctly pronounce a vow.”

Consequently, no vow mentally made or conceived was considered binding; it had to be distinctly pronounced in words.

The form of the vow is nowhere given in the Bible. Like many other points of detail, its wording was left to the administrators of the law.

They divided vows into two classes:

1. Positive vows, by which a man bound himself to consecrate for religious purposes his own person, those members of his family over whom he had control, or any portion of his property. For this kind of vow, the formula was: “Behold I consecrate this to the Lord.”
2. Negative vows, by which he promised to abstain from enjoying a certain thing. For this, the formula was: “Such and such a thing be unlawful to me for so many days, weeks, or forever.”

The persons shall be for the Lord by thy estimation. —Better, souls to the Lord according to thy estimation.

That is, the vow consists of consecrating persons to the Lord with the intention of redeeming with money the persons thus consecrated, according to the valuation placed upon them by Moses.

This part of the verse explains the nature of the vow and assumes that consecrating a human being to God by a vow means substituting their money value.

By the suffix “thy estimation,” Moses is referred to, to whom these regulations are Divinely communicated here, and on whom it devolved initially to carry out the law (see Leviticus 5:15, 18).

During the second Temple period, any Israelite could estimate the money value of a person vowed in this way to the Lord.

And thy estimation shall be of the male. —Better, Then your estimation of the male will be (as follows).

From twenty years old even unto sixty years old. —The estimation not only begins with the male, who is the most important person, but takes special notice of his age. The years here specified represent the prime of his life, and he is to be rated not according to his rank or position, but according to the value of his services.

Fifty shekels of silver, after the shekel of the sanctuary. —Whether the person who makes this vow makes it with regard to himself, or whether he dedicates by it any other member of the community, he is to pay fifty silver shekels, which in our currency would be £6 9s. 2d., if the man thus consecrated is between twenty and sixty years of age. This sum he is to pay, whether rich or poor. For this sum he was liable, during the second Temple, if he said “My value be upon me,” or “This man’s value be upon me,” or “Such a man’s value be upon me.”

And if it be a female ... thirty shekels. —As the woman is the weaker vessel, and her labour is of less value, if she vows herself or dedicates by a vow another woman to the sanctuary, she is to pay thirty shekels, or £3 17s. 6d., provided she is within the above-named limits of age. This was the value of a slave (Exodus 21:32), and is the price at which Christ was sold (Matthew 27:9). It is supposed that under this provision Jephthah might have redeemed his daughter whom he unwittingly vowed to the Lord (Judges 11:30). (However, see Leviticus 27:29.)

If it be from five years old, even unto twenty years. — From the fact that a child of five years is mentioned here, it is evident that the vows spoken of here are not simply those which a person makes regarding themselves, but also those which they make for others, since a vow made by a child involving the payment of a considerable sum of money was not binding. The case, therefore, considered here is that of a father or mother vowing their male child to the Lord, or of any other person taking it upon themselves to pay the value of such and such a child to the sanctuary. This is even more manifest from the following verse.

The male twenty shekels. — Since the services of a boy at the age specified here are of much less value, the parent, or anyone else, who vows him to the sanctuary, is to pay £2 11s. 8d.

The female ten shekels. — For the girl, whose value is proportionately less, the vower is to pay £1 5s. 10d. This is the same value placed on an old woman .