Lesson

#19
Of Vows and Promises
(Levi&cus 27: 1-34)

Of Vows and Promises

As we learned in our study of Exodus (Lesson #9) ancient Near Eastern

covenants were commonplace between sovereigns and vassals, and
typically they had a 6-part standardized form:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

Preamble, or introduc&on of the speaker;

Historical prologue;
S&pula&ons;
The document;
Calling the gods as witnesses; and
Blessings and curses.

Gods covenant with the Israelites follows this 6-part form, and it spans
Exodus 20 through Levi&cus 26. In Levi&cus 26 God addresses Part 6,
enumera&ng the Blessings and Curses, the rewards for obedience and the
punishments for disobedience. The rewards are general statements of
prosperity, but the punishments are very specic and chilling.

Of Vows and Promises

Exodus 20 through Levi&cus 26 expresses Gods covenant with the

Israelites in its totality. Levi&cus 27 then func&ons much like an
appendix to the covenant, and its topic is vows and dedica6onsgi]s
to the sanctuary which cons&tute a large part of the income needed to
implement the covenant, operate the Tabernacle and compensate the
priests.

Of Vows and Promises

The local parish sits at the center of

Roman Catholic life. It is our
spiritual home, our faith community
and our support system. It is the
place where we bap&ze infants and
new believers, educate our children,
conrm them in the faith, conduct
weddings, bring people closer to
Christ through the sacraments, oer
spiritual guidance and provide
encouragement in illness and
consola&on in death.

St. Monica Catholic Community,

Santa Monica, California.

Most importantly, the parish is

where we celebrate Mass and enjoy
the privilege of sharing in the
Eucharist, the body and blood of
Christ.

[Dr. Creasys home parish during his 28 years at UCLA.]

Of Vows and Promises

The local parish is the engine of the Catholic

community. But like any engine, it needs fuel
to operate. Sta must be paid, programs
developed and supported, buildings
constructed and maintained, u&li&es paid,
and countless other nancial obliga&ons met.
Consequently, most parishes generate
revenue through a variety of sources:
Sunday dona&ons in the collec&on baskets
Automa&c online weekly or monthly dona&ons
Extraordinary gi]s (e.g., a &the of parishioners'
unexpected revenue, such as a tax refund, an
inheritance or the sale of property)
Charitable gi] annui&es
Capital campaigns
and many more.

Of Vows and Promises

In the same way the Tabernacle

and the sanctuary opera&ons must
be fueled. Consequently, Levi&cus
27 concerns gi]s to the sanctuary:
1. vows of persons and animals (1-13);
2. consecra&ons of houses and elds
(14-25); and
3. consecra&ons of rstborn,
proscrip&ons and &thes (26-33).

Of Vows and Promises

As Robert Alter rather shrewdly observes:

Robert Alter,

Professor of Hebrew and Compara&ve Literature,

University of California, Berkeley.

This miscellany of laws seems, by modern

lights, an odd way to conclude a book.
Interpre6ve aLempts have been made to
rescue it as a thema6cally appropriate
conclusion, but none is altogether persuasive.
This nal chapter is best regarded as an
appendix to Levi6cus focusing on a variety of
laws pertaining to voluntary oerings and
taxed obliga6ons to the sanctuary. Perhaps
these monetary issues, necessary for the
maintenance of the sanctuary but not
altogether agreeable for the audience of the
book to contemplate, were deliberately tacked
on at the very end.

The Five Books of Moses, p. 667.

Of Vows and Promises

Very few pastors like the

fund-raising part of their
jobsand only a handful are
really good at it.
Not me.

Of Vows and Promises

The laws of redemp&on in

Levi&cus 27 t into a graded
system:
1. Proscrip&ons are the most sacred and
they are irredeemable;
2. Oerable animals, whether rstborn,
&thes or consecra&ons are
irredeemable; and
3. Non-oerable consecra&ons, such as
impure animals, land, houses and
crops are redeemable.
In general, oerable animals are
irredeemable because they must be
sacriced on the altar; non-oerable
animals and other consecra&ons are
always redeemable unless they are
proscrip&ons.
Of Vows and Promises

So, lets have a look at

chapter 27, examining
rst the vows regarding
people.

