Deuteronomy 14:23

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 winepressor 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. Cornstands 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. kesephoften = 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 kesephis therefore applicable, and is applied, to other metals. In any case moneyis 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 geraor 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.