Count off every tenth animal from your herds and flocks and set them apart for the Lord as holy.
Parallel translations
- WEB All the tithe of the herds or the flocks, whatever passes under the rod, the tenth shall be holy to Yahweh.
- KJV And concerning the tithe of the herd, or of the flock, even of whatsoever passeth under the rod, the tenth shall be holy unto the LORD.
- BSB Every tenth animal from the herd or flock that passes under the shepherd’s rod will be holy to the LORD.
- NKJV And concerning the tithe of the herd or the flock, of whatever passes under the rod, the tenth one shall be holy to the Lord.
- NASB For every tenth part of herd or flock, whatever passes under the rod, the tenth one shall be holy to the Lord.
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
Every tenth animal passing under the shepherd's counting rod was holy to the LORD. The tithe extended to herds and flocks, not just crops.
Overview
As animals passed single-file under the rod, every tenth one was set apart as holy to God. This impartial counting prevented the owner from choosing which to give, ensuring the tithe was genuinely the Lord's portion. It pictures God's just and undiscriminating claim over all we have, received as gift and returned in worship.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 3
- Jer 33:13In the cities of the hill country, in the cities of the lowland, and in the cities of the South, and in the land of Benjamin, and in the places about Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah, shall the flocks again pass under the hands of him who counts them,” says Yahweh.
- Ezek 20:37“I will cause you to pass under the rod, and I will bring you into the bond of the covenant.
- Mic 7:14Shepherd your people with your staff, the flock of your heritage, who dwell by themselves in a forest, in the middle of fertile pasture land, let them feed; in Bashan and Gilead, as in the days of old.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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 27:32 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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