Leviticus 27:29 - human sacrifice?

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Nick9

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hi, can anyone tell me what Leviticus 27:29 means?

Leviticus:
27:28 "Nothing, however, that a man lays under ban for Yahweh may be redeemed; nothing he possesses, whether man, beasts, or fields of his patrimony. What is laid under ban is always a most holy thing and belongs to Yahweh.
27:29 A human being laid under ban cannot be redeemed, he must be put to death. (JB Translation)

what does “laid under the ban” mean? One atheist says that it means that God is commanding human sacrifice.

Also, who are the humans?

🤷

thanks,

Nick
 
New American Bible
footnote
3 [29] All human beings that are doomed: according to some interpreters, this signifies the idolatrous Canaanites, who were doomed to destruction by divine authority; according to others, this drastic law was enacted for the purpose of discouraging private persons from rashly vowing their slaves or other dependents as offerings to God. Cf Exodus 22:19; Deut 13:13-19.
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thanks for the replies.

I had seen the NAB comment and the Catholic Encyclopedia doesn’t mention Lev.27:29. The atheist I mentioned says that the Canaanites were killed and not taken as slaves, whereas this verse refers to slaves.

The second part of the NAB comment seems to condone sacrificing slaves, albeit as a punishment for doing something forbidden, i.e. vowing them as offerings to God.

I personally thought that putting things under the ban meant that they were to be destroyed (handed over to God), and therefore I assumed that the verse was referring to the idolatrous nations taken in battle.

Nick
 
To put someone or something “under the ban” in my opinion meant that it or they were to be destroyed because they were offensive to the Lord and a danger to God’s chosen people. The canaanites, put under the ban, had long offended God with their immorality and human sacrifices and God knew they would not repent. It does not denote a form of sacrifice but a form of purging the bad.
 
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