Commentary - Leviticus 27:28-29

Bird's-eye view

This brief but weighty passage at the very end of Leviticus serves as a solemn capstone to the entire book's theme of holiness. After detailing various kinds of vows, tithes, and redemptions, the law now addresses the most extreme category of consecration: that which is devoted to Yahweh. The Hebrew word here is cherem, often translated as "the ban" or "devoted to destruction." This is not a higher level of a regular vow that a man might choose to make; it is a recognition of something that God Himself has laid an absolute claim upon, usually through judgment. These verses establish the utter finality and irrevocability of such a devotion. What is cherem cannot be sold, cannot be redeemed, and, in the case of a person, cannot be ransomed. It is "most holy to Yahweh," meaning it is so completely set apart for His purposes that it is removed from the realm of human transaction entirely. This passage forces us to reckon with the absolute sovereignty of God, the terrible reality of His judicial sentence against sin, and the profound concept of substitutionary atonement, which finds its ultimate expression in the one Man who was truly devoted to destruction for the sake of His people.

In essence, this law distinguishes between the gifts we bring to God and the things God claims for Himself through judgment. A man could vow a field and later redeem it. But no man could redeem Jericho, for God had placed it under the ban. This law clarifies that the priests have no authority to commute a divine sentence for cash. It is a stark reminder that God's justice is not for sale. The application of this to persons is jarring to modern ears, but it must be understood in its covenantal context, referring to those who, by God's explicit command, were to be executed for high crimes against the covenant, such as entire cities given over to idolatry. The principle is one of radical consecration through judgment, a principle that points directly to the cross, where Christ became cherem for us.

Outline

Context In Leviticus

Leviticus 27 functions as an appendix to the book, dealing with religious vows, tithes, and dedications. The main body of the book lays out the path to holiness through sacrifice (chapters 1-16) and the practice of holiness in daily life (chapters 17-26), often called the Holiness Code. This final chapter addresses the voluntary expressions of devotion by the Israelites. It provides a system for valuating and redeeming things promised to God. However, verses 28 and 29 present a stark and crucial exception to this system of redemption. After page after page of discussing how things dedicated to God can be bought back, the law concludes with a category of dedication that is absolute and final. This placement at the very end of the book gives it a climactic force. It is the last word on consecration, reminding Israel that while their free-will offerings are important, there is a level of divine claim that is total, unalterable, and rests entirely on God's sovereign decree. It ensures that the final note of this book on worship and holiness is one of awe and godly fear.

Key Issues

Most Holy to Yahweh

We tend to think of holiness in terms of purity, light, and life. And rightly so. The vessels of the tabernacle were holy, the priests were holy, the Sabbath was holy. But here, at the end of Leviticus, we are confronted with a different facet of holiness, a holiness that is severe and terrifying. A thing "devoted to destruction" is declared to be "most holy to Yahweh." How can this be?

Holiness, at its root, means to be "set apart" or "dedicated." Things are holy because they are removed from common use and appointed for God's exclusive use. This is true of the tithe, and it is true of the altar. But the principle of cherem teaches us that things can also be set apart for God through His righteous judgment. A pagan city like Jericho, saturated with idolatry and wickedness, was set apart for God's holy wrath. It was consecrated to Him through its utter destruction. The spoils were not to be taken as common plunder; they were "most holy," belonging to the treasury of the Lord or to the fire. Achan's sin was not simple theft; it was sacrilege. He stole what was holy to God (Josh 7:1). In the same way, a man under God's judicial sentence of death was "devoted." He was set apart for God's justice. To ransom him would be to treat a "most holy" thing as a common thing, to act as though God's verdict could be overturned with a bag of silver. This concept is foundational for understanding the gravity of sin and the nature of God's justice. It is also essential for understanding the cross, where the Son of God, who was purity itself, was made a curse for us, devoted to destruction, and thus became the ultimate "most holy" sacrifice to God.

