34 These are the commandments, H4687 which the LORD H3068 commanded H6680 Moses H4872 for the children H1121 of Israel H3478 in mount H2022 Sinai. H5514
These are the statutes H2706 and judgments H4941 and laws, H8451 which the LORD H3068 made H5414 between him and the children H1121 of Israel H3478 in mount H2022 Sinai H5514 by the hand H3027 of Moses. H4872
And the LORD H3068 spake H1696 unto Moses H4872 in the wilderness H4057 of Sinai, H5514 in the tabernacle H168 of the congregation, H4150 on the first H259 day of the second H8145 month, H2320 in the second H8145 year H8141 after they were come out H3318 of the land H776 of Egypt, H4714 saying, H559
These are the testimonies, H5713 and the statutes, H2706 and the judgments, H4941 which Moses H4872 spake H1696 unto the children H1121 of Israel, H3478 after they came forth H3318 out of Egypt, H4714
For G3754 the law G3551 was given G1325 by G1223 Moses, G3475 but grace G5485 and G2532 truth G225 came G1096 by G1223 Jesus G2424 Christ. G5547
Which things G3748 are G2076 an allegory: G238 for G1063 these G3778 are G1526 the two G1417 covenants; G1242 the one G3391 G3303 from G575 the mount G3735 Sinai, G4614 which gendereth G1080 to G1519 bondage, G1397 which G3748 is G2076 Agar. G28 For G1063 this Agar G28 is G2076 mount G3735 Sinai G4614 in G1722 Arabia, G688 and G1161 answereth G4960 to Jerusalem G2419 which G3588 now is, G3568 and G1161 is in bondage G1398 with G3326 her G846 children. G5043
For G1063 ye are G4334 not G3756 come G4334 unto the mount G3735 that might be touched, G5584 and G2532 that burned G2545 with fire, G4442 nor G2532 unto blackness, G1105 and G2532 darkness, G4655 and G2532 tempest, G2366 And G2532 the sound G2279 of a trumpet, G4536 and G2532 the voice G5456 of words; G4487 which G3739 voice they that heard G191 intreated G3868 that the word G3056 should G4369 not G3361 be spoken G4369 to them G846 any more: G3361 (For G1063 they could G5342 not G3756 endure G5342 that which was commanded, G1291 And if so much as G2579 a beast G2342 touch G2345 the mountain, G3735 it shall be stoned, G3036 or G2228 thrust through G2700 with a dart: G1002 And G2532 so G3779 terrible G5398 was G2258 the sight, G5324 that Moses G3475 said, G2036 I exceedingly fear G1630 G1510 and G2532 quake:) G1790 But G235 ye are come G4334 unto mount G3735 Sion, G4622 and G2532 unto the city G4172 of the living G2198 God, G2316 the heavenly G2032 Jerusalem, G2419 and G2532 to an innumerable company G3461 of angels, G32 To the general assembly G3831 and G2532 church G1577 of the firstborn, G4416 which are written G583 in G1722 heaven, G3772 and G2532 to God G2316 the Judge G2923 of all, G3956 and G2532 to the spirits G4151 of just men G1342 made perfect, G5048 And G2532 to Jesus G2424 the mediator G3316 of the new G3501 covenant, G1242 and G2532 to the blood G129 of sprinkling, G4473 that speaketh G2980 better things G2909 than G3844 that of Abel. G6 See G991 that ye refuse G3868 not G3361 him that speaketh. G2980 For G1063 if G1487 they G1565 escaped G5343 not G3756 who refused him G3868 that spake G5537 on G1909 earth, G1093 much G4183 more G3123 shall not we G2249 escape, if we turn away from him G654 that speaketh from G575 heaven: G3772
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Leviticus 27
Commentary on Leviticus 27 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 27
Le 27:1-18. Concerning Vows.
2-8. 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 (1Sa 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 (1Sa 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.
9-13. if it be a beast, whereof men bring an offering unto the Lord—a clean beast. After it had been vowed, it could neither be employed in common purposes nor exchanged for an equivalent—it must be sacrificed—or if, through some discovered blemish, it was unsuitable for the altar, it might be sold, and the money applied for the sacred service. If an unclean beast—such as an ass or camel, for instance, had been vowed, it was to be appropriated to the use of the priest at the estimated value, or it might be redeemed by the person vowing on payment of that value, and the additional fine of a fifth more.
14, 15. when a man shall sanctify his house to be holy unto the Lord, &c.—In this case, the house having been valued by the priest and sold, the proceeds of the sale were to be dedicated to the sanctuary. But if the owner wished, on second thought, to redeem it, he might have it by adding a fifth part to the price.
16-24. if a man shall sanctify unto the Lord some aprt of a field of his possession, &c.—In the case of acquired property in land, if not redeemed, it returned to the donor at the Jubilee; whereas the part of a hereditary estate, which had been vowed, did not revert to the owner, but remained attached in perpetuity to the sanctuary. The reason for this remarkable difference was to lay every man under an obligation to redeem the property, or stimulate his nearest kinsman to do it, in order to prevent a patrimonial inheritance going out from any family in Israel.
26, 27. Only the firstling of the beasts—These, in the case of clean beasts, being consecrated to God by a universal and standing law (Ex 13:12; 34:19), could not be devoted; and in that of unclean beasts, were subject to the rule mentioned (Le 27:11, 12).
28, 29. no devoted thing, that a man shall devote unto the Lord of all that he hath, … shall be sold or redeemed—This relates to vows of the most solemn kind—the devotee accompanying his vow with a solemn imprecation on himself not to fail in accomplishing his declared purpose.
29. shall surely be put to death—This announcement imported not that the person was to be sacrificed or doomed to a violent death; but only that he should remain till death unalterably in the devoted condition. The preceding regulations were evidently designed to prevent rashness in vowing (Ec 5:4) and to encourage serious and considerate reflection in all matters between God and the soul (Lu 21:4).
30-33. all the tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land—This law gave the sanction of divine authority to an ancient usage (Ge 14:20; 28:22). The whole produce of the land was subjected to the tithe tribute—it was a yearly rent which the Israelites, as tenants, paid to God, the owner of the land, and a thank offering they rendered to Him for the bounties of His providence. (See Pr 3:9; 1Co 9:11; Ga 6:6).
32. whatsoever passeth under the rod, &c.—This alludes to the mode of taking the tithe of cattle, which were made to pass singly through a narrow gateway, where a person with a rod, dipped in ochre, stood, and counting them, marked the back of every tenth beast, whether male or female, sound or unsound.
34. These are the commandments, &c.—The laws contained in this book, for the most part ceremonial, had an important spiritual bearing, the study of which is highly instructive (Ro 10:4; Heb 4:2; 12:18). They imposed a burdensome yoke (Ac 15:10), but yet in the infantine age of the Church formed the necessary discipline of "a schoolmaster to Christ" [Ga 3:24].