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10

Vows Regarding People

27: 1-8
The Lord said to Moses: Speak to the Israelites and
tell them: When anyone makes a vow to the Lord with
respect to the value of a human being, the value for
males between the ages of twenty and sixty shall be
fifty silver shekels, by the sanctuary shekel; and for a
female, the value shall be thirty shekels. For persons
between the ages of five and twenty, the value for a
male shall be twenty shekels, and for a female, ten
shekels. For persons between the ages of one month
and five years, the value for a male shall be five
silver shekels, and for a female, three shekels . . .

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11

For persons of sixty or more, for a male the value

shall be fifteen shekels, and ten shekels for a female.
However, if the one who made the vow is too poor to
meet the sum, the person must be set before the
priest, who shall determine a value; the priest will do
this in keeping with the means of the one who made
the vow.

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12

To consecrate ones self or someone else (such as a

child) by a vow to the Lord is a purely voluntary
act, indica&ng that such a person belongs wholly
and completely to God.
Perhaps at a &me of distress or out of gra&tude,
one might do this. We have such an example in 1
Samuel when Hannah, who had been childless for
many years, vows to God that if she bears a son,
she will give him to the Lord:
[Hannah said to her husband], once the child [Samuel]
is weaned, I will take him to appear before the Lord and
leave him there forever. Her husband Elkanah answered
her: Do what you think best; wait un6l you have
weaned him. Only may the Lord fulll his word! And so
she remained at home and nursed her son un6l she had
weaned him. Once he was weaned, she brought him up
with her, along with a three-year-old bull, an ephah of
our, and a skin of wine, and presented him at the house
of the Lord in Shiloh.





(1 Samuel 1: 22-24)
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13

Levi&cus 27: 1-13 allows a person who makes

such a vow to subs&tute a monetary oering
in place of the person, paying a redemp&on
price to the priests at the sanctuary.
The value of a person varies, based upon
gender and age.
Gender

Age

Value (in Shekels)

Male
Female

20-60
20-60

50
30

Male
Female

5-20
5-20

20
10

Male
Female

1 month-5 5
1 month-5 3

Male
Female

60-up
60-up

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15
10
14

Well, look at that! It

seems that men have
a greater
alue
Not vm
e. than
women!

You can say

that again,
buster!

Of Vows and Promises

Well, thats
not right!

15

Quite the contrary! Genesis 1: 27 makes it clear

that men and women are equal in Gods eyes:
God created mankind in his image;
in the image of God he created them;
male and female he created them.

p And St. Paul arms this fundamental equality

between men and women in Gala&ans 3: 28,
when he says of the Chris&an community in
Gala&a:

There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave

nor free person, there is not male and female; for you
are all one in Christ Jesus.

In Gods eyes men and women are intrinsically

equal. Levi&cus 27: 1-13 reects the economic
value of men and women at various ages in an
agricultural society, in which men and women
fulll very dierent roles. Clearly, men 20-60 have
a higher economic value than women 20-60 or
boys 5-20; hence, their higher redemp&on price.
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16

Nonetheless, Levi&cus views women as having

signicant economic value, compared to
women in other ancient (and many modern)
Near Eastern cultures.
Jacob Milgrom illustrates this nicely in a chart*:
P
Age

Male

Female Combined
shekels

shekels

Female %

0-5

38

5-20

20

10

30

33

20-60

50

30

80

38

60+

15

10

25

40

shekels

*Levi6cus (Con&nental Commentary), p. 327.

Of Vows and Promises

% of combined

17

OK, I get it. But in

terms of todays
money, how much
Not me.
would the redemp&on
price be?

Of Vows and Promises

I didnt have a
redemp&on price.
He got me for free
at the pound.

