Leviticus 27:27, commentary and pictures

The rule belongs to the laws concerning vows and tithes. An unclean beast dedicated by vow could be redeemed at the priest's appraised valuation with a fifth part added to it, and if it was not redeemed it was to be sold at that valuation. The firstborn of people and of unclean animals had to be redeemed because they could not be offered as sacrifices. A person or member of a household devoted by a singular vow could be redeemed according to the priest's estimation.

The tenth of the herd or flock that passes under the rod is holy to the Lord, the owner must not examine whether it is good or bad nor substitute another for it, and if a substitution is made at all then both it and its substitute are holy and cannot be bought back. This direction met the case of an owner passing the flock under the rod to be tithed who sought to exchange the tenth for some other animal. The added fifth made the vow binding and reminded the giver that what was consecrated to God was sacred and could not be redirected to other uses. Property vowed to God could thus be retained only by paying its appraised value plus one fifth.

The setting shows that anathema means a curse or ban, properly something set apart, separated, and devoted, in the sense of the absolute, irrevocable, and entire separation of a person from the communion of the faithful, from the number of the living, or from the privileges of society, and the devoting of any man, animal, city, or thing to be extirpated, destroyed, consumed, and annihilated. The tithe is the Lord's and bears God's image and superscription, just as worship belongs to God, so civil government has no right to exact worship, modify it, direct it, or lay any claim upon the tithe whatsoever. The passage teaches a duty in financial matters, supporting the principle that each person should bear a share of the burden.