This chapter contains various laws concerning vows made unto the Lord, whether of persons whose estimation was to be made by the priest, according to their age, sex, and condition, Lev. 26:1–8; or of beasts, clean and unclean, good or bad, Lev.

And the Lord spake unto Moses After he had delivered the body of laws in the preceding chapter, which by the close of the last seem to have been finished; but here some rules and instructions concerning vows are given, which a man was not obliged to make, but which he did of his own freewill and…

Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them This being an affair which only concerned them; for the Jewish writers say [[7]], by this phrase, the children of Israel, Gentiles are excluded: when a man shall make a singular vow; an unusual, an uncommon one, a very distinguished one, and even…

And thy estimation shall be The estimation of the man himself that vowed, or of the priest for him, was not left to be made by either of them at their pleasure, but was to be made according to the following rules, in proportion to the age a person was of to be estimated: of the male from twenty…

And if it be a female That is, of the same age, full twenty years of age, and not more than sixty: then thy estimation shall be thirty shekels; about three pounds ten shillings of our money, the price of a servant, ; the reason of this difference of estimation between a man and a woman is, because…

And if it be from five years old, even unto to twenty years old Not that one of five years old is supposed to vow or to make an estimation, but one grown up, that says, the estimation of this little one, who is five years of age, be upon me; and such an one was bound to pay the value of him, which…

And if it be from a month old even unto five years old That is, if a man devotes his child to the Lord within such an age, and says, the estimation of this my son or my daughter be upon me, then he was to pay the value, as next directed; for one under a month old no estimation was to be made: the…

And if it be from sixty years old and above When man is almost past his labour, and it is high time to leave off business; if it be a male, then thy estimation shall between shekels; about one pound fifteen shillings: and for the female ten shekels; about one pound three shillings; it may be…

But if he be poorer than thy estimation If he is so poor that he is not able to pay the value that, is set upon him, according to the rules before given: then he shall present himself before the priest; that has made the estimation, according to the above directions, observing the difference of…

And if it be a beast whereof men bring an offering to the Lord That is, it such a creature is devoted, which is of that kind which are used in sacrifice to the Lord, such as bullocks, sheep, goats, rams, and lambs: all that any man giveth of such unto the Lord shall be holy; shall be set apart to…

He shall not alter it nor change it Some think these two words signify the same, but Abarbinel [[17]] makes them different; according to him, to “alter” is for one of another kind, as one of the herd for one of the flock, or the contrary; and to “change” for one of the same kind: a good for a bad,…

And if it be any unclean beast, of which they do not offer a sacrifice unto the Lord Any creature, excepting a dog, the price of which was not to be brought into the house of the Lord; besides oxen, sheep, goats, rams, and lambs; though some understand it even of such that have blemishes on them,…

And the priest shall value it, whether it be good or bad Put a price upon it according to its worth, as it shall appear to him: as thou valuest it, who art the priest, so shall it be; that shall be the price at which it shall be sold, not to the owner or devoter of it, for he must give more, as…

But if he will at all redeem it The owner of it, or he that has devoted it, if he is determined to have it again at any rate: then he shall add a fifth part thereof unto thy estimation; he shall give the full price for it, as rated by the priest, and for which it might be sold to another man, and a…

And when a man shall sanctify his house to be holy unto the Lord Shall set it apart for sacred service, devote it to holy uses, so that it may be sold, and the money laid out in sacrifices, the repairs of the temple under this any other goods are comprehended, concerning which the Jews say, “he…

And if he that sanctifieth it will redeem his house An house set apart for holy uses might be redeemed, either by another paying the price set upon it by the priest, or by the original owner of it paying a fifth part more; and this was the case, whether of houses in walled cities or in villages: so…

And if a man shall sanctify unto the Lord some part of a field of his possession That which he enjoyed by inheritance from his father, to distinguish it from a field of his own purchase, as in ; and which might be devoted, not all of it, but a part of it; partly that he might have something to live…

If he sanctify his field from the year of jubilee The very year, as Aben Ezra, while it is current, or when it is past, and he immediately sanctifies it for an holy use, and one comes to redeem it, as Jarchi says, as soon as ever it is devoted, and a priest has valued it, and there is a purchaser…