18

At the &me of Levi&cus a shekel was a

measure of weight, not a coin. One shekel
equaled about 180 grains.
In todays terms, if silver is $16 per ounce, 1
shekel would equal about $6.50. Thus, the
p redemp&on prices would be:
Gender

Age

Todays Value

Male
Female

20-60
20-60

$ 325.00
$ 195.00

Male

Female

5-20
5-20

$ 130.00
$ 65.00

Male

Female

1 month-5
1 month-5

$ 32.50
$ 19.50

Male

Female

60-up
60-up

$ 97.50
$ 65.00

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One nal note: we read in 27: 8 that if a

person is too poor to pay the set redemp&on
price, he may present himself to the priest,
who will set a redemp&on price in keeping
with the means of the one who made the
p vow.
Thus, anyone could make a vow to the Lord,
regardless of his or her economic condi&on.
Its important to note, too, that the
redemp&on prices are based solely upon
gender and age, not upon social status or
posi&on, reec&ng the radical social equality
con&nually stressed in Gods covenant with
the Israelites and throughout Levi&cus.
The redemp6on price is paid to the sanctuary
and used for its maintenance and opera6ons.
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Next, we turn to vows

regarding animals that
may be sacriced.

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21

Vows Regarding Animals

27: 9-13
If the offering vowed to the Lord is an animal that
may be sacrificed, every such animal given to the Lord
becomes sacred. The offerer shall not substitute or
exchange another for it, either a worse or a better one.
If the offerer exchanges one animal in place of another,
both the original and its substitute shall become sacred.
If any unclean animal which is unfit for sacrifice to the
Lord is vowed, it must be set before the priest, who
shall determine its value in keeping with its good and
bad qualities, and the value set by the priest shall
stand. If the offerer wishes to redeem the animal, the
person shall pay one fifth more than this valuation.

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If one oers an animal that may be sacriced

that is, an unblemished bull, lamb or goatit
must be sacriced on the altar; it cannot be
redeemed.
If, however, one oers an unclean animal, one
that cannot be sacriced, that animal may be
redeemed; that is, a monetary oering may be
made in its place.
The amount of the monetary oering shall be
determined by the priest, based upon the type of
animal and its condi&on, and if it is redeemed, the
owner adds an addi&onal 20% to its value.
For example, old Jacob has recovered from a
serious illness, and he would like to thank God for
his recovery. He has a very nice donkey (an animal
unt for sacrice), so he brings the donkey to the
priest, who determines that the donkeys value is
10 shekels. Jacob could then donate 12 shekels (10
shekels + 20%) to the sanctuary, in place of his
donkey.
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23

I see! So Jacobs prize

donkey is redeemed by
dona&ng 12 shekelsin
eect, buying the donkey
back, the very deni&on
of redemp&on.

Whoo,
hooo!

Im sure the
donkeys happy
about that!

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24

Now, we move from vows

concerning people and animals to
dedica&ons regarding houses
and elds.
Dedica&ons dier from vows, in
that vows refer to animate things;
dedica&ons refer to inanimate
things.

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Houses Dedicated to the Lord

27: 14-15
When someone dedicates a house as sacred to the Lord,
the priest shall determine its value in keeping with its
good or bad qualities, and the value set by the priest
shall stand. A person dedicating a house who then
wishes to redeem it shall pay one fifth more than the
price thus established, and then it will again belong to
that individual.

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Dedica&ng a house involves

transferring ownership of the house
to the sanctuary.
As with an animal, if the owner
wishes to redeem the house, he
donates the equivalent monetary
value to the sanctuary, plus 20%.

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27

Fields Dedicated to the Lord

27: 16-24
If someone dedicates to the Lord a portion of
hereditary land, its valuation shall be made according to
the amount of seed required to sow it, the acreage sown
with a homer of barley seed being valued at fifty silver
shekels. If the dedication of a field is made at the
beginning of a jubilee period, the full valuation shall
hold; but if it is some time after this, the priest shall
estimate its money value according to the number of
years left until the next jubilee year, with a
corresponding reduction on the valuation . . ..

