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.
He must not replace it or exchange it, whether trading a good animal for a bad one, or a bad one for a good one. But if he does exchange one animal for another, then both the original animal and the replacement will be considered holy.
This verse is saying that when someone dedicates an animal to God, they can't take it back or swap it out, and if they try to make a trade anyway, God gets both animals.
📚 Historical Context
In the book of Leviticus, God provided the Israelites with laws through Moses to guide their worship and daily life, including regulations for vows and dedications to maintain holiness. This verse specifically deals with animals dedicated to God, prohibiting any exchange of a good animal for a bad one or vice versa to ensure the integrity of the offering. Such rules reflected the ancient Israelite culture's emphasis on treating sacred commitments with utmost seriousness, as vows were binding and dishonoring them could affect one's relationship with God.
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