271 And Jehovah spoke to Moses, saying, 2 Speak unto the children of Israel and say unto them, When any one devoteth [anything] by a vow, the persons shall be for Jehovah according to thy valuation. 3 And thy valuation shall be of the male from twenty years old even unto sixty years old: thy valuation shall be fifty shekels of silver, after the shekel of the sanctuary; 4 and if it be of a female, thy valuation shall be thirty shekels. 5 And if it be from five years old even unto twenty years old, thy valuation of the male shall be twenty shekels, and for the female ten shekels. 6 And if it be from a month old even unto five years old, thy valuation of the male shall be five shekels of silver; and for the female thy valuation shall be three shekels of silver. 7 And if it be from sixty years old and above, if it be a male, thy valuation shall be fifteen shekels; and for the female ten shekels. 8 And if he be poorer than thy valuation, he shall present himself before the priest, and the priest shall value him: according to his means that vowed shall the priest value him. 9 And if it be a beast whereof men bring an offering unto Jehovah, all that they give of such unto Jehovah shall be holy. 10 They shall not alter it nor change it, a good for a bad, or a bad for a good; and if he at all change beast for beast, then it and the exchange thereof shall be holy. 11 And if it be any unclean beast, of which they do not bring an offering unto Jehovah, then he shall present the beast before the priest; 12 and the priest shall value it, [judging] between good and bad: according to the valuation of the priest, so shall it be. 13 And if they will in any wise redeem it, then they shall add a fifth [part] thereof unto thy valuation.
14 And when any one halloweth his house, that it may be holy to Jehovah, the priest shall value it, [judging] between good and bad: as the priest shall value it, so shall it stand. 15 And if he that halloweth it will redeem his house, he shall add the fifth of the money of thy valuation unto it, and it shall be his. 16 And if a man hallow to Jehovah [part] of a field of his possession, thy valuation shall be according to what may be sown in it: the homer of barley seed at fifty shekels of silver. 17 If he hallow his field from the year of jubilee, according to thy valuation shall it stand; 18 but if he hallow his field after the jubilee, then the priest shall reckon unto him the money according to the years that remain, until the year of the jubilee; and there shall be a reduction from thy valuation.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Leviticus 27:1-18
Commentary on Leviticus 27:1-13
(Read Leviticus 27:1-13)
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.
Commentary on Leviticus 27:14-25
(Read Leviticus 27:14-25)
Our houses, lands, cattle, and all our substance, must be used to the glory of God. It is acceptable to him that a portion be given to support his worship, and to promote his cause. But God would not approve such a degree of zeal as ruined a man's family.