Leviticus 27:28

"Notwithstanding, no devoted thing, that a man shall devote unto Jehovah of all that he hath, whether of man or beast, or of the field of his possession, shall be sold or redeemed: every devoted thing is most holy unto Jehovah. No one devoted, that shall be devoted from among men, shall be ransomed; he shall surely be put to death."

The word "devoted" in this passage has the simple meaning of "accursed."[11] We may be certain, therefore, that the authority thus to "devote" another human being did not belong to any individual in the ancient Jewish society. Meyrick has this further explanation:

"The devotion by ban ([~cherem]) of any object or person was not to be done by private persons, at their own will, but was performed by the magistrates, under known conditions and laws; e.g., the cities of idolaters, such as Jericho, were so devoted."[12]

Another example of a person so devoted is that of Agag, king of the Amalekites, whom Saul spared alive, contrary to the will of God (1 Samuel 15). A footnote in the old Polyglot Bible gives the meaning of this passage perfectly.

"It means that none who were condemned capitally, or devoted to certain death, such as murderers, sodomites, idolaters, and pagan Canaanites (whom God had ordered to be destroyed), could, on any terms whatever be redeemed."[13]

"Any allegations to the effect that the Mosaic Law permitted human sacrifice is false. When God gave a list of animals that could be offered to him in sacrifice, humans were expressly omitted, therefore forbidden to be offered in sacrifice."[14]