Deuteronomy 14:23

And thou shalt eat before the LORD thy God, in the place which he shall choose to place his name there, the tithe of thy corn, of thy wine, and of thine oil, and the firstlings of thy herds and of thy flocks; that thou mayest learn to fear the LORD thy God always.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(23) And thou shalt eat before the Lord thy God—i.e., thou shalt eat the second tithe. This was to be done two years; but in the third and sixth years there was a different arrangement (see Deuteronomy 14:28). In the seventh year, which was Sabbatical, there would probably be no tithe, for there was to be no harvest. The profit of the earth was for all, and every one was free to eat at pleasure.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

14:22-29 A second portion from the produce of their land was required. The whole appointment evidently was against the covetousness, distrust, and selfishness of the human heart. It promoted friendliness, liberality, and cheerfulness, and raised a fund for the relief of the poor. They were taught that their worldly portion was most comfortably enjoyed, when shared with their brethren who were in want. If we thus serve God, and do good with what we have, it is promised that the Lord our God will bless us in all the works of our land. The blessing of God is all to our outward prosperity; and without that blessing, the work of our hands will bring nothing to pass. The blessing descends upon the working hand. Expect not that God should bless thee in thy idleness and love of ease. And it descends upon the giving hand. He who thus scatters, certainly increases; and to be free and generous in the support of religion, and any good work, is the surest and safest way of thriving.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

These words recall in general terms the command of the earlier legislation respecting tithes (compare Leviticus 27:30; Numbers 18:26), but refer more particularly to the second or festival tithe, which was an exclusively vegetable one.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

22-27. Thou shalt truly tithe all the increase of thy seed—The dedication of a tenth part of the year's produce in everything was then a religious duty. It was to be brought as an offering to the sanctuary; and, where distance prevented its being taken in kind, it was by this statute convertible into money.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

See Poole on "Deu 12:6", See Poole on "Deu 12:17".

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

And thou shalt eat before the Lord thy God, in the place which he shall choose to place his name there,.... See Deuteronomy 12:5 there the tithe of all the fruits of the earth was to be eaten; this is the second tithe, as the Targum of Jonathan, and so Jarchi, and which is more particularly described as follows:

the tithe of thy corn, of thy wine, and of thine oil: see Deuteronomy 12:7,

and the firstlings of thine herds, and of thy flocks; of which see the note on the above place:

that thou mayest learn to fear the Lord thy God always; which such a constant practice would inure unto; see Deuteronomy 10:12.

Geneva Study Bible

And thou shalt eat before the LORD thy God, in the place which he shall choose to place his name there, the tithe of thy corn, of thy wine, and of thine oil, and the firstlings of thy herds and of thy flocks; that thou mayest learn to fear the LORD thy God always.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

23. eat before the Lord] See on Deuteronomy 12:7.

the place which he shall choose] Sam., LXX, which Jehovah thy God shall choose; see on Deuteronomy 12:5. Before this the tithe was offered at the local sanctuaries, Amos 4:4.

corn, wine, and oil] Defining that which cometh forth from the field. A purely vegetable tithe: so always in D as in Numbers 18:27; Numbers 18:30, corn of threshing floor, fulness of winepress or vat (cp. D, Deuteronomy 15:14, Deuteronomy 16:13), Nehemiah 10:35-37 (Nehemiah 10:36-38), tithe of the ground (cp. Leviticus 27:30, whether of the seed of the land or fruit of tree). To this an animal tithe is added by Leviticus 27:32 and 2 Chronicles 31:6. Corn stands for all cereals; it is singular that nowhere is the fig, the third of the great triad of Israel’s fruit trees, mentioned along with wine and oil.

and the firstlings, etc.] The law of firstlings is Deuteronomy 15:19 ff.; here they are mentioned only incidentally, perhaps because the tithes were to be presented at the same time with them. There is no reference here to an animal tithe. ‘Mere firstlings, set apart from the yearly increase of the herds, distinct from the firstborn and offered as a substitute for the animal tithe, are not to be thought of’ (Dillm.).

that thou mayest learn to fear] Such regular offerings mean the practice of the fear of God, for by them the offerers acknowledge that to God and not to their own labour the blessings of their fields are due. The same intention is attributed to making the people hear God’s word, Deuteronomy 4:10 (q.v.), and to the injunction to the king to read always in the law, Deuteronomy 17:19.

