Leviticus 27:26
in Leviticus 27But no one may consecrate a firstborn of the livestock, because a firstborn belongs to the LORD. Whether it is an ox or a sheep, it is the LORD’s.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Only the firstling among beasts, which is made a firstling to Jehovah, no man shall sanctify it; whether it be ox or sheep, it is Jehovah’s.
KJV
Only the firstling of the beasts, which should be the Lord’s firstling, no man shall sanctify it; whether it be ox, or sheep: it is the Lord’s.
⋯
This verse in Leviticus 27
Commentary
4 notes on this verseNo man shall sanctify it - By vow; because it is not his own, but the Lord's already, and therefore to vow such a thing to God is a tacit derogation from, and an usurpation of the Lord's right, and a mocking of God by pretending to give what we cannot withhold from him.
This site's exposition
Only the firstling of the beasts
on Leviticus 27:26-29
A firstling already belongs to the LORD, so no man may vow it, and the rule shuts the door on offering God what is His already. Verse 28 marks off the devoted thing, the Hebrew cherem, which stands outside sale and outside redemption at any price. Verse 29 then says that none devoted of men shall be redeemed but shall surely be put to death, and it explains itself nowhere. Adam Clarke reads it of persons already under a judicial ban, Matthew Henry raises Jephthah's daughter at Judges 11 as a case of the law being misread, and John Wesley limits it to what a man has lawful power over, while the verse gives one sentence and no case.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Only the firstlings of the beasts,....
Though the matter of a general vow be that which we were before obliged to, as of our sacramental covenant, yet a singular vow should be of that which we were not, in such circumstances and proportions, antecedently bound to.
The words behind it
16 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| אַךְ־ | ʾakh- | nevertheless | H389 → | 161 times |
| בְּכ֞וֹר | bekhor | a firstborn | H1060 → | |
| אֲשֶׁר־ | ʾasher- | which | H834 → | 5497 times |
| יְבֻכַּ֤ר | yevukar | it will be born a firstling | H1069 → | |
| לַֽיהוָה֙ | layahweh | [belongs] to Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| בִּבְהֵמָ֔ה | bivhemah | among livestock | H929 → | 190 times |
| לֹֽא־ | lo'- | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| יַקְדִּ֥ישׁ | yakdish | he will set apart as holy | H6942 → | 171 times |
| אִ֖ישׁ | ʾish | anyone | H376 → | 1663 times |
| אֹת֑וֹ | ʾoto | <obj.> it | H853 → | 10935 times |
| אִם־ | ʾim- | whether | H518 → | 1069 times |
| שׁ֣וֹר | shor | an ox | H7794 → | 79 times |
| אִם־ | ʾim- | or | H518 → | 1069 times |
| שֶׂ֔ה | seh | a sheep | H7716 → | 47 times |
| לַֽיהוָ֖ה | layahweh | [belongs] to Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| הֽוּא׃ | hu' | it | H1931 → | 1879 times |
אַךְ־nevertheless
ʾakh-H389 →161 times
בְּכ֞וֹרa firstborn
bekhorH1060 →
אֲשֶׁר־which
ʾasher-H834 →5497 times
יְבֻכַּ֤רit will be born a firstling
yevukarH1069 →
לַֽיהוָה֙[belongs] to Yahweh
layahwehH3068 →6520 times
בִּבְהֵמָ֔הamong livestock
bivhemahH929 →190 times
לֹֽא־not
lo'-H3808 →5168 times
יַקְדִּ֥ישׁhe will set apart as holy
yakdishH6942 →171 times
אִ֖ישׁanyone
ʾishH376 →1663 times
אֹת֑וֹ<obj.> it
ʾotoH853 →10935 times
אִם־whether
ʾim-H518 →1069 times
שׁ֣וֹרan ox
shorH7794 →79 times
אִם־or
ʾim-H518 →1069 times
שֶׂ֔הa sheep
sehH7716 →47 times
לַֽיהוָ֖ה[belongs] to Yahweh
layahwehH3068 →6520 times
הֽוּא׃it
hu'H1931 →1879 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Exodus 13:2“Consecrate to Me every firstborn male. The firstborn from every womb among the Israelites belongs to Me, both of man and beast.”
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 15:19
You must set apart to the LORD your God every firstborn male produced by your herds and flocks. You are not to put the firstborn of your oxen to work, nor are you to…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Luke 2:23
(as it is written in the Law of the Lord: “Every firstborn male shall be consecrated to the Lord”),
- Numbers 3:13
for all the firstborn are Mine. On the day I struck down every firstborn in the land of Egypt, I consecrated to Myself all the firstborn in Israel, both man and beast. They are…
- Exodus 22:29–30
You must not hold back offerings from your granaries or vats. You are to give Me the firstborn of your sons.
- Numbers 8:16–17
For the Levites have been wholly given to Me from among the sons of Israel. I have taken them for Myself in place of all who come first from the womb, the firstborn of…
- Deuteronomy 15:19
Through
Deuteronomy 15:19You must set apart to the LORD your God every firstborn male produced by your herds and flocks. You are not to put the firstborn of your oxen to work, nor are you to…
it leads to
- Exodus 13:12
you are to present to the LORD the firstborn male of every womb. All the firstborn males of your livestock belong to the LORD.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Exodus 13:2
“Consecrate to Me every firstborn male. The firstborn from every womb among the Israelites belongs to Me, both of man and beast.”
- Exodus 13:12
Through
Exodus 22:30You shall do likewise with your cattle and your sheep. Let them stay with their mothers for seven days, but on the eighth day you are to give them to Me.
it leads to
- Leviticus 22:27
“When an ox, a sheep, or a goat is born, it must remain with its mother for seven days. From the eighth day on, it will be acceptable as an offering made by fire…
- Leviticus 22:27
About Leviticus
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.