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Leviticus27:30–34

Instruction on Tithes

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Generated by AI. It can be wrong, and it has no authority. Every note here is fallible commentary — never the Word itself. Public-domain sources are quoted and named; machine synthesis is marked and meant to be checked. Weigh all of it against Scripture. “They received the word with all readiness… and searched the Scriptures daily, whether those things were so.” — Acts 17:11
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Leviticus 27:30–34 — Instruction on Tithes. Each verse below carries the full apparatus: the Berean Standard Bible, the vocalized original (tap any word), and a parsed breakdown of every term transcribed from the interlinear. Synthesized commentary, canonical threads, and the reading of Christ gather at the end, over the whole unit.

30“Thus any tithe from the land, whether from the seed of the land …”+

30Thus 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.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

wə·ḵāl ma‘·śar hā·’ā·reṣ miz·ze·ra‘ hā·’ā·reṣ mip·pə·rî hā·‘êṣ Yah·weh hū qō·ḏeš Yah·weh

Literal — word-for-word from the original

“And-all tithe-of the-land — from-seed-of the-land, from-fruit-of the-tree — to-YHWH it [is]; holy to-YHWH.”

Where the English smooths the original

  • מַעְשַׂר The Hebrew maʻăśar is built on the root for ten — it is literally “a tenthing,” not the abstract English “tithe.” The number, not a religious tax, is the heart of the word.
  • לַיהוָה ה֑וּא Hebrew puts the owner first and bare: “to-YHWH it [is].” There is no verb “belongs” — the possession is stated by simple juxtaposition, blunter than the BSB’s smoothed “belongs to the LORD.”
  • קֹדֶשׁ Qōḏeš is the noun “holiness / a holy thing,” not the adjective “holy.” The tithe does not merely have a quality; it is a sacred object, set in the same class as the altar and the sanctuary.
  • מִזֶּרַע … מִפְּרִי The doubled preposition min- (“from… from…”) divides the produce into two partitive streams — from seed, from tree — which the BSB renders as the smoother “whether… or.”
Word by word11 · parsed+
וְכָל־wə·ḵālThus anyH3605
√ kôl — properly, the wholeConjunctive wawNounmasculine singular construct
wə-ḵāl, “and all / every.” The conjunctive waw ties this law to the chain of consecrations before it; kōl sweeps in the whole crop without exception.
מַעְשַׂ֨רma‘·śartitheH4643
√ maʻăsêr — a tenthNounmasculine singular construct
maʻăśar — “tithe,” from the root for ten. Keil & Delitzsch note the tithe is introduced “as something well known,” older than Sinai (Genesis 14:20; 28:22); the law does not invent it but incorporates it into the covenant.
הָאָ֜רֶץhā·’ā·reṣfrom the landH776
√ ʼerets — the earth (at large, or partitively a land)ArticleNounfeminine singular
hā-’āreṣ, “the land.” The same noun governs both halves — the tithe is of the land, the very land the LORD calls His own (cf. Leviticus 25:23), so its yield was never wholly the farmer’s to begin with.
מִזֶּ֤רַעmiz·ze·ra‘[whether] from the seedH2233
√ zeraʻ — seedPreposition-mNounmasculine singular construct
הָאָ֙רֶץ֙hā·’ā·reṣof the landH776
√ ʼerets — the earth (at large, or partitively a land)ArticleNounfeminine singular
מִפְּרִ֣יmip·pə·rîor the fruitH6529
