Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Nehemiah 10:35
And to bring the firstfruits of our ground, and the firstfruits of all fruit of all trees, year by year, unto the house of the LORD:
35 39. First-fruits and tithe
35. the firstfruits of our ground ] Cf. Exo 23:19; Exo 34:26. ‘The first of the firstfruits of the ground thou shalt bring into the house of the Lord thy God;’ so also in greater detail Deu 26:2-10. Cf. Pro 3:9; Eze 44:30.
of all trees ] R.V. of all manner of trees. See Num 18:12-13, ‘all the best of the oil and all the best of the vintage, and of the corn, the firstfruits of them which they give unto the Lord, to thee have I given them. The first ripe fruits of all that is in their land, which they bring unto the Lord shall be thine,’ cf. 2Ch 31:5, Lev 19:23.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Neh 10:35
And to bring the first-fruits of our ground.
A fruit-service
We notice in this text–
I. Willinghood. And to bring. It was no tax. Love is its own tax-levier, and it ever gathers the richest, the ripest, and the best fruit. When a Church or a community is filled with love you need have no fear for revenue.
II. Precedence First-fruits. In all things Christ must have the pre-eminence. He must be Alpha.
III. Universal lordship. First-fruits of all trees. He is Lord of all. So it is with the fruit of our souls. Jesus claims tribute from all provinces of our nature. He is not satisfied with actions. He claims the captivity of our thoughts. He wants not only the first-fruits of our emotions, of penitence, but also of our gratitude, our adoration, our trust, and our love. Let us see that His flag is waving over every province of our nature, and that we give to Him the first-fruits of conscience and meditation, of imagination and memory, of ardent love and submissive will.
IV. Annual offering. Year by year. We should lose the consciousness of advancing time if it were not for our birthdays. We should miss much of occasions for gratitude if it were not for Iced-time and harvest, summer and winter. The living earth reminds us of the living God, who supplies all we need. (W. M. Statham.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
The first-fruits of our ground, i.e. of the fruits of our ground. All the particulars of the first-fruits are exactly and distinctly mentioned, that none might pretend ignorance when they withheld any part of the priests dues; which at that time especially the people were very prone to do, through poverty, or covetousness, or profaneness; and that the priests rights might be firmly assured to them.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
29-37. to observe and do all thecommandments, c.This national covenant, besides containing asolemn pledge of obedience to the divine law generally, specifiedtheir engagement to some particular duties, which the character andexigency of the times stamped with great urgency and importance, andwhich may be summed up under the following heads: that they abstainfrom contracting matrimonial alliances with the heathen that theywould rigidly observe the sabbath; that they would let the land enjoyrest and remit debts every seventh year; that they would contributeto the maintenance of the temple service, the necessary expenses ofwhich had formerly been defrayed out of the treasury of the temple(1Ch 26:20), and when it wasdrained, given out from the king’s privy purse (2Ch31:3); and that they would make an orderly payment of thepriests’ dues. A minute and particular enumeration of thefirst-fruits was made, that all might be made fully aware of theirobligations, and that none might excuse themselves on pretext ofignorance from withholding taxes which the poverty of many, and theirreligion of others, had made them exceedingly prone to evade.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And to bring the firstfruits of our ground,…. Not that they cast lots to do this, but they bound themselves with an oath, according to the law, to do it; this is the first of all the fruits of the earth, Ex 23:19, though Aben Ezra restrains it to the sheaf of the firstfruits, and to the two wave loaves, Le 23:10,
and the firstfruits of all fruit of all trees; which, as Aben Ezra observes, their wise men restrain to the seven kinds only mentioned in De 8:8.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(35) And to bring.Following we made ordinances (Neh. 10:32). The various firstfruits are specified according to the Mosaic law, which made this expression of natural piety an obligation; and the minuteness of the specification implies that neglect had crept in.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
35. To bring the firstfruits Compare marginal references. The true Israelite sought to dedicate the first and best of all things to his God.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Regulation In Respect Of Various Offerings ( Neh 10:35-39 ).
We do not know how far these offerings had been neglected. There is no reason for arguing that they had hitherto been unknown. Even granted that the Law had not been read out, some memory of them would have survived. But when they were living in Babylonia and elsewhere they would not have been observed, and the details may well have been forgotten by most. The priests, however, would undoubtedly have had a good knowledge of them (some who had served in the first Temple were still alive when the second Temple was built). Thus if there was a problem it was one of neglect or not paying heed to the priests, not one of total ignorance. But clearly the reading aloud of the Law had brought a number of things as reflected here, home to the listeners, and they now determined to be meticulous in meeting God’s requirements.
