Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 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.
37. and that we should bring ] The change of construction (cf. the infinitive ‘to bring’ in Neh 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 Num 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’ (rshith) is equivalent to ‘the best.’ Cf. Lev 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 Eze 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’ (Neh 13:5). The word rendered ‘heave offering’ was used in a general sense to denote ‘a gift’ (Pro 29:4), but was applied in a special sense to gifts or offerings for a sacred purpose, e.g. contributions to the tabernacle, Exo 25:2 sq., or the portions of sacrifices set apart for the priests, Lev 7:32. In 2Sa 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 Neh 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. Num 18:12.
to the chambers of the house of our God ] See on Neh 10:39, Neh 12:44, Neh 13:4; LXX. .
the tithes of our ground ] According to Lev 27:30. On the omission of reference to tithe of ‘herd and flock’ mentioned in Lev 27:32, see note at end of chapter. Passages in the O.T. dealing with tithe are Gen 14:20; Gen 28:22; Lev 27:30-33; Num 18:21-32; Deu 14:22-29; Deu 26:12-15; Amo 4:4; Mal 3:8-10 ; 2Ch 31:5-6, and Neh 10:37-39; Neh 12:44; Neh 13:5.
that the same Levites might have the tithes ] R.V. for they, the Levites, take the tithes. LXX. . 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 in Heb 7:5 ‘to take tithes of the people.’
in all the cities of our tillage ] LXX. . Vulg. ‘ex omnibus civitatibus operum nostrorum.’ Cf. 1Ch 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. Deu 14:22-29; Deu 26:12-15) and did not include the tithe of ‘the herd or the flock.’ See note on Neh 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).
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Neh 10:37
And the tithes.
Tithes
Without inquiring into the reason for which the number ten has been so frequently preferred as a number of selection in the ones of tribute offerings, both sacred and secular, voluntary and compulsory, we may remark that numerous instances of its use are found both in profane and also in Biblical history, prior to, or independently of, the appointment of the Levitical tithes under the law. In Biblical history the two prominent instances are–
1. Abram presenting the tenth of his property, according to the Syrian and Arabic versions of Heb 7:1-28., but as the passages themselves appear to show, of the spoils of his victory, to Melchisedek (Gen 14:20; Heb 7:2-6).
2. Jacob, after his vision at Luz, devoting a tenth of all his property to God in case he should return home in safety (Gen 28:22). These instances bear witness to the antiquity of tithes, in some shape or other, previous to the Mosaic tithe system. But numerous instances are to he found of the practice of heathen nations, Greeks, Ronians, Carthaginians, Arabians, of applying tenths derived from property in general, from spoil, from confiscated goods, or from commercial profits, to sacred, and quasi-sacred, and also to fiscal purposes, viz., as consecrated to a deity, presented as a reward to a successful general, set apart as a tribute to a sovereign, or as a permanent source of revenue. (Smiths Bible Dictionary.)
Giving as a means of character culture
God carries on His cause in the world by the aid of His people. He is constantly calling on us to give, now to this cause and now to that. Why so? Surely He to whom the silver and gold belong has no need of us to help forward His work. He could, if He would, do it much more efficiently without us. But He is striving to educate us into resemblance to Christ and meetness for heaven. If a father could place his child where he would be habitually giving, giving, in the expression of a benevolent sympathy and helpfulness, he would be putting him under the most efficient of all means for the development in him of a truly Christian, or Christlike, spirit. He would be conferring on him one of the richest possible blessings. This is the blessing which our heavenly Father is trying to bestow upon us, in surrounding us as He does with those who need our sympathy and help. If we gratefully recognise our Fathers wise and loving design, and, so far as we can, give our help with a truly Christian spirit, our contributions will do more good to us who give than to those who receive them. Every such expression of Christian love will leave an impress on our character which we shall carry with us for ever. It will develop into augmented power and more absolute supremacy within us that Christlike spirit without which we can never walk the golden streets. We need, then, to cultivate the habit of giving as much as the habit of praying.
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
i.e. The tithes of all the fruits of the ground belonging to our several cities.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
And that we should bring the first fruits of our dough,…. According to the law in Nu 15:20
and our offerings; their heave offerings, Nu 18:8
and the fruit of all manner of trees; bore by them on the fourth year after their planting, Le 19:23
of wine and oil; to which Aben Ezra restrains the fruit of the trees, see Nu 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
Nu 18:21.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(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 (2Ch. 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.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
37. The firstfruits of our dough The “wave loaves” described in Lev 23:17.
The tithes For these were holy to Jehovah.
Lev 27:30.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Neh 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.
Ver. 37. And that we should bring the firstfruits of our dough ] As oft as they baked they gave cake unto the priests, where they dwelled throughout the tribes; for they were dispersed all abroad the land for instruction of the people, and exhortation to obedience to the law of God. See Num 15:20-21 .
And the tithes of our ground unto the Levites
In all the cities of our tillage
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
offerings = heave offerings. See App-43.
wine = new wine. Hebrew. tirosh. App-27.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
the firstfruits: Lev 23:17, Num 15:19-21, Num 18:12, Num 18:13, Deu 18:4, Deu 26:2
to the chambers: Neh 13:5, Neh 13:9, 1Ki 6:5-10, 2Ch 31:11, 2Ch 31:12
and the tithes: Lev 27:30-33, Num 18:21, Num 18:24-32, 2Ch 31:6, Mal 3:8, Mal 3:10
Reciprocal: Gen 14:20 – tithes Num 15:20 – a cake Deu 14:22 – General Neh 12:44 – some Neh 13:10 – the portions Neh 13:12 – brought Luk 11:42 – and not
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Neh 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.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
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 {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.