What Does Leviticus 27:10 Mean?
He does not switch it, nor exchange it, a good for a bad, or a bad for a good; and if he at all exchanges beast for beast, then it and the one given in its place are set apart.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
He shall not alter it, nor change it, a good for a bad, or a bad for a good: and if he shall at all change beast for beast, then it and the exchange thereof shall be holy.THE KEY
A swap cannot make a dedication disappear: both the original and its replacement remain set apart.
THE MEANING
A designation of set-apartness holds through change: trading the valued thing for a lesser one, or vice versa, does not make the exchange ordinary. Both the original and its replacement remain set apart.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The lie is that changing the item can cancel its prior designation; the verse says the exchange leaves both sides set apart.
THE ROOT
קֹדֶשׁ
qōdesh
GROWS FROM
קדש
To set apart or consecrate.
“set apart” in this verse is qōdesh. The verse applies set-apartness to both the animal and its replacement. The status survives the exchange: changing what carries the dedication does not erase it.
ALSO GROWS
qādōsh: Set apart; sacred.
קָדוֹשׁ
The replacement receives this same status, so the swap does not turn either animal into an ordinary possession.
miqdāsh: Sanctuary; a set-apart place.
מִקְדָּשׁ
This branch shows set-apartness as a boundary that marks a place or thing as belonging to the sacred.
יַמִיר
yamir
GROWS FROM
מור
To exchange or substitute one thing for another.
“exchange” in this verse is yamir. The verse names the substitute as תְּמוּרָתוֹ (temūrātō, its replacement). The original does not vanish from the transaction; both it and what takes its place remain set apart.
ALSO GROWS
hēmîr: To exchange or substitute.
הֵמִיר
This is the verb behind the conditional exchange: even when substitution occurs, it does not cancel the original designation.
temūrāh: An exchange or replacement.
תְּמוּרָה
The noun makes the substitute explicit as a distinct thing that also bears the set-apart status.
יַחֲלִיפֶנּוּ
yaḥalifennū
GROWS FROM
חלף
To pass over, change, or replace.
“switch” in this verse is yaḥalifennū. The English can sound as if the verse repeats itself, but its verbs come from two different roots: one concerns changing or passing over, the other expressly exchanging one thing for another. Together they close both routes for changing the animal’s valuation.
ALSO GROWS
ḥalifōt: Changes of clothing.
חֲלִיפוֹת
This branch describes change through replacement, echoing the verse’s concern with what takes the original animal’s place.
yaḥalifū: They renew or change, as in renewing strength.
יַחֲלִיפוּ
Here change carries renewal, showing that a changed condition can continue what came before rather than erase it.
THE PATTERN
When an offering is given over to God, its replacement does not make the exchange spiritually neutral.
He does not search whether it is good or bad, nor does he exchange it; and if he at all exchanges it, then both it and the one given in its place are set apart, and it is not bought back.And Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked, and look, behind him a ram caught in a thicket by its horns. And Abraham went and took the ram, and raised him up as a rising offering in place of his son.Therefore I urge you, brothers, through the compassions of God, to set your bodies beside God as a living sacrifice, set apart, well-pleasing to him, which is your true service.THE THREAD
He does not search whether it is good or bad, nor does he exchange it; and if he at all exchanges it, then both it and the one given in its place are set apart, and it is not bought back.This verse repeats the root מוּר (mûr, exchange) in its rule for the tithe animal. Changing the animal does not erase the dedication: both sides of the swap remain set apart, and neither can be redeemed.
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