Neh 10:35
‘And to bring the first-fruits of our ground, and the first-fruits of all fruit of all manner of trees, year by year, to the house of YHWH,’
They swore also that they would bring the first-fruit offerings which would benefit the priests (Exo 23:19; Exo 34:26; compare Deu 26:1-11, which, however, may have been once for all). Once again it may well be that these had been neglected, partly through ignorance, and partly though negligence.
In Exodus the firstfruits are stated to be ‘the firstfruits of your ground’, but that necessarily includes fruit grown on trees which are rooted in the ground, in a similar way to that in which ‘the tithe of the land’ was to include ‘the fruit of the tree’ (Lev 27:30). Indeed Num 18:13 speaks of ‘whatever is first ripe in the land’. Here in Nehemiah all is made clear by speaking of ‘the first-fruits of all fruit of all manner of trees’. Trees were, however, a special case as their fruit in the first three years of their existence was not to be eaten, and all the fruit of the fourth year was YHWH’s (Lev 19:23-25).
The term ‘house of YHWH’ was regularly used of both the Tabernacle (Exo 23:19; Exo 34:26; Deu 23:18; Jos 6:24; Jdg 19:18 ; 1Sa 1:7; 1Sa 1:24; 1Sa 3:15; 2Sa 12:20) and the Temple.
Neh 10:36
‘Also the first-born of our sons, and of our cattle, as it is written in the Law, and the firstlings of our herds and of our flocks, to bring to the house of our God, to the priests who minister in the house of our God,’
The law of the redemption of firstborn sons was also to be catered for. These had to be ‘redeemed’ by a replacement sacrifice (Exo 13:12-13; Exo 34:19-20). The responsibilities for service in the Tabernacle had originally been theirs, but it been taken over by the Levites (Num 3:12-13). But their redemption was necessary as a reminder of how they firstborn had been spared in Egypt. It would appear that in the course of this they were to be presented before the priests in the house of God. The firstborn of the ‘clean’ cattle, herds and flocks would themselves be offered as sacrifices. In the case of unclean animals, such as asses, they had either to be redeemed by offering a replacement sacrifice, or their necks had to be broken (being unclean they could not be offered to YHWH). These firstlings were to be brought to the Temple as ‘the house of our God’. Their flesh (but not their fat) was to be available, firstly for the benefit of the priests as with other offerings (Num 18:11-13), and secondly as something to be partaken in by all at a sacred feast when there was an abundance (Deu 12:17-19). Between Numbers 18 and Deuteronomy the situation had changed. Instead of struggling in the wilderness, with a long period of such struggling ahead, with tithes being limited, they were enjoying better pasturage and the fruitfulness of the promised land lay ahead. Thus it was recognised that there would be an abundance of tithes.
Some see ‘cattle, beast’ here as signifying unclean animals which had to be redeemed in the same way as the firstborn sons (compare Num 18:15). But in Numbers the word ‘unclean’ is included in order to distinguish between beast and beast. The argument is that that is why it says ‘as it is written in the Law’ (per Lev 13:13). But it is unlikely that firstborn asses were presented before the priests, especially if their necks had been broken. Here the idea is of the presentation at the house of God of that which is hallowed by God.
Neh 10:37
‘And that we should bring the first-fruits (or ‘the best’) of our dough (or ‘ground flour’), and our heave-offerings (of wheat and barley), and the fruit of all types of trees, the new wine and the oil, to the priests, to the chambers of the house of our God,’
We are not sure here of the significance and or meaning of one or two of the technical terms. ‘Firstfruits’ is not the same word as that previously used for firstfruits and means ‘prime’. It could therefore refer to the ‘first’ or it could signify the ‘best, choicest’. The word translated ‘dough’ possibly means ‘ground flour’. In Num 15:19 a heave-offering is mentioned which is composed of the first/best of the dough (ground flour). It may be then that here we are to translate as ‘the best of our ground flour, even our heave-offerings’ (of wheat and barley). In Eze 44:30 that is for the priests, and resulted in a special blessing. The tithe of the tithes, which was for the priests, was also seen as a heave-offering (Num 18:24-26). They were called ‘heave-offerings because they were ‘waved’ or ‘heaved’ before YHWH. For ‘the first/best of the oil and wine’ see Num 18:12. These were to be brought ‘to the priests, to the chambers of the house of our God’ as was the tithe of tithes (Neh 10:38).
