Deuteronomy 12:17

Deu 12:17. Within thy gates — That is, in your private habitations, here opposed to the place of God’s worship.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Meaning, whatsoever was offered to the Lord, might not be eaten, but where he had appointed.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

(17) The tithe.—This is understood by Jewish commentators of what is called “the second tithe.” The disposal of it is more particularly specified in Deu_14:22-29. (See also on Deu_26:12, &c.)

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Thou mayest not eat within thy gates the tithe of thy corn, or of thy wine, or of thy oil,.... This cannot be understood of the tithe given to the Levites, or of that which the Levites out of theirs gave to the priests, for that was only eaten by them; but of the tithe which every three years they were to lay up within their gates, and which they were to eat with their families and others; but the other two years they were to carry it to the place the Lord chose, or turn it into money, and when they came thither purchase with it what they pleased, and eat it, they and their household, and others with them, before the Lord; see Deu 14:22,

the firstlings of thy herds or of thy flocks; these also the firstborn males belonged to the Lord, and so to the priests, and could not be eaten by the people any where; and must be understood either of the next firstlings, which were the people's, or of the female firstlings, which they might devote to the Lord, and so not allowed to eat at home, but in the chosen place:

nor any of thy vows which thou vowest, nor thy freewill offerings; which were species of peace offerings, and so to be eaten not in their own cities, but in the place appointed:

or heave offerings of thine hand; the firstfruits; see Deu 26:1 these were such they were not bound to bring, but brought them freely.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Tithes. These were of an extraordinary nature, destined for feasts, chap. xiv. 22., and Leviticus xxvii. 30. The usual tithes belonged entirely to the Levitical tribe. (Calmet) --- First-born, or the most excellent, ver. 11., and Exodus xii. 11, 12. The first-born, if it proved to be without defect, and a male, was given to the priests, Numbers xviii. 15. --- Voluntarily. If the thing was vowed to the Lord without restriction, it fell to the share of the priests alone: but if the person specified that he intended it for a peace-offering, &c., the priest could only claim what was allotted to him by the law. (Calmet) --- Hands. The fruits of trees, in the fourth year, may be insinuated. (Josephus, [Antiquities?] iv. 8.) (Menochius)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

Thou; either,

1. Thou, O Levite; or rather,

2. Thou, O Israelite, whom he distinguisheth from the Levite, Deu 12:18, accordingly as the following particulars agree to the one or to the other of you. Within thy gates, i.e. in your private habitations, here opposed to the place of God’s worship, Deu 12:18.

The tithe of thy corn, or of thy wine, or of thy oil. Here seems to be a great difficulty, not yet sufficiently observed nor cleared by interpreters. There were divers kinds of tithes:

1. The tithes given to the Levites out of all, of which Num 18:21,24; Deu 14:22; Neh 10:31.

2. The tithe of those tithes, which were to be given by the Levites to the priests, of which Num 18:21,24; Deu 14:29; Neh 10:37.

3. The third year’s tithe, of which Deu 14:28. To which some add another tithe, which they call the second tithe, which they say was taken after the Levites’ tithe was laid by. Now each of these hath its difficulty. It seems this place cannot be understood,

1. Of the Levites’ tithe; partly, because it might seem a great and wholly superfluous trouble to carry all their tithes up to Jerusalem, and to carry them back to their several habitations for their use; partly, because those were holy to the Lord, Lev 27:30, and not to be eaten by the people, Lev 27:31; whereas these belonged principally to the people, the Levites being only taken in as accessories to eat with them, as it is here, Deu 12:18; and partly, because those might be eaten in every place, as it is expressly affirmed, Num 18:31 Nor,

2. Of the tithe of the tithe, which was the priest’s; and neither Levites nor others might eat of it, except they were of or in the priest’s household. Nor,

