Nehemiah 10:37

And that we should bring the firstfruits of our dough, and our offerings, and the fruit of all manner of trees, of wine and of oil, unto the priests, to the chambers of the house of our God; and the tithes of our ground unto the Levites, that the same Levites might have the tithes in all the cities of our tillage.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(37) To the chambers of the house of our God.—To the store-chambers, minutely described as they were of old in 1 Kings 6, Hezekiah appears to have added formerly a treasure-house for the tithes, referred to in the next verse (2Chronicles 31:11).

In all the cities of our tillage.—Agricultural towns, so called here with reference to the fruits of the earth, which were deposited first in certain selected places.

Benson Commentary

Nehemiah 10:37-38. That the Levites might have the tithes in all the cities of our tillage — That is, the tithes of all the fruits of the ground belonging to our several cities. And the priest, the son of Aaron, shall be with the Levites — As the people gave the tithe of their land to the Levites, so the Levites gave a tithe of their tithes to the priests. And it is here ordered, that when the people brought them to the Levites, one of the priests should be present to inspect them, and to see that they tithed the tithes, that is, set apart the tenth of the tithes they had received for the priests, which were brought to the chambers of the house of God, wherein they were deposited for their use.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

10:32-39 Having covenanted against the sins of which they had been guilty, they obliged themselves to observe the duties they had neglected. We must not only cease to do evil, but learn to do well. Let not any people expect the blessing of God, unless they keep up public worship. It is likely to go well with our houses, when care is taken that the work of God's house goes on well. When every one helps, and every one gives, though but little, toward a good work, the whole will come to be a large sum. We must do what we can in works of piety and charity; and whatever state we are placed in, cheerfully perform our duty to God, which will be the surest way to ease and liberty. As the ordinances of God are the appointed means of support to our souls, the believer will not grudge the expense; yet most people leave their souls to starve.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

No special provision was made by the Law, by David, or by Solomon, for the supply of wood necessary to keep fire ever burning upon the altar. Nehemiah established a system by which the duty of supplying the wood was laid as a burden in turn on the various clans or families, which were regarded as constituting the nation. The lot was used to determine the order in which the several families should perform the duty. A special day (the 14th of the fifth month, according to Josephus) was appointed for the bringing in of the supply; and this day was after a time regarded as a high festival, and called "the feast of the wood-offering."

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

34. we cast the lots … for the wood offering—The carrying of the wood had formerly been the work of the Nethinims. But few of them having returned, the duty was assigned as stated in the text. The practice afterwards rose into great importance, and Josephus speaks [The Wars of the Jews, 2.17, sect. 6] of the Xylophoria, or certain stated and solemn times at which the people brought up wood to the temple.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

i.e. The tithes of all the fruits of the ground belonging to our several cities.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

And that we should bring the first fruits of our dough,.... According to the law in Numbers 15:20

and our offerings; their heave offerings, Numbers 18:8

and the fruit of all manner of trees; bore by them on the fourth year after their planting, Leviticus 19:23

of wine and oil; to which Aben Ezra restrains the fruit of the trees, see Numbers 18:12, all these they were to bring

unto the priests, to the chambers the house of our God; there to be laid up for the use of it; and oil and wine were frequently used in sacrifices:

and the tithes of our ground unto the Levites, that the same Levites might have the tithes in all the cities of our village; the tenth part of the produce of their agriculture everywhere throughout the land, see Numbers 18:21.

Geneva Study Bible

And that we should bring the firstfruits of our dough, and our offerings, and the fruit of all manner of trees, of wine and of oil, unto the priests, to the chambers of the house of our God; and the tithes of our ground unto the Levites, that the same Levites might have the tithes in all the cities of our {i} tillage.