But if he sanctify his field after the jubilee Some years after it, more or fewer, or it may be, when half way towards another jubilee, or nearer: then the priest shall reckon unto him the money according to the years that remain, even unto the year of the jubilee; thus, for instance, if it only…

And if he that sanctified the field shall in any wise redeem it Is desirous of it, and determined upon it at any rate, repenting that he had parted with it in this manner: then he shall add the fifth part of the money of thy estimation to it: the Jerusalem Targum is, the fifth part of the shekels…

And if he will not redeem the field He that sanctified it, does not care to give for it the settled price of the fifth part besides, but chooses it should be disposed of for the uses he devoted it to: or if he have sold the field to another man; that is, either the original owner having bought it…

But the field, when it goeth out in the jubilee Out of the hand of him that bought it: shall be holy unto the Lord, as a field devoted; though it went out of the hand of the purchaser, it did not return to him that sanctified or devoted it, but was separated to sacred uses for the service of the…

And if a man sanctify unto the Lord a field which he hath bought With his own money, of some person in poverty and distress, who was obliged to sell it, and which, according to a former law, returned to the original proprietor in the year of jubilee: which is not of the fields of his possession;…

Then the priest shall reckon unto him the worth of thy estimation, even unto the year of jubilee The priest was to estimate the field of purchase sanctified, and set a price upon it according to the best of his judgment, and give it to the person that sanctified it, or whoever would redeem it; and…

In the year of jubilee, the field shall return unto him of whom it was bought Not to him that sanctified it, whether he redeemed it or not; nor to him that bought it of the treasurer of the temple after it was sanctified; but to the original proprietor and owner of it, of whom he bought it that…

And all thy estimation shall be according to the shekel of the sanctuary The shekel kept in the sanctuary, which was the standard of all shekels; not that there was a shekel in the sanctuary different from the common one; for every shekel ought to have been as that, of the full weight and worth of…

Only the firstlings of the beasts These are excepted from being sanctified, or set apart for sacred uses, for a very good reason, suggested in the next clause: which should be the Lord’s firstling, no man shall sanctify it; it being what he has a claim upon, and ordered to be sanctified to him by a…

And if it be of an unclean beast This is to be understood, not of the firstling of unclean creatures in common, which were to be redeemed with a lamb, and not with money, according to the estimation of the priest, and a fifth part added to that; but of such as were sanctified, or vowed, for the…

Notwithstanding, no devoted thing that a man shall devote unto the Lord This is a different vow from the former, expressed by “sanctifying”; for though “sanctifying” and “devoting” were both vows, yet the latter had an execration or curse added to it, by which a man imprecated a curse upon himself,…

None devoted, which shall be devoted of men, shall be redeemed This is said, not of such men as are devoted to the Lord, as in the preceding verse; for it is not said here as there, “none devoted unto the Lord”, but of such as are devoted to ruin and destruction, for whom there was no redemption,…

And all the tithe of the land Of which there were various sorts, the first tithe, the tithe out of the tithe, the second tithe, and the poor’s tithe, which are generally reduced to three, “The first tenth part of all increase I gave to the sons of Aaron, who ministered at Jerusalem: another tenth…

And if a man, will redeem ought of his tithes Of his own, and not his neighbour’s, as Jarchi observes; for if he redeemed the tithes of his neighbour, but did not add a fifth part, which he was obliged to do if he redeemed his own, as follows: he shall add thereunto the fifth part thereof; besides…

And concerning the tithe of the herd, or of the flock Of oxen and sheep, as the Targums of Jonathan and Jerusalem; for this law only concerns such, as Maimonides [[22]] observes, for none but clean beasts were tithed, though the firstlings of unclean beasts were to be redeemed: even of whatsoever…

He shall not search whether it be good or bad In a good or bad state of health, fat or lean, perfect or blemished, but take it as it is, be it what it will: neither shall he change it; neither for the better nor the worse, no alteration was to be made, but the beast was to be taken as it came: and…

These are the commandments which the Lord commanded Moses, &c.] Meaning either what are contained in this chapter, or rather in the whole book, which he delivered to Moses: for the children of Israel; to be observed by them, priests and people: and these were given to him in Mount Sinai; either…