Verse by Verse Commentary

28 ‘Nevertheless, anything which a man devotes to Yahweh out of all that he has, of man or animal or of the fields of his own possession, shall not be sold or redeemed. Anything devoted to destruction is most holy to Yahweh.

The word "nevertheless" or "but" signals a sharp turn from the preceding verses, which dealt with redeemable vows. This is a different category altogether. The word for "devotes" is from the Hebrew root charam, which means to devote, to ban, to utterly destroy. This is not a man deciding on his own to make something cherem. Rather, it refers to a man recognizing and carrying out a pre-existing divine claim. This could apply to the spoils of a holy war, as with Jericho, or to an object or person under a divine curse for a high crime. The law is absolute: it "shall not be sold or redeemed." There is no valuation, no adding of a fifth. The transaction window is closed. Why? Because it is "most holy to Yahweh." Its holiness lies in its being irrevocably claimed by God. It has been removed from the human economy and transferred entirely into God's economy, either for destruction or for the sanctuary treasury. To try and buy it back would be to treat God's sovereign judgment as just another commodity.

29 No one who may have been devoted among men shall be ransomed; he shall surely be put to death.

This verse applies the principle of cherem specifically to human beings. It is crucial to understand what this does and does not mean. This is not a license for human sacrifice or for a father to vow his son to death, as some have mistakenly interpreted the story of Jephthah. This is a legal clarification concerning capital punishment within Israel's judicial system. A person "devoted among men" is one who has been sentenced to death according to God's law for a capital offense, such as idolatry (Ex. 22:20) or leading a whole town into apostasy (Deut. 13:15). This law states that such a sentence is final. "He shall surely be put to death." There is no possibility of a monetary payment, a ransom, to get out of it. Why? Because the life is forfeit to God's justice. The man has been "devoted" to God's righteousness. To allow a rich man to buy his way out of a capital sentence would be a profound injustice and a profaning of what God has declared holy. This law upholds the sanctity of God's justice. All stand equal before the finality of His verdict. This points us forward to our condition as sinners. We all stand under a sentence of death, devoted to destruction because of our sin. And there is no ransom we can pay. Our only hope is that someone who is not under that sentence would take our place.

Application

This is a hard passage, and it is supposed to be. It confronts us with the severity of God's holiness and the finality of His judgments. In an age that prizes negotiation, compromise, and second chances, the doctrine of cherem is an offense. But it is a necessary offense, because without it, the gospel loses its power.

First, this passage teaches us to take sin with deadly seriousness. We live in a therapeutic culture that re-labels sin as brokenness or mistakes. But the Bible speaks of sin as treason, as a capital crime against the throne of Heaven. The things in our lives that are set in defiant opposition to God, our cherished idols, are cherem. They are devoted to destruction, and we are commanded to be the executioners. We are to mortify, to put to death, the deeds of the flesh. There is no negotiating with a pet sin; it cannot be redeemed, it must be killed.

Second, it teaches us about the nature of God's justice. God's justice is not arbitrary or ethnic; it is always a moral judgment against high-handed rebellion. And it is not for sale. We cannot bargain with God or hope to buy our way out of the consequences of our sin. We all stand under the sentence of verse 29: "No one who may have been devoted among men shall be ransomed; he shall surely be put to death." This is our condition outside of Christ. We are devoted to destruction.

But this is where the glory of the gospel shines against this blackest of backdrops. The entire sacrificial system, and this law in particular, screams for a substitute. We needed someone who could pay a price we could not pay. But what price could ransom one who is un-ransomed? The only solution was for someone to take our place under the ban. This is precisely what the apostle Paul says. "Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us" (Gal. 3:13). On the cross, Jesus Christ was made cherem. He was devoted to destruction. He was treated as the idolater, the blasphemer, the covenant-breaker. He was made "most holy" to God's justice. And because He endured the full, unredeemable, un-ransomed curse in our place, we who believe in Him are set free. He was not sold or redeemed, so that we could be. He was surely put to death, so that we might surely live.