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Dedica&ng a eld is really dedica&ng the

value of the crops the eld will produce over
a period of &me, taking into account the
Jubilee year.
If the person dedica&ng the eld wishes to
redeem it, he donates the value of the eld
to the sanctuary, plus 20%.
The value of a eld is based upon the
amount of seed required to sow it, with one
homer of barley seed worth 50 shekels (a
homer is about 6 bushels).

However, if he sells the eld to someone

else, he cannot redeem it, and at the Jubilee
its ownership reverts to the sanctuary, not to
the original owner.

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29

We have examined vows

concerning people and animals
and dedica&ons regarding
houses and elds.
All of these things can be redeemed;
that is, a monetary dona&on can
subs&tute for the actual thing vowed or
dedicated.
Some things, however, cannot be
redeemed: rst-born animals, since they
already belong to the Lord (Exodus 13:
15); and people, animals or inanimate
objects placed under the ban.

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Unredeemable Offerings
27: 26-29
Note that a firstborn animal, which as such already
belongs to the Lord, may not be dedicated . . .. Note,
also, that any possession which someone puts under the
ban for the Lord, whether it is a human being, an
animal, or a hereditary field, shall be neither sold nor
redeemed; everything that is put under the ban becomes
most holy to the Lord. All human beings that are put
under the ban cannot be redeemed; they must be put to
death.

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31

Placing something or someone under the

ban is a par&cularly dicult concept for
modern-day readers, but it was frequently
prac&ced in ancient &mes.
The Hebrew word translated under the ban is herem
[khe-rem], from the Semi&c root H-R-M, meaning
devoted to God, and it is used this way in Levi&cus 27:
28.
In the Hebrew Scriptures, the verb form occurs 51 &mes
and the noun 28 &mes. It is most o]en used in the
context of war, and it means the total destruc&on of
everything belonging to the enemy, including the killing
of every man, woman, child, infant and animal.
In the book of Joshua, God commands that the
ci&es of Jericho (6: 15-27) and Ai (8: 1-29) be placed
under herem [under the ban], and in 1 Samuel 15
God commands that King Saul totally destroy the
Amalekites, puzng them under the ban. That is
Gods command for ALL conquered peoples in the
Promised Land.
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32

In the cities of these peoples that the Lord, your God,

is giving you as a heritage, you shall not leave a single
soul alive. You must put them all under the banthe
Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and
Jebusitesjust as the Lord, your God, has commanded
you, so that they do not teach you to do all the
abominations that they do for their gods, and you thus
sin against the Lord, your God.
(Deuteronomy 20: 16-18)

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33

James Tissot. The Taking of Jericho (gouache on board), c. 1896-1902.

The Jewish Museum, New York.
(Joshua 6: 15-27)

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34

Gustave Dor. Joshua Burns the Town of Ai (engraving) in Dores English Bible, 1866.






(Joshua 8: 1-29)

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35

Gustave Dor. The Death of Agag (engraving) in Dores English Bible, 1866.
(1 Samuel 15)

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36

Placing something or someone under the

ban is not unique to Scripture. The
Moabite Stone set up by King Mesha of
Moab around 840 B.C. describes how
Chemosh, the god of Moab, was angry with
his people and allowed them to be subjected
to the Israelites. At length Chemosh came to
the aid of his people, enabling them to throw
o the yoke of Israelite oppression:
And Chemosh said to me: Go and take Nebo against
Israel. And I went in the night and fought against it
from the break of day un6l noon, and I took it, and I
killed everyone in itseven thousand men, boys,
women, girls and maidens, devo6ng them to Ashtar-
Chemosh; and I took from [Nebo] the vessels of YHWH,
and I oered them before Chemosh.

Moabite Stele (basalt), c. 840 B.C.

Louvre Museum, Paris.