√ pᵉrîy — fruit (literally or figuratively)Preposition-mNounmasculine singular construct
mip-pərî, “from the fruit” — Keil & Delitzsch gloss this as “the fulness of the press,” the wine and oil (Numbers 18:27; Deuteronomy 14:23), distinct from the threshing-floor grain.
הָעֵ֔ץhā·‘êṣof the treesH6086
√ ʻêts — a tree (from its firmness)ArticleNounmasculine singular
לַיהוָ֖הYah·wehbelongs to the LORDH3068
√ Yᵉhôvâh — Jehovah, Jewish national name of GodPreposition-lNounpropermasculine singular
la-YHWH, “to YHWH.” The lamed of possession: the tithe is assigned, not offered. Because it is already His, Ellicott notes, “a man cannot vow to God what is not his own.”
ה֑וּאhūitH1931
√ hûwʼ — he (she or it)Pronounthird person masculine singular
קֹ֖דֶשׁqō·ḏešis holyH6944
√ qôdesh — a sacred place or thingNounmasculine singular
qōḏeš, “holy / a holy thing.” The decisive word: the tenth is not a gift that becomes sacred upon giving — it is sacred already, withheld from common use. Matthew Henry: this is how Israel “acknowledge God to be the Owner of their land… and themselves to be his tenants.”
לַֽיהוָֽה׃Yah·wehto the LORDH3068
√ Yᵉhôvâh — Jehovah, Jewish national name of GodPreposition-lNounpropermasculine singular
The Voices✦ public domain+
✦Matthew HenryConcise Commentary on the Whole Bible1706
Whatever productions they had the benefit, God must be honoured with the tenth of, if it could be applied. Thus they acknowledge God to be the Owner of their land, the Giver of its fruits, and themselves to be his tenants, and dependants upon him. Thus they gave him thanks for the plenty they enjoyed, and besought his favour in the continuance of it. We are taught to honour the Lord with our substance.
✦Jamieson, Fausset & BrownCommentary Critical and Explanatory1871
The whole produce of the land was subjected to the tithe tribute—it was a yearly rent which the Israelites, as tenants, paid to God, the owner of the land, and a thank offering they rendered to Him for the bounties of His providence.
✦Charles EllicottCommentary for English Readers1878
Like the firstborn of Animals (see Leviticus 27:26 ), they already belong to God by another statute. A man, therefore, cannot vow to God what is not his own.
Ellicott’s point governs the whole passage: tithes, like the firstborn, are pre-claimed — so the surrounding laws on vows simply cannot reach them.
✦Matthew PooleAnnotations upon the Holy Bible1685
There are divers sorts of tithes, but this seems to be understood only of the ordinary and yearly tithes belonging to the Levites, &c., as the very expression intimates, and the addition of the fifth part in case of redemption thereof implies.
Poole (echoed verbatim by Benson) narrows the referent: of the several rabbinic tithes, this is the yearly Levitical one — the redemption-fifth of v. 31 being his internal proof.
✦Keil & DelitzschBiblical Commentary on the Old Testament1860s
the tenth of the land, both of the seed of the land - i.e., not of what was sown, but of what was yielded, the produce of the seed ( Deuteronomy 14:22 ), the harvest reaped, or "corn of the threshing-floor," Numbers 18:27 - and also of the fruit of the tree, i.e., "the fulness of the press" ( Numbers 18:27 ), the wine and oil ( Deuteronomy 14:23 ), belonged to the Lord, were holy to Him, and could not be dedicated to Him by a vow.
31“If a man wishes to redeem part of his tithe, he must add a fifth…”+

