‘Now all the tithe of the land, of the seed of the land or of the fruit of the tree, is the Lord’s; it is holy to the Lord.
Parallel translations
- WEB “‘All the tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land or of the fruit of the trees, is Yahweh’s. It is holy to Yahweh.
- KJV And all the tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land, or of the fruit of the tree, is the LORD’s: it is holy unto the LORD.
- BSB Thus any tithe from the land, whether from the seed of the land or the fruit of the trees, belongs to the LORD; it is holy to the LORD.
- NKJV And all the tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land or of the fruit of the tree, is the Lord’s. It is holy to the Lord.
- NLT “One-tenth of the produce of the land, whether grain from the fields or fruit from the trees, belongs to the Lord and must be set apart to him as holy.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
A tenth of all the land's produce belonged to the LORD as holy to him. The tithe acknowledged God as owner and provider of the harvest.
Overview
The tithe of crops and fruit was already the LORD's, set apart as holy, supporting the Levites and the worship of Israel. Giving it confessed that the land and its yield came from God's hand. This principle of returning to God a portion that is rightfully his trains the heart in gratitude and dependence, a posture that abounds in grateful giving under the gospel.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 16
- Matt 23:23“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint, dill, and cumin, and have left undone the weightier matters of the law: justice, mercy, and faith. But you ought to have done these, and not to have left the other undone.
- Neh 13:12Then all Judah brought the tithe of the grain, the new wine, and the oil to the treasuries.
- Gen 28:22then this stone, which I have set up for a pillar, will be God’s house. Of all that you will give me I will surely give a tenth to you.”
- Neh 10:37–38and that we should bring the first fruits of our dough, our wave offerings, the fruit of all kinds of trees, and the new wine and the oil, to the priests, to the rooms of the house of our God; and the tithes of our ground to the Levites; for they, the Levites, take the tithes in all the cities of our tillage.
- Luke 18:12I fast twice a week. I give tithes of all that I get.’
- 2 Chr 31:12They brought in the offerings, the tithes, and the dedicated things faithfully. Conaniah the Levite was ruler over them, and Shimei his brother was second.
- 2 Chr 31:5–6As soon as the commandment went out, the children of Israel gave in abundance the first fruits of grain, new wine, oil, honey, and of all the increase of the field; and they brought in the tithe of all things abundantly.
- Gen 14:20and blessed be God Most High, who has delivered your enemies into your hand.” Abram gave him a tenth of all.
- Mal 3:8–10Will a man rob God? Yet you rob me! But you say, ‘How have we robbed you?’ In tithes and offerings.
- Luke 11:42But woe to you Pharisees! For you tithe mint and rue and every herb, but you bypass justice and God’s love. You ought to have done these, and not to have left the other undone.
- Heb 7:5–9They indeed of the sons of Levi who receive the priest’s office have a commandment to take tithes of the people according to the law, that is, of their brothers, though these have come out of the body of Abraham,
- Deut 14:22–23You shall surely tithe all the increase of your seed, that which comes out of the field year by year.
- Neh 12:44On that day were men appointed over the rooms for the treasures, for the wave offerings, for the first fruits, and for the tithes, to gather into them, according to the fields of the cities, the portions appointed by the law for the priests and Levites; for Judah rejoiced for the priests and for the Levites who waited.
- Deut 12:5–6But to the place which Yahweh your God shall choose out of all your tribes, to put his name there, you shall seek his habitation, and there you shall come.
- Neh 13:5had prepared for him a great room, where before they laid the meal offerings, the frankincense, the vessels, and the tithes of the grain, the new wine, and the oil, which were given by commandment to the Levites, the singers, and the porters; and the wave offerings for the priests.
- Num 18:21–24“To the children of Levi, behold, I have given all the tithe in Israel for an inheritance, in return for their service which they serve, even the service of the Tent of Meeting.
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Christ at the center
Every sacrifice, every priest, and every day of atonement points beyond itself to the one perfect offering and the great High Priest who, by his own blood, makes the unclean holy once for all.
How Leviticus 27:30 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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