Leviticus 27:1-13 NKJV 27 Now the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: ‘When a man consecrates by a vow certain persons to the Lord, according to your valuation, 3 if your valuation is of a male from twenty years old up to sixty years old, then your valuation shall be fifty shekels of silver, according to the shekel of the sanctuary. 4 If it is a female, then your valuation shall be thirty shekels; 5 and if from five years old up to twenty years old, then your valuation for a male shall be twenty shekels, and for a female ten shekels; 6 and if from a month old up to five years old, then your valuation for a male shall be five shekels of silver, and for a female your valuation shall be three shekels of silver; 7 and if from sixty years old and above, if it is a male, then your valuation shall be fifteen shekels, and for a female ten shekels.
8 ‘But if he is too poor to pay your valuation, then he shall present himself before the priest, and the priest shall set a value for him; according to the ability of him who vowed, the priest shall value him.
9 ‘If it is an animal that men may bring as an offering to the Lord, all that anyone gives to the Lord shall be holy. 10 He shall not substitute it or exchange it, good for bad or bad for good; and if he at all exchanges animal for animal, then both it and the one exchanged for it shall be holy. 11 If it is an unclean animal which they do not offer as a sacrifice to the Lord, then he shall present the animal before the priest; 12 and the priest shall set a value for it, whether it is good or bad; as you, the priest, value it, so it shall be. 13 But if he wants at all to redeem it, then he must add one-fifth to your valuation.
Today’s reading contains the regulations for when a person wishes to dedicate a person or animal to God by a vow. In other words, a person could make a vow, promising to give a person or animal to God if God delivered the person from some trouble. For example, “If the Lord will be gracious and deliver me from my enemy, I will give Him the next sheep to be born in my flock.” Many of the Psalms include references to “paying one’s vows” (e.g., Ps. 66:13-14). If the Lord granted the requested help, the vow was to be paid as soon as possible.
Clean animals dedicated by a vow had to be sacrificed, while unclean animals could be redeemed. In most cases, a person who made a vow to dedicate a person to God would end up redeeming the person by paying the price established here. In rare cases, the person who was dedicated to the Lord would not be redeemed, as Hannah presented her son Samuel to serve the Lord after the Lord granted her request for a child (cf. 1 Sam. 1), or, in a corrupted example, as the judge Jephthah sinfully sacrificed his daughter because of his ill-spoken vow (cf. Judges 11:30-40).
There were three purposes for regulating vows like these. They taught the people of Israel (1) to look expectantly to the Lord for help in times of trouble; (2) to give thanks to the Lord for His help by giving up a precious life to the Lord in return for His help (even though the life was sometimes exchanged for money); and (3) to support the divine service of the priests, in order to provide for their material and financial needs.
Now that the Lord Jesus has given His own precious life to redeem us from sin, death, and the devil, and, through Baptism, has made us holy to the Lord, there is no other life, neither human nor animal, that we can dedicate to God in recognition of His mighty deliverance, except for our own lives. As Paul wrote, “You are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s” (1 Cor. 6:19-20). And again, “Present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship” (Rom. 12:1, ESV). Let us pray: Take my life and let it be consecrated, Lord, to Thee. Take my moments and my days. Let them flow in ceaseless praise! Amen (TLH 400, st. 1).