(i) Wherever we laboured or worked, there the tithes were due to the Lord both by the law, and according to the oath and covenant that we made.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

37. and that we should bring] The change of construction (cf. the infinitive ‘to bring’ in Nehemiah 10:35-36) somewhat favours the suggestion that this and the next two verses are a later insertion, introduced for the purpose of recording in detail the Jewish practice of paying firstfruits and tithes.

the firstfruits of our dough] R.V. marg. ‘Or, coarse meal.’ See Numbers 15:21, ‘Of the first of your dough (marg. Or, coarse meal) ye shall offer up a cake for an heave offering.’ The firstfruits or ‘the first’ (rêshith) is equivalent to ‘the best.’ Cf. Leviticus 23:17.

and our offerings] R.V. and our heave offerings. Before this expression we have also to understand ‘the firstfruits of.’ The priests did not receive the whole ‘heave offerings’ (terumoth), but ‘the firstfruits’ or ‘first’ of them. This is also the teaching of Ezekiel 44:30, ‘And the first of all the firstfruits of everything, and every oblation (marg. Or, heave offering) of everything, of all your oblations, shall be for the priests.’ The portion thus assigned to the priests was called ‘the heave offering for the priests’ (Nehemiah 13:5). The word rendered ‘heave offering’ was used in a general sense to denote ‘a gift’ (Proverbs 29:4), but was applied in a special sense to gifts or offerings for a sacred purpose, e.g. contributions to the tabernacle, Exodus 25:2 sq., or the portions of sacrifices set apart for the priests, Leviticus 7:32. In 2 Samuel 1:21, ‘fields of offerings’ are fields from whose rich pasture the firstlings of the flock would be taken.

and the fruit of all manner of trees] See on Nehemiah 10:35. We should understand these words to depend upon ‘the firstfruits of.’ The structure of the verse is certainly in favour of this interpretation. ‘The first-fruits,’ devoted to the priests, are distinguished from the ‘tithes’ which are given to the Levites.

wine] R.V. marg. ‘Or, the vintage.’ ‘The wine and the oil,’ not in apposition to ‘the fruit of all manner of trees,’ but separately mentioned on account of their peculiar value. Cf. Numbers 18:12.

to the chambers of the house of our God] See on Nehemiah 10:39, Nehemiah 12:44, Nehemiah 13:4; LXX. εἰς τὸ γαζοφυλάκιον οἴκου τοῦ θεοῦ.

the tithes of our ground] According to Leviticus 27:30. On the omission of reference to tithe of ‘herd and flock’ mentioned in Leviticus 27:32, see note at end of chapter. Passages in the O.T. dealing with tithe are Genesis 14:20; Genesis 28:22; Leviticus 27:30-33; Numbers 18:21-32; Deuteronomy 14:22-29; Deuteronomy 26:12-15; Amos 4:4; Malachi 3:8-10; 2 Chronicles 31:5-6, and Nehemiah 10:37-39; Nehemiah 12:44; Nehemiah 13:5.

that the same Levites might have the tithes] R.V. for they, the Levites, take the tithes. LXX. δεκατοῦντες. Vulg. ‘accipient decimas.’ The word in the Hebrew which generally denotes ‘to pay tithe of something,’ is here used in a special sense of collecting tithe, in which it is found in the later Hebrew of the Mishnah. It occurs here in the sense of ἀποδεκατόω in Hebrews 7:5 ‘to take tithes of the people.’

in all the cities of our tillage] LXX. ἐν πάσαις πόλεσιν δουλείας ἡμῶν. Vulg. ‘ex omnibus civitatibus operum nostrorum.’ Cf. 1 Chronicles 27:26, ‘over them that did the work of the field for tillage of the ground.’ The translation of ‘abodah’ by ‘tillage’ gives the only probable sense. The alternative, ‘cities of our service’ would be meaningless. The words are important as determining the agricultural character of the area from which this tithe was collected. It is implied, though not stated, that the tithe thus collected by the Levites was of ‘the fruits of the field’ (cf. Deuteronomy 14:22-29; Deuteronomy 26:12-15) and did not include the tithe of ‘the herd or the flock.’ See note on Nehemiah 10:39. The word ‘Abodah’ was in later times technically used for ‘worship.’ Cf. the saying of Simon the Just in the Pirqe Aboth, ‘On three things the world is stayed; on the Thorah, and on the Worship (Abodah), and on the bestowal of kindnesses’ (Sayings of the Jewish Fathers, Taylor, p. 26).