31If a man wishes to redeem part of his tithe, he must add a fifth to its value.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

wə·’im- ’îš gā·’ōl yiḡ·’al mim·ma·‘aś·rōw yō·sêp̄ ḥă·mi·šî·ṯōw ‘ā·lāw

Literal — word-for-word from the original

“And-if a-man redeeming redeems from-his-tithe, a-fifth-of-it he-shall-add upon-it.”

Where the English smooths the original

  • גָּאֹל יִגְאַל Hebrew stacks the infinitive absolute on the finite verb — gā’ōl yiḡ’al, “redeeming he redeems.” The BSB’s “wishes to redeem” turns an intensifying construction into a verb of desire; older versions read “will at all redeem.”
  • יִגְאַל The verb is gā’al — the great kinsman-redeemer word (Boaz, Job’s Redeemer, the Goel of blood). Of farm produce it means buy-back; but its weight elsewhere is the rescue of a relative or an inheritance. “Redeem” keeps the idea but loses the family-claim resonance.
  • חֲמִשִׁיתוֹ Literally “its fifth” — “a-fifth-of-it” — a twenty-percent surcharge fixed to the thing itself, not the open-ended “a fifth to its value”; the Geneva note specifies it is added “besides the value of the thing itself.”
  • יֹסֵף yōsēp̄ is jussive Hiphil, “let him add / he must cause-to-add” — a commanded increase, not a casual “add”; the same root names Joseph, “he adds.”
Word by word8 · parsed+
וְאִם־wə·’im-IfH518
√ ʼim — used very widely as demonstrative, lo!Conjunction
אִ֖ישׁ’îša manH376
√ ʼîysh — a man as an individual or a male personNounmasculine singular
גָּאֹ֥לgā·’ōlwishesH1350
√ gâʼal — to be the next of kin (and as such to buy back a relative's property, marry his widow, etcVerbQalInfinitive absolute
gā’ōl, infinitive absolute of gā’al, “to redeem / act as kinsman.” Paired with the finite verb it forms the Hebrew emphatic: “if he indeed redeems.”
יִגְאַ֛לyiḡ·’alto redeemH1350
√ gâʼal — to be the next of kin (and as such to buy back a relative's property, marry his widow, etcVerbQalImperfectthird person masculine singular
yiḡ’al — the finite redeem-verb, root gā’al, the great kinsman-redeemer word of Scripture: Boaz redeeming Ruth’s inheritance (Ruth 4), the avenger-of-blood, Job’s confession “I know that my Redeemer (gō’ēl) lives” (Job 19:25), and Isaiah’s repeated title for the LORD as Israel’s Redeemer. Here it is drained to its commercial floor — buying back farm produce — yet the same verb returns negated in v. 33 (the tithe-animal “shall not be redeemed”), so the chapter spans the word’s full range, from a transaction with a price to a thing beyond all purchase. Gill restricts the buy-back to one’s own tithe, redeemed with the added fifth.
מִמַּֽעַשְׂר֑וֹmim·ma·‘aś·rōwpart of his titheH4643
√ maʻăsêr — a tenthPreposition-mNounmasculine singular constructthird person masculine singular
יֹסֵ֥ףyō·sêp̄he must addH3254
√ yâçaph — to add or augment (often adverbial, to continue to do a thing)VerbHifilImperfect Jussivethird person masculine singular
yōsēp̄, “he must add” — Hiphil jussive. The fifth is not optional generosity but the price of recall; the surcharge discourages frivolous buy-back of what is already the LORD’s.
חֲמִשִׁית֖וֹḥă·mi·šî·ṯōwa fifthH2549
√ chămîyshîy — fifthNumberordinal feminine singular constructthird person masculine singular
ḥămîšîṯōw, “its fifth.” The same one-fifth penalty governs redemption of houses (v. 15), fields (v. 19), and devoted things throughout the chapter — a unifying tariff on reclaiming the holy.
עָלָֽיו׃‘ā·lāwto its valueH5921
√ ʻal — above, over, upon, or against (yet always in this last relation with a downward aspect) in a great variety of applicationsPrepositionthird person masculine singular
ʻālāw, “upon it / to it.” The fifth is reckoned on top of the valuation, so the redeemer always pays more than the thing is worth — the cost of taking back what was given to God.
The Voices✦ public domain+
✦Charles EllicottCommentary for English Readers1878
Though a man may not vow tithes, being already the Lord’s, yet if he wishes he may redeem them by adding one-fifth to the actual value of them.
✦John GillExposition of the Entire Bible1746–63
besides giving the value for what part of his tithes he redeemed, he gave a fifth part of that sum over and above; as, supposing the tithe was worth fifty shillings, then he gave that, and ten shillings more, and so in proportion.
✦Geneva Study BibleMarginal Notes1599
the {p} fifth part thereof. (p) Besides the value of the thing itself.
The 1599 marginal gloss pins down what the surcharge is: a fifth added on top of full value, not a fifth of it.
✦Keil & DelitzschBiblical Commentary on the Old Testament1860s
At the same time they could be redeemed by the addition of a fifth beyond the actual amount.
32“Every tenth animal from the herd or flock that passes under the …”+

32Every tenth animal from the herd or flock that passes under the shepherd’s rod will be holy to the LORD.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

wə·ḵāl ma‘·śar bā·qār wā·ṣōn kōl ’ă·šer- ya·‘ă·ḇōr ta·ḥaṯ haš·šā·ḇeṭ hā·‘ă·śî·rî yih·yeh- qō·ḏeš Yah·weh

Literal — word-for-word from the original

“And-all tithe-of herd and-flock, all that passes under the-rod — the-tenth shall-be holy to-YHWH.”