2 Kings 3 gives an alternate version of this

story.
Of Vows and Promises

37

As you can imagine, reading in Scripture that

God commands herem (or placing under the
ban en&re popula&ons) has caused
enormous dicul&es for Bible readers and
scholars alike, with most discussions seeking
to jus&fy or explain away such ac&ons. The
arguments range from: The enemy was so
sinful and so depraved that God was right in
ordering the Israelites to exterminate them
to It was the enemys fault, since they were
given the opportunity to leave.
In my view, all such arguments seem rather
feeble a|empts to jus&fy what is blatantly
genocide.
As we have noted on several occasions, all art
mirrors the &me and culture from which it
emerges, and the Bible is no excep&on. The
biblical world was a brutal place, and herem
was simply part of it.
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38

Indeed, the Hebrew Scriptures

end on this very note.
Remember the law of Moses my servant,
whom I charged at Horeb
with statutes and ordinances
for all Israel.
Now I am sending to you
Elijah the prophet,
before the day of the Lord comes,
the great and terrible day.
He will turn the heart of fathers to their sons,
and the heart of sons to their fathers,
lest I come and strike the land
with uLer destruc6on.




(Malachi 3: 22-24)

The phrase translated u|er

destruc&on is herem. It is the
last word of the Old Testament.
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39

Finally, we turn to &thes,

our nal form of
dedica&on.

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40

Tithes
27: 30-33; 34
All tithes of the land, whether in grain from the fields or
in fruit from the trees, belong to the Lord; they are
sacred to the Lord. If someone wishes to redeem any of
the tithes, the person shall pay one fifth more than their
value. The tithes of the herd or flock, every tenth animal
that passes under the herdsmans rod, shall be sacred to
the Lord. It shall not matter whether good ones or bad
ones are thus chosen, and no exchange may be made. If
any exchange is made, both the original animal and its
substitute become sacred and cannot be redeemed.
These are the commandments which the Lord gave Moses on
Mount Sinai for the Israelites.

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41

Typically, &thes amount to 10%

of ones goods.
In Genesis 14: 20 Abraham gives
Melchizedek, king of Salem, a tenth of
everything, a]er Abraham rescues his
nephew Lot and the people of Sodom
and Gomorrah from the ve kings of the
north.
In Genesis 28: 22 Jacob makes a
promise to God at Bethel: Of
everything you give me, I will return a
tenth part to you without fail.

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42

I wonder, does any of

this stu about vows
and dedica&ons apply
Not me.
in the New
Testament?

Of Vows and Promises

It sure does! Look at

the story of Ananias
& Sapphira in Acts 5.

43

Raphael. The Death of Ananias, 1515.

Victoria and Albert Museum, London.

[One of seven large cartoons for tapestries by Raphael, commissioned by Pope Leo X for the Sis6ne Chapel. This work is painted in
a glue distemper medium on mul6ple sheets of paper, glued together. The tapestry is a mirror image of this cartoon.]

Of Vows and Promises

44


!
s
e
k
i
Y

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45

Be|er be careful
what you promise
Not me.
God!
Thats for sure!

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46

1. Levi&cus 27 seems out of place, like an

a]erthought. Why does it come at the
end Levi&cus?
2. What is the primary purpose of the vows
and dedica&ons in Levi&cus 27?
3. Why do men have a higher redemp&on
value than women?
4. Why cant a rstborn son be redeemed?
5. What does Jesus say about making vows?
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47

Copyright 2015 by William C. Creasy

All rights reserved. No part of this courseaudio, video,

photography, maps, &melines or other mediamay be
reproduced or transmi|ed in any form by any means, electronic
or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any
informa&on storage or retrieval devices without permission in
wri&ng or a licensing agreement from the copyright holder.
[All Tabernacle illustra&ons in these lectures are taken from:
Paul F. Kiene. The Tabernacle of God in the Wilderness of Sinai,
trans. by John S, Crandall. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan
Publishing House, 1977. Used by permission.]

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