“Speak to the Israelites and say to them, ‘When someone makes a special vow to the LORD involving the value of persons,
Parallel translations
- WEB “Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them, ‘When a man consecrates a person to Yahweh in a vow, according to your valuation,
- KJV Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When a man shall make a singular vow, the persons shall be for the LORD by thy estimation.
- NKJV “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,
- NASB “Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘When someone makes an explicit vow, he shall be valued according to your assessment of persons belonging to the Lord.
- NLT “Give the following instructions to the people of Israel. If anyone makes a special vow to dedicate someone to the Lord by paying the value of that person,
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
God gives rules for vows in which a person is consecrated to the LORD by a set valuation. Voluntary devotion to God must be handled faithfully.
Overview
Israelites could vow themselves or others to God's service; since most could not literally serve at the sanctuary, a monetary valuation allowed the vow to be honored. This shows that vows were voluntary but, once made, binding before God. It teaches the seriousness of our commitments to the Lord and the care He takes that they be kept.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 10
- Num 6:2“Speak to the Israelites and tell them that if a man or woman makes a special vow, the vow of a Nazirite, to separate himself to the LORD,
- 1 Sam 1:28I now dedicate the boy to the LORD. For as long as he lives, he is dedicated to the LORD.” So they worshiped the LORD there.
- Judg 11:39After two months, she returned to her father, and he did to her as he had vowed. And she had never had relations with a man. So it has become a custom in Israel
- Deut 23:21–23If you make a vow to the LORD your God, do not be slow to keep it, because He will surely require it of you, and you will be guilty of sin.
- Judg 11:30–31Jephthah made this vow to the LORD: “If indeed You will deliver the Ammonites into my hand,
- 1 Sam 1:11And she made a vow, pleading, “O LORD of Hosts, if only You will look upon the affliction of Your maidservant and remember me, not forgetting Your maidservant but giving her a son, then I will dedicate him to the LORD all the days of his life, and no razor shall ever come over his head.”
- Gen 28:20–22Then Jacob made a vow, saying, “If God will be with me and watch over me on this journey, and if He will provide me with food to eat and clothes to wear,
- Num 30:3And if a woman in her father’s house during her youth makes a vow to the LORD or obligates herself by a pledge,
- Eccl 5:4–5When you make a vow to God, do not delay in fulfilling it, because He takes no pleasure in fools. Fulfill your vow.
- Num 21:2So Israel made a vow to the LORD: “If You will deliver this people into our hands, we will devote their cities to destruction.”
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Christ at the center
Every sacrifice, every priest, and every day of atonement points beyond itself to the one perfect offering and the great High Priest who, by his own blood, makes the unclean holy once for all.
How Leviticus 27:2 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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