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 37. - The first-fruits of our dough. See Numbers 15:18-21. And our offerings. Literally, "our heave offerings" (Numbers 15:20; Leviticus 23:11, 17). To the chambers of the house. The store-chambers attached to the temple-building (see Nehemiah 13:4, 5). The tithes of our ground. As with the law of first-fruits, so with that of tithes (which was more burthensome), there had grown up a practice of neglecting it on the part of many, if not of all. The natural result would be the non-attendance of Levites at Jerusalem, and so a falling-off in the solemnity and grandeur of the temple-worship (comp. Nehemiah 13:10). It was now covenanted afresh on the part of the people that they would resume the legal practice, at any rate to the extent of paying what has been called "the first tithe," or that due to the Levites for their sustentation. In all the cities of our tillage. The Levitical tithe was not taken to Jerusalem. but stored up in some neighbouring, generally Levitical, city. Nehemiah 10:37

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

It was also arranged to contribute the first-fruits prescribed in the law. The infinitive להביא depends on העמדנוּ, and is co-ordinate with לתת, Nehemiah 10:33. The first-fruits of the ground, comp. Exodus 23:19; Exodus 34:26; Deuteronomy 26:2; the first-fruits of all fruit trees, comp. Numbers 18:13; Leviticus 19:23; the first-born of our sons who were redeemed according to the estimation of the priest, Numbers 18:16, and of our cattle (i.e., in the case of the unclean, the required redemption, Exodus 13:12., Numbers 18:15), and the firstlings of the herds and of the flocks, the fat of which was consumed on the altar, the flesh becoming the share of the priests, Numbers 18:17. In Nehemiah 10:38 the construction is altered, the first person of the imperfect taking the place of the infinitive: and we will bring the first-fruits. ערסות, probably groats or ground flour; see rem. on Numbers 15:20, etc. תרוּמות, heave-offerings, the offering in this connection, is probably that of wheat and barley, Ezekiel 45:13, or of the fruits of the field, which are suitably followed by the "fruit of all manner of trees." On "the first of the wine and oil," comp. Numbers 18:12. These offerings of first-fruits were to be brought into the chambers of the house of God, where they were to be kept in store, and distributed to the priests for their support. "And the tithes of our ground (will we bring) to the Levites; and they, the Levites, receive the tithes in all our country towns. (Nehemiah 10:39) And a priest, a son of Aaron, shall be with the Levites when the Levites take tithes; and the Levites shall bring the tithe of the tithes to the house of our God, into the chambers of the treasury." The parenthetical sentences in these verses, המעשׂרים הלויּם והם and הלויּם בּעשׂר, have been variously understood. עשׂר in the Piel and Hiphil meaning elsewhere to pay tithe, comp. Deuteronomy 14:22; Deuteronomy 26:12; Genesis 28:22, many expositors adhere to this meaning in these passages also, and translate Nehemiah 10:38 : for they, the Levites, must give again the tenth (to the priests); and Nehemiah 10:39 : when the Levites give the tenth; while the lxx, Vulgate, Syriac, Rashi, Aben Ezra, Clericus, Bertheau, and others, take עשּׂר and העשׂיר in these sentences as signifying to collect tithe. We prefer the latter view, as giving a more suitable sense. For the remark that the Levites must give back the tenth (Nehemiah 10:38) does not present so appropriate a motive for the demand that the tithes should be paid, as that the tithes are due to the Levites. Still less does the addition, in our agricultural towns, suit the sentence: the Levites must give back the tithe to the priests. Again, the fact that it is not said till Nehemiah 10:39 that the Levites have to give the tenth of the tenth to the priests, speaks still more against this view. A priest is to be present when the Levites take the tenth, so that the share of the priests may not be lessened. On "the tenth of the tenth," comp. Numbers 18:26. Hezekiah had provided store-chambers in the temple, in which to deposit the tithes, 2 Chronicles 31:11.