1 Now the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,
2 "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,
3 'if your valuation is of a male from twenty years old up to sixty years old, then your valuation shall be fifty shekels of silver, according to the shekel of the sanctuary.
4 'If it is a female, then your valuation shall be thirty shekels;
5 'and if from five years old up to twenty years old, then your valuation for a male shall be twenty shekels, and for a female ten shekels;
6 'and if from a month old up to five years old, then your valuation for a male shall be five shekels of silver, and for a female your valuation shall be three shekels of silver;
7 'and if from sixty years old and above, if it is a male, then your valuation shall be fifteen shekels, and for a female ten shekels.
8 'But if he is too poor to pay your valuation, then he shall present himself before the priest, and the priest shall set a value for him; according to the ability of him who vowed, the priest shall value him.
When a man wants to dedicate himself or someone else to God, the promise is fulfilled by paying the prices listed to the priests. If the man making the vow is too poor the priest can name a smaller sum of money.
These people would then become servants to the priests until redeemed or the Year of Jubilee.
Leviticus 27:9-139 'If it is an animal that men may bring as an offering to the LORD, all that anyone gives to the LORD shall be holy.
10 'He shall not substitute it or exchange it, good for bad or bad for good; and if he at all exchanges animal for animal, then both it and the one exchanged for it shall be holy.
11 'If it is an unclean animal which they do not offer as a sacrifice to the LORD, then he shall present the animal before the priest;
12 'and the priest shall set a value for it, whether it is good or bad; as you, the priest, value it, so it shall be.
13 'But if he wants at all to redeem it, then he must add one-fifth to your valuation.
If it is an animal that is given to the Lord, it will be holy to the Lord. If the man wants to redeem the
animal, the priest sets the value and the man must pay the set amount + 20%.
Leviticus 27:14-15
14 'And when a man dedicates his house to be holy to the LORD, then the priest shall set a value for it, whether it is good or bad; as the priest values it, so it shall stand.
15 'If he who dedicated it wants to redeem his house, then he must add one-fifth of the money of your valuation to it, and it shall be his.
If it is a house that is given to the Lord, it will be holy to the Lord. If the man wants to redeem the house, the priest sets the value and the man must pay the set amount + 20%.
Leviticus 27:16-2516 'If a man dedicates to the LORD part of a field of his possession, then your valuation shall be according to the seed for it. A homer of barley seed shall be valued at fifty shekels of silver.
17 'If he dedicates his field from the Year of Jubilee, according to your valuation it shall stand.
18 'But if he dedicates his field after the Jubilee, then the priest shall reckon to him the money due according to the years that remain till the Year of Jubilee, and it shall be deducted from your valuation.
19 'And if he who dedicates the field ever wishes to redeem it, then he must add one-fifth of the money of your valuation to it, and it shall belong to him.
20 'But if he does not want to redeem the field, or if he has sold the field to another man, it shall not be redeemed anymore;
21 'but the field, when it is released in the Jubilee, shall be holy to the LORD, as a devoted field; it shall be the possession of the priest.
22 'And if a man dedicates to the LORD a field which he has bought, which is not the field of his possession,
23 'then the priest shall reckon to him the worth of your valuation, up to the Year of Jubilee, and he shall give your valuation on that day as a holy offering to the LORD.
24 'In the Year of Jubilee the field shall return to him from whom it was bought, to the one who owned the land as a possession.
25 'And all your valuations shall be according to the shekel of the sanctuary: twenty gerahs to the shekel.
These are the laws for priests to purchase fields and lands, between the years of Jubilee.
Leviticus 27:26-2826 'But the firstborn of the animals, which should be the LORD's firstborn, no man shall dedicate; whether it is an ox or sheep, it is the LORD's.
27 'And if it is an unclean animal, then he shall redeem it according to your valuation, and shall add one-fifth to it; or if it is not redeemed, then it shall be sold according to your valuation.
28 'Nevertheless no devoted offering that a man may devote to the LORD of all that he has, both man and beast, or the field of his possession, shall be sold or redeemed; every devoted offering is most holy to the LORD.
The first born animals are the Lord's anyway and can't be given for the priests to personally own. The unclean animals can be redeemed at their value + 20%. Everything given to the Lord is holy. Any person devoted to the service of the Lord cannot be redeemed and must serve the Lord for the rest of their lives. Any land given to the priests, if the priest didn't want it, became Holy to the Lord and could not ever be redeemed.
Leviticus 27:2929 'No person under the ban, who may become doomed to destruction among men, shall be redeemed, but shall surely be put to death.
People (in this case servants and slaves) sentenced to death by God cannot be redeemed but must be put to death if God so commands.
Leviticus 27:30-3430 'And all the tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land or of the fruit of the tree, is the LORD's. It is holy to the LORD.
31 'If a man wants at all to redeem any of his tithes, he shall add one-fifth to it.
32 'And concerning the tithe of the herd or the flock, of whatever passes under the rod, the tenth one shall be holy to the LORD.
33 'He shall not inquire whether it is good or bad, nor shall he exchange it; and if he exchanges it at all, then both it and the one exchanged for it shall be holy; it shall not be redeemed.'"
34 These are the commandments which the LORD commanded Moses for the children of Israel on Mount Sinai.
The tithes of grain, fruit and animals are the Lord's. They can be redeemed by paying their value + 20%. If they exchange the original animals given to the priests, the owner can't redeem them.