3. Of the third year’s tithe, because that was to be eaten within their gates, Deu 14:28,29, as this was not.

I do therefore humbly conceive that this is meant of the second tithe, spoken of Deu 14:22; and that this was the very same tithe with that third year’s tithe, with this only difference, that in the third year they were to eat them together with the Levites within their gates, Deu 14:28,29, but in the two first years they were to eat them, together with the Levites also, in the place of God’s worship, as it is prescribed here and Deu 14:23. And that it is one land the same tithe which is spoken of Deu 14:22, and Deu 12:28, seems more than probable, both because they are called by the same name, all the tithe of their increase, and because that Deu 12:28 manifestly looks back to that Deu 12:22, and because otherwise every third year the Israelites were to pay three several tithes one after another, which Scripture no where affirms, and it seems to make the people’s burdens and the Levites’ provisions too great. For the objection taken from Deu 26:12,13, it shall be considered in its place. And the reason of that difference of place, and why the same tithes were eaten for two years together in Jerusalem, and the third in their own gates, seems to be this, that in the two first years there was a more special regard had to the Levites, who were very much conversant in Jerusalem, where those tithes were then eaten, and in the third year there is a respect had to the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow, who are mentioned as joint sharers with the Levites in this third year’s tithe, whose occasions and obligations of coming to Jerusalem were not so many nor strong as those of the Levites, and therefore they were to be found generally within their gates, where these were to be eaten. And whereas the objection made before against the chargeable and useless carrying of the first tithes to Jerusalem might be applied here, it is answered there, and it is provided, that when they lived at a great distance from Jerusalem they might turn it into money and bestow it there, Deu 14-26, which both confirms the objection as to the first tithe, for which no such provision was made, and answers it as to this, where such a remedy is expressed. And whereas it may be pleaded on the behalf of the first, or the Levitical tithe, that those tithes were brought to Jerusalem, and that there were store-houses or chambers in the temple appointed for the receiving of the tithes, 2Ch 31:5,6,11,12; Ne 10:37,38; 12:44, it may be answered, that those chambers, being only thirty-eight in number, and each of them, except two, but six cubits broad and twelve cubits long, were altogether incapable of all those tithes, and seem principally, if not solely, appointed for the priests’ tithes, and not for all them neither, but only for so much of them as would serve for the use and necessity of those priests and Levites too that were in the actual ministration.

The firstlings of thy herds, or of thy flock. As the tithes now mentioned were not the Levitical, but second tithes, as hath been discoursed; so these firstlings do not seem to be the first firstlings, which being appropriated to the Levites were not to be eaten by any of the people, except those of or in the Levites’ families, but the second firstlings, which were the first which the owner could dispose of, and which, in conformity to the second tithes, he is required to set apart for this use.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

17. Thou mayest not eat… the tithe of thy corn — The tithes mentioned differ from those in Lev_27:30-32. Those include all the products of the flock, the herd, and the field, and are spoken of as the Lord’s. The Deuteronomic tithes seem to be limited to the corn, wine, and oil. “They are nowhere characterized as the Lord’s, but are spoken of as belonging to the Israelites, to be eaten in sacrificial meals, or as a tithe to be set apart once in three years for the benefit of the poor.” — CURTISS, Levitical Priests, p. 38.

Firstlings — It is said that an unanswerable contradiction is found here to the regulations as to firstlings in Num_18:15-18. “There the Lord is represented as intimating to Aaron, in respect to the firstlings, that ‘the flesh of them shall be thine, as the wave breast and the heave shoulder, it shall be thine;’ but it is not said that the priests are to have all the flesh of the firstlings, nor is it said here that the people are to have all.” — CURTISS, Levitical Priests, p. 40.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Vers. 17-19. (Cf. vers. 6, 7, 12.) Thou mayest not eat; literally, thou art not able to eat; i.e. there is a legal inability to this. So the verb to be able (lkOy) is frequently used. (cf. Ge 43; Num_9:6; Deu_16:5 Deu_17:15, etc.)

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Within thy gates - That is, in your private habitations, here opposed to the place of God's worship.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

Concerning the Care of the Levites, The Eating of Sacrificial Meat, and Idolatry

v. 17. Thou mayest not eat within thy gates the tithe of thy corn, or of thy wine, or of thy oil, or the firstlings of thy herds or of thy flock, nor any of thy vows which thou vowest, nor thy free-will offerings, or heave-offering of thine hand, whatever was taken from the possession of the Israelites as a gift to Jehovah; all these could not be consumed in the worshiper’s house or in his home town;

v. 18. but thou must eat them before the Lord, thy God, in the place which the Lord, thy God, shall choose, the central Sanctuary, thou, and thy son, and thy daughter, and thy man-servant, and thy maid-servant, and the Levite that is within thy gates; and thou shalt rejoice before the Lord, thy God, in all that thou puttest thine hands unto, in any offering that might be made.

v. 19. Take heed to thyself that thou forsake not the Levite as long as thou livest upon the earth, literally, "all thy days upon thy land," Deu 14:27; Neh 13:10.

v. 20. When the Lord, thy God, shall enlarge thy border, as He hath promised thee, Exo 34:24. and thou shalt say, I will eat flesh, because thy soul longeth to eat flesh, literally, "because the desire of thy soul is set upon eating flesh," indicating a very great, an overwhelming longing, thou mayest eat flesh, whatsoever thy soul lusteth after, or, wherever they would choose.

v. 21. If the place which the Lord, thy God, hath chosen to put His name there be too far from thee, then thou shalt kill of thy herd and of thy flock which the Lord hath given thee, as I have commanded thee; and thou shalt eat in thy gates whatsoever thy soul lusteth after.

v. 22. Even as the roebuck and the hart is eaten, namely, not in the form of sacrifices, so thou shalt eat them; the (Levitically) unclean and the clean shall eat of them alike.