The overall point behind all this is that God’s servants are to be given the very best (of ‘necessities’), because thereby we are giving it to God.
Neh 10:37
‘And the tithes of our ground to the Levites; for they, the Levites, take the tithes in all the cities of our tillage.’
In contrast the tithes were to be brought, not to the house of God, but to the Levites, ‘in all the cities of our tillage’, who would store them in their storehouses. These were to consist of one tenth of all produce, grain, fruit, wine and oil, and of all animals (Lev 27:30-32). Only one tenth of that tenth was brought to the priests (Neh 10:38; Num 18:26). It is true that part of the tithe to the Levites, every third year, was to be for the poor (Deu 14:28-29). But given that the priests at this time considerably outnumbered the Levites (very few Levites had returned. In Neh 7:39-45 there were 360 Levites who returned initially, compared with 4,289 priests, and few returned with Ezra – Ezr 8:15-19) it is quite clear that these proportions of nine tenths to the Levites and one tenth to the priests must have been determined long before, in a time when the situation was very different. In Numbers 3 there were 22,000 Levites (Num 3:39), and few priests (Num 3:2). The tithes were in fact the means of sustenance for the Levites as they served God in the Tabernacle/Temple (Num 18:21; Num 18:24). YHWH was their inheritance.
Neh 10:38
‘And the priest the son of Aaron will be with the Levites, when the Levites take tithes, and the Levites will bring up the tithe of the tithes to the house of our God, to the chambers, into the treasure-house.’
The provision of a priest to oversee the Levites in their work was a wise precaution. It would ensure that the Levites were not ‘overzealous’ in their collection of tithe (they were collecting it for God). It would guard against possible misuse of the tithe. And it would act as a guarantee that the priests’ share was correctly allocated. It was a wise precaution rather than an indication that the Levites were not trustworthy, for it would counter any suspicions that might be aroused.
Then, once the tithes were gathered, one tenth of what was gathered (the tithe of the tithe) was to be brought up to Jerusalem, ‘to the house of our God’, and there it was to be placed in ‘the treasure house’, the place provided in the Temple for storing valuable things (which would include the hides of sacrifices which belonged to the priests, and the Temple vessels). This one tenth was for the use of the priests.
Neh 10:39
‘For the children of Israel and the children of Levi will bring the heave-offering of the grain, of the new wine, and of the oil, to the chambers, where the vessels of the sanctuary are, and the priests who minister, and the porters, and the singers; and we will not forsake the house of our God.’
The final summing up oath is now given. They swear that the house of God will not be neglected. Both the children of Israel and the children of Levi (the Levites), will combine in bringing the heave offering of grain, wine and oil to the chambers in the Temple where the vessels of the sanctuary are, and where the priests who minister and the singers and the gatekeepers are. They will by no means forsake the house of their God. The mention of the singers and gatekeepers may suggest that they would be sharing in the priest’s portion. This was a suitable note on which to end the agreement, confirming that, in all that they had promised, God and His house were central.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Neh 10:35 And to bring the firstfruits of our ground, and the firstfruits of all fruit of all trees, year by year, unto the house of the LORD:
Ver. 35. And to bring the firstfruits of our ground ] Heb. The firstborn. These firstfruits were the fiftieth part; and if any would be more liberal in paying, the fortieth; or, being poorer, the sixtieth part.
And the firstfruits of all fruit of all trees
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Exo 23:19, Exo 34:26, Lev 19:23-26, Num 18:2, Num 18:12, Deu 26:2, 2Ch 31:3-10, Pro 3:9, Pro 3:10, Mal 3:8-12
Reciprocal: 2Ch 31:5 – came abroad Neh 12:47 – gave Eze 44:30 – all the firstfruits Rom 11:16 – if the firstfruit
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Neh 10:35. And to bring in the first-fruits That is, they took an oath to do it; for this is to be understood, and not that they cast lots about it, as they did about the wood-offering mentioned in the foregoing verse. All the particulars of the first-fruits are exactly and distinctly mentioned, that none might pretend ignorance when they withheld any part of the priests dues, which, at that time especially, the people were very prone to do, through poverty, or covetousness, or profaneness, and that the priests rights might be firmly assured to them. Thus encouragement was given to the priests to mind their duty, and care was taken that they should be under no temptation to neglect it, in order to make the necessary provision for their families. Then the work of the house of God is likely to go on, when those who serve at the altar live comfortably upon the altar.