Leviticus 27:9, commentary and pictures

The verse concerns a beast of the kind that men bring as an offering to the Lord, meaning only animals of a kind accepted for sacrifice could be so offered. When someone dedicates to the Lord an animal of that kind, all that anyone gives of such to the Lord is holy, set apart and devoted to God.

The verse illustrates anathema as something set apart, separated and devoted, supporting its use for a person, animal, city or thing devoted to destruction. In that sense anathema means a curse or a ban involving absolute, irrevocable and entire separation from the communion of the faithful, from the number of the living, or from the privileges of society. It means the devoting of any man, animal, city or thing to be extirpated, destroyed, consumed and as it were annihilated.

What is promised to God is sacred and must not later be put to another use, and the chapter's rules for redeeming consecrated property by valuation with a fifth part added show how serious keeping a vow is. A vow involving a person in a household was met not by sacrifice but by redemption according to the priest's valuation, so a daughter could be devoted to the Lord's service without being sacrificed. The verse stands within the chapter's laws concerning redemption, whose closing section explains how tithing was carried out in Israel, a law already known to Abraham and Jacob.

The verse shows the law of tithing to be a tenth of income, of what a man makes and receives, not a tenth of what he clears after debts, so owing more or less makes no difference. Amounts paid to others connected in the work, such as wages for hired help and interest representing a part owned by another, are deducted because those who receive them tithe them, and the man tithes the rest. The tithe is not his but the Lord's and holy to Him, bearing God's image and superscription like worship, the Sabbath, baptism and the Lord's Supper and belonging wholly to God. Civil government has no right to exact it, lay claim to it, modify it or direct it, for it must be rendered to God and not to Caesar. True stewardship for God brings His blessing and help in planning debts and obligations and in economizing time and means, so that nine-tenths with God's blessing goes farther than ten-tenths without, and obligations are better met by paying tithe than by retaining it.