24 f. Another practical consequence of the centralisation of the worship, like that which permits the profane slaughter and enjoyment of animals, Deuteronomy 12:21 ff.

if the way be too long for thee, etc.] Cp. Deuteronomy 12:21 : if the place … be too far from thee, Deuteronomy 19:6.

when the Lord thy God shall bless thee] Means neither with a great extension of thy land (Knobel) nor with so rich a harvest that thou art unable to carry the tithe of it so far (Dillm.), but, more generally, with thy yearly harvests. Was there, then, no tithe when the harvest failed?

shalt thou turn it into money] Heb. may mean either give it in, or in exchange for, money. The Heb. keseph often = silver, usually supposed to have been called so from its paleness (W. R. Smith, Journ. Phil. xiv. 125); but the root is just as probably to cut off, or cut in pieces (Jerusalem, i. 329), and keseph is therefore applicable, and is applied, to other metals. In any case money is the right translation here. Coins proper were not in use in Israel before the Persian period; but from a very early date there was a metallic currency, partly in silver (cp. 1 Samuel 9:8, quarter of a silver shekel, 2 Samuel 14:26, shekels stamped by David) and partly in copper (which was current in Palestine by 1400 b.c., Tell-el-Amarna Letters); of the latter the gera or 20th part of the shekel, Ezekiel 45:12, was no doubt one form. On the currency in W. Asia see A. R. S. Kennedy in Hastings’ D.B. art. ‘Money.’

thou shalt bind up the money in thine hand] Heb. confine. As the Heb. for purse (Genesis 42:35; Proverbs 7:20) comes from another form of this root, we might use the Eng. denom. vb. thou shalt purse it in thine hand. Usually money was carried in the girdle, but this seems to imply a form of purse attached to the fingers or wrist.

Deuteronomy 14:23

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

As the Israelites were to sanctify their food, on the one hand, positively by abstinence from everything unclean, so were they, on the other hand, to do so negatively by delivering the tithes and firstlings at the place where the Lord would cause His name to dwell, and by holding festal meals on the occasion, and rejoicing there before Jehovah their God. This law is introduced with the general precept, "Thou shalt tithe all the produce of thy seed which groweth out of the field (יצא construes with an accusative, as in Genesis 9:10, etc.) year by year" (שׁנה שׁנה, i.e., every year; cf. Ewald, 313, a.), which recalls the earlier laws concerning the tithe (Leviticus 27:30, and Numbers 18:21, Numbers 18:26.), without repeating them one by one, for the purpose of linking on the injunction to celebrate sacrificial meals at the sanctuary from the tithes and firstlings. Moses had already directed (Deuteronomy 12:6.) that all the sacrificial meals should take place at the sanctuary, and had then alluded to the sacrificial meals to be prepared from the tithes, though only causally, because he intended to speak of them more fully afterwards. This he does here, and includes the firstlings also, inasmuch as the presentation of them was generally associated with that of the tithes, though only causally, as he intends to revert to the firstlings again, which he does in Deuteronomy 15:19. The connection between the tithes of the fruits of the ground and the firstlings of the cattle which were devoted to the sacrificial meals, and the tithes and first-fruits which were to be delivered to the Levites and priests, we have already discussed at Deuteronomy 12. The sacrificial meals were to be held before the Lord, in the place where He caused His name to dwell (see at Deuteronomy 12:5), that Israel might learn to fear Jehovah its God always; not, however, as Schultz supposes, that by the confession of its dependence upon Him it might accustom itself more and more to the feeling of dependence. For the fear of the Lord is not merely a feeling of dependence upon Him, but also includes the notion of divine blessedness, which is the predominant idea here, as the sacrificial meals were to furnish the occasion and object of the rejoicing before the Lord. The true meaning therefore is, that Israel might rejoice with holy reverence in the fellowship of its God.