Nehemiah 10:35

Neh 10:35 And to bring the firstfruits of our ground, and the firstfruits of all fruit of all trees, year by year, unto the house of the LORD:

Ver. 35. And to bring the firstfruits of our ground] Heb. The firstborn. These firstfruits were the fiftieth part; and if any would be more liberal in paying, the fortieth; or, being poorer, the sixtieth part.

And the firstfruits of all fruit of all trees] God required to be honoured with the firstlings of all; to show how he sets by our young services. We prize nettle buds when they first put forth; so doth God remember and regard the kindness of our youth, Jer 2:1.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Neh_10:35

And to bring the first-fruits of our ground.

A fruit-service

We notice in this text--

I. Willinghood. And to bring. It was no tax. Love is its own tax-levier, and it ever gathers the richest, the ripest, and the best fruit. When a Church or a community is filled with love you need have no fear for revenue.

II. Precedence First-fruits. In all things Christ must have the pre-eminence. He must be Alpha.

III. Universal lordship. First-fruits of all trees. He is Lord of all. So it is with the fruit of our souls. Jesus claims tribute from all provinces of our nature. He is not satisfied with actions. He claims the captivity of our thoughts. He wants not only the first-fruits of our emotions, of penitence, but also of our gratitude, our adoration, our trust, and our love. Let us see that His flag is waving over every province of our nature, and that we give to Him the first-fruits of conscience and meditation, of imagination and memory, of ardent love and submissive will.

IV. Annual offering. Year by year. We should lose the consciousness of advancing time if it were not for our birthdays. We should miss much of occasions for gratitude if it were not for Iced-time and harvest, summer and winter. The living earth reminds us of the living God, who supplies all we need. (W. M. Statham.)

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Neh 10:35. And to bring in the first-fruits — That is, they took an oath to do it; for this is to be understood, and not that they cast lots about it, as they did about the wood-offering mentioned in the foregoing verse. All the particulars of the first-fruits are exactly and distinctly mentioned, that none might pretend ignorance when they withheld any part of the priests’ dues, which, at that time especially, the people were very prone to do, through poverty, or covetousness, or profaneness, and that the priests’ rights might be firmly assured to them. Thus encouragement was given to the priests to mind their duty, and care was taken that they should be under no temptation to neglect it, in order to make the necessary provision for their families. Then the work of the house of God is likely to go on, when those who serve at the altar live comfortably upon the altar.

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

10:35-37 Offerings from the community provided food for the priests and Levites, who had no allocations of agricultural land and no means of providing for themselves. These provisions came from the first part of every harvest (see Exod 23:19; 34:26; Num 18:12-13; Deut 26:1-11), the redemption money of five shekels paid for the oldest sons and the firstborn of all the herds and flocks (see Exod 13:13; 34:20; Num 18:15-17), as well as a tenth of everything (see Num 18:21-24; Deut 14:22-29).

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

(35) And to bring.—Following “we made ordinances” (Neh_10:32). The various firstfruits are specified according to the Mosaic law, which made this expression of natural piety an obligation; and the minuteness of the specification implies that neglect had crept in.

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

35–39. First-fruits and tithe

35. the firstfruits of our ground] Cf. Exo_23:19; Exo_34:26. ‘The first of the firstfruits of the ground thou shalt bring into the house of the Lord thy God;’ so also in greater detail Deu_26:2-10. Cf. Pro_3:9; Eze_44:30.

of all trees] R.V. of all manner of trees. See Num_18:12-13, ‘all the best of the oil and all the best of the vintage, and of the corn, the firstfruits of them which they give unto the Lord, to thee have I given them. The first ripe fruits of all that is in their land, which they bring unto the Lord shall be thine,’ cf. 2Ch_31:5, Lev_19:23.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Also the firstborn of our sons and of our cattle,.... Such as were unclean, as Aben Ezra notes, as the ass, &c. and are distinguished from clean ones mentioned in the following clause; now both these, their sons, and this sort of cattle, were to be redeemed by a price paid to the priests: as it is written in the law, Exo 13:2,

and the firstlings of our herds, and of our flocks; clean cattle, which were to be offered, Num 18:17,

to bring to the house of our God, unto the priests that minister in the house of our God; a price for the one sort, and the other for sacrifice.

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

Every tree, of seven species; the pear, apple, fig, apricot, olive, palm, and vine trees; besides wheat, legumes, &c. (Calmet) --- For three years the fruit was deemed unclean, Leviticus xix. 23. (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).

The first-fruits of our ground, i.e. of the fruits of our ground. All the particulars of the first-fruits are exactly and distinctly mentioned, that none might pretend ignorance when they withheld any part of the priests’ dues; which at that time especially the people were very prone to do, through poverty, or covetousness, or profaneness; and that the priests’ rights might be firmly assured to them.

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

35. To bring the firstfruits — Compare marginal references. The true Israelite sought to dedicate the first and best of all things to his God.

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

And to bring the first-fruits ... unto the house of the Lord. The idea of offering "first-fruits" may be ascribed to natural piety. They were well known to the Greeks and Romans (aparcai , primi-tiae). But in the Mosaic law they were commanded, (Exo_22:29 Exo_23:19 Lev_23:10, Lev_23:17, etc.) and thenceforth became a matter of religious obligation. The present passage furnishes, however, distinct evidence that the obligation had now for some time been disregarded. The first-fruits of all fruit. First-fruits were required not merely of wheat and other grain, bat also expressly of wine and oil, the produce of the vine and olive, and by implication of all other fruit trees. (see Num_18:12 Deu_18:4, etc.)

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

we cast how much each one should bring.

the wood offering an offering of wood for the arrangement on the altar.

to the House of our forefathers which is the House of the sanctity of our forefathers.

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.