v. 23. Only be sure that thou eat not the blood, they were to be strong enough to resist the temptation to use blood as food; for the blood is the life, and thou mayest not eat the life with the flesh, Lev 17:11-14.

v. 24. Thou shalt not eat it; thou shalt pour it upon the earth as water.

v. 25. Thou shalt not eat it, that it may go well with thee and with thy children after thee, when thou shalt do that which is right in the sight of the Lord, Exo 15:26.

v. 26. Only thy holy things which thou hast, those consecrated to the Lord, and thy vows, thou shalt take and go unto the place which the Lord shall choose;

v. 27. and thou shalt offer thy burnt offerings, the flesh and the blood, upon the altar of the Lord, thy God; and the blood of the sacrifices shall be poured out upon the altar of the Lord, thy God, as the Law provided, Lev 1:5, and thou shalt eat the flesh, Leviticus 7.

v. 28. Observe and hear all these words which I command thee, that it may go well with thee and with thy children after thee forever, when thou doest that which is good and right in the sight of the Lord, thy God.

v. 29. When the Lord, thy God, shall cut off, eradicate, the nations from before thee, whither thou goest to possess them, and thou succeedest them, by taking over their country, and dwellest in their land,

v. 30. take heed to thyself that thou be not snared by following them, fall into the same snare of idolatry which caused their downfall, after that they be destroyed from before thee, for that judgment of the Lord should deter them from a similar foolhardy course; and that thou enquire not after their gods, saying, How did these nations serve their gods? Even so will I do likewise. They should not even inquire about the form of worship used by the heathen, lest they be tempted to try it for themselves.

v. 31. Thou shalt not do so unto the Lord, thy God, not try to serve Him with a form of worship modeled after that of the heathen nations; for every abomination to the Lord which he hateth have they done unto their gods; for even their sons and their daughters they have burned in the fire to their gods, as the Moabites did in their service of Molech. It is a dangerous matter to Christianize heathen customs, for the superstition will cling to the rites after the Christian veneer is forgotten, as in many Christmas customs.

v. 32. What thing soever I command you, observe to do it; thou shalt not add thereto nor diminish from it, Jos 1:7. The Revelation of Scripture is sufficient for all purposes and teaches the way of salvation in a perfect manner. All books of modern antichristian sects which purport to be keys to the Bible are inventions of the Evil One.

Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

General Information:

Moses describes to the people all the special offerings and sacrifices that are to be made at the tabernacle.

within your gates

Here "gates" represents the whole city. AT: "inside your city" or "at your homes" (See: Synecdoche)

nor that of the offering you present with your hand

Here "hand" represents the whole person. AT: "nor that of any offering which you bring to Yahweh" (See: Synecdoche)

translationWords

tenth

grain

wine

oil

firstborn

flocks

sacrifice

vow

freewill offering

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

לא תוכל THOU MAYEST NOT [EAT WITHIN THY GATES THE TITHE OF THY CORN etc.] — Scripture thereby intends to attach to this matter (the eating of מעשר בכור etc. outside the walls of Jerusalem) a negative command also (the positive command being contained in v. 11).

לא תוכל THOU MAYEST NOT (lit., thou canst not) [EAT etc.] — Rabbi Joshua the son of Korcha said: You can, but you are not allowed to (i.e. לא תוכל does not mean: you are unable for some reason or another to do so, but it expresses the inability to do it because of a legal restriction). A similar case we have in (Joshua 15:63) “As to the Jebusites, the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the children of Judah could not drive them out” — they could have done so, but they were not allowed to (Sifrei Devarim 72:1); because Abraham had made a covenant with them when he bought from them the cave of Machpelah that they would be spared at the conquest of the Land. — As a matter fact they were not Jebusites but Hittites (the people mentioned in Genesis 23 at the purchase of the cave), but they were called Jebusites after the city the name of which was Jebus. Thus is it explained in the Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer 36. And this is the meaning of what is stated, that when David was about to drive out the Jebusites, they said to him (II Samuel 5:6) “Except thou take away the blind and the lame [thou shalt not come in hither]” — by “the blind and the lame” they meant the idols (that stood at the gates) upon which they had written the oath which Abraham had taken.

ובכרת בקרך [THOU MAYEST NOT EAT WITHIN THY GATES THE TITHE OF THY CORN …] AND THE FIRSTLINGS OF THY HERD — This, in contradistinction to מעשר דגנך וכו׳, is of course a prohibition addressed to the priests (since the Israelites were not at all permitted to eat firstlings; cf. Zevachim 5:1: הבכור נאכל לכהנים והמעשר לכל אדם).

‎ ותרומת ידך AND THE HEAVE-OFFERINGS OF THY HAND — This refers to the first-fruits (cf. Deuteronomy 26:4) (Sifrei Devarim 72:9; Makkot 17a).

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.