What is this "altering" or "replacing" or "exchanging" spoken of in Leviticus 27:10? What does this mean?
Answer From The Annual Reading Schedule - Week 30 Notes For Leviticus: The translation of the ISR Scriptures 1998 (TS1998) version of this verse is as follows:
- Leviticus 27:10 - He is not to replace it or exchange it, good for spoilt or spoilt for good. And if he at all exchanges beast for beast, then both it and the one exchanged for it is set-apart.
We know from verse 9 the vow being spoken of is a vow of some kind to give an animal to Yahweh. Let's suppose someone made a vow to give their lamb or their goat and that they found later that they could give another lamb or goat that they came to have possession of which was better and of higher quality. They might want to exchange the better one in place of the one they initially at first vowed to give because they want to give their best to Yahweh. However, verse 10 is teaching that if they want to give this better or different animal in place of another, that both become set-apart, not just the first one they wanted to vow to give. So they would essentially just have to give both, they couldn't take back what they vowed to do.