Redemption and Vows: This final chapter of Leviticus is a kind of appendix, treating the matter of redemption which was covered in chapter 25, but here concentrating on the redemption of vows. The chapter is of a piece with the book of Leviticus but supplements the instruction. It may be that in chapter 26, with the articulation of consequences of obedience or disobedience, we see the kinds of settings in which people make vows and so this instruction follows. Or perhaps the divine promises in chapter 26 could be seen as divine vows leading to this treatment of human vows.

Vows and money were important, and both are treated in this chapter. The material is not trivial, but the rationale for its placement here is not clear. The chapter discusses the dedication of things to God, often in time…