We also place ourselves under the obligation to contribute a third of a shekel yearly for the service of the house of our God:
Parallel translations
- WEB Also we made ordinances for ourselves, to charge ourselves yearly with the third part of a shekel for the service of the house of our God;
- KJV Also we made ordinances for us, to charge ourselves yearly with the third part of a shekel for the service of the house of our God;
- NKJV Also we made ordinances for ourselves, to exact from ourselves yearly one-third of a shekel for the service of the house of our God:
- NASB We also imposed on ourselves the obligation to contribute yearly a third of a shekel for the service of the house of our God:
- NLT “In addition, we promise to obey the command to pay the annual Temple tax of one-eighth of an ounce of silver for the care of the Temple of our God.
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
They imposed on themselves a yearly third-of-a-shekel tax to support the temple's service. They took personal responsibility for sustaining the worship of God.
Overview
The people voluntarily commit to an annual temple tax to fund worship. Where the law of Moses set a half-shekel (Exodus 30:13), the smaller amount likely reflects the community's poverty after the exile. The point is sacrificial, ongoing support for God's house — a heart that gives gladly toward the maintenance of corporate worship.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 5
- Matt 17:24–27After they had arrived in Capernaum, the collectors of the two-drachma tax came to Peter and asked, “Does your Teacher pay the two drachmas?”
- Exod 30:11–16Then the LORD said to Moses,
- 2 Cor 8:12For if the eagerness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what one has, not according to what he does not have.
- Prov 3:9Honor the LORD with your wealth and with the firstfruits of all your harvest;
- Gen 28:22And this stone I have set up as a pillar will be God’s house, and of all that You give me I will surely give You a tenth.”
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
The rebuilt walls and renewed covenant community foreshadow the greater builder who gathers and secures a people for God, the one who declares 'I will build my church.'
How Nehemiah 10:32 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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