Nehemiah 10:37

andthat we should bring The change of construction (cf. the infinitive -to bring" in Nehemiah 10:35) 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 allmanner 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; Mal 3:8-10; 2 Chronicles 31:5-6, and Nehemiah 10:37-39; Nehemiah 12:44; Nehemiah 13:5.

that the same Levitesmight 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).