Where the English smooths the original

  • מַעְשַׂר בָּקָר וָצֹאן Hebrew has no word for “animal” here: it reads simply “tithe of herd and flock.” The BSB supplies “Every tenth animal from the herd or flock”; the original is a flat construct chain — a tenth of cattle-and-sheep.
  • הַשָּׁבֶט haš-šāḇeṭ, “the rod,” is the same word as scepter and tribe — the shepherd’s staff of Psalm 23:4 and Micah 7:14. The BSB’s “shepherd’s rod” names what Hebrew leaves bare as simply “the rod.”
  • יַעֲבֹר yaʻăḇōr, “passes / crosses over,” is the verb of the Exodus crossing and of Israel itself (the ʻiḇrî, “Hebrew”). The tenth is the one that crosses under the rod — chosen by the order of crossing, not by inspection.
  • הָעֲשִׂירִי The bare ordinal “the-tenth,” standing alone, carries the whole sense; English must add “tenth animal.” The tenth is holy by position in the count, regardless of its quality (v. 33).
Word by word13 · parsed+
וְכָל־wə·ḵālEveryH3605
√ kôl — properly, the wholeConjunctive wawNounmasculine singular construct
מַעְשַׂ֤רma‘·śartenthH4643
√ maʻăsêr — a tenthNounmasculine singular construct
maʻăśar again — but now of livestock, which Cambridge calls “a fresh demand, found nowhere else in O.T. except 2 Chronicles 31:6.” This animal tithe is the chapter’s own contribution.
בָּקָר֙bā·qāranimal from the herdH1241
√ bâqâr — beef cattle or an animal of the ox family of either gender (as used for plowing)Nounmasculine singular
וָצֹ֔אןwā·ṣōnor flockH6629
√ tsôʼn — a collective name for a flock (of sheep or goats)Conjunctive wawNouncommon singular
כֹּ֥לkōl. . .H3605
√ kôl — properly, the wholeNounmasculine singular
אֲשֶׁר־’ă·šer-thatH834
√ ʼăsher — who, which, what, thatPronounrelative
יַעֲבֹ֖רya·‘ă·ḇōrpassesH5674
√ ʻâbar — to cross overVerbQalImperfectthird person masculine singular
yaʻăḇōr, “passes under.” Keil & Delitzsch: the phrase points to “the custom of numbering the flocks by driving the animals one by one past the shepherd, who counted them with a rod” (cf. Jeremiah 33:13; Ezekiel 20:37).
תַּ֣חַתta·ḥaṯunderH8478
√ tachath — the bottom (as depressed)Preposition
הַשָּׁ֑בֶטhaš·šā·ḇeṭthe shepherd’s rodH7626
√ shêbeṭ — a scion, iArticleNounmasculine singular
haš-šāḇeṭ, “the rod / staff.” Cambridge identifies it as the very ‘staff’ of Psalm 23:4, Micah 7:14, Zechariah 11:7 — the pastoral implement, here turned to counting rather than guiding.
הָֽעֲשִׂירִ֕יhā·‘ă·śî·rî. . .H6224
√ ʻăsîyrîy — tenthArticleNumberordinal masculine singular
hā-ʻăśîrî, “the tenth.” Per the rabbinic procedure quoted by Ellicott, the lamb is marked “whether it be male or female, whether it be perfect or blemished” — chance, not choice, designates the holy one.
יִֽהְיֶה־yih·yeh-will beH1961
√ hâyâh — to exist, iVerbQalImperfectthird person masculine singular
קֹּ֖דֶשׁqō·ḏešholyH6944
√ qôdesh — a sacred place or thingNounmasculine singular
qōḏeš, “holy.” The same noun as the produce tithe (v. 30): the animal singled out by the rod enters the sacred class, beyond recall and beyond exchange (v. 33).
לַֽיהוָֽה׃Yah·wehto the LORDH3068
√ Yᵉhôvâh — Jehovah, Jewish national name of GodPreposition-lNounpropermasculine singular
The Voices✦ public domain+
✦Charles EllicottCommentary for English Readers1878
And as they come out of the fold one after another he counts them with the rod, one, two, three, etc., and the tenth which comes out, whether it be male or female, whether it be perfect or blemished, he marks it with a red mark, and says, ‘This is the tithe.’
Ellicott then ties this to Ezekiel 20:37 — “I will cause you to pass under the rod” — God claiming His people by the very gesture that claimed the tithe.
✦Jamieson, Fausset & BrownCommentary Critical and Explanatory1871
This alludes to the mode of taking the tithe of cattle, which were made to pass singly through a narrow gateway, where a person with a rod, dipped in ochre, stood, and counting them, marked the back of every tenth beast, whether male or female, sound or unsound.
✦Joseph BensonCommentary on the Old and New Testaments1810s
Under the rod — Either, 1st, The tithers’ rod, it being the manner of the Jews in tithing to cause all their cattle to pass through some gate or narrow passage, where the tenth was marked by a person appointed for that purpose, and reserved for the priest. Or, 2d, The shepherd’s rod, under which the herds and flocks passed, and by which they were governed and numbered.
Benson lays out the live exegetical fork: the rod is either the assessor’s counting-rod or the shepherd’s own staff (Jeremiah 33:13). The two readings differ on who holds it, but agree the tenth is fixed by the count, not by the eye.
✦Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges—1880s
under the rod ] the ‘staff’ carried by shepherds ( Psalm 23:4 ; Micah 7:14 ; Zechariah 11:7 ), and used (Tal. Bab., Bechoroth , fol. 58 b ) for counting the flock when they were entering or leaving their fold.
✦Keil & DelitzschBiblical Commentary on the Old Testament1860s
The words "whatsoever passeth under the rod" may be explained from the custom of numbering the flocks by driving the animals one by one past the shepherd, who counted them with a rod stretched out over them (cf. Jeremiah 33:13 ; Ezekiel 20:37 ).
33“He must not inspect whether it is good or bad, and he shall not …”+

33He must not inspect whether it is good or bad, and he shall not make any substitution. But if he does make a substitution, both the animal and its substitute shall become holy; they cannot be redeemed.’”

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

lō yə·ḇaq·qêr ṭō·wḇ bên- lā·ra‘ wə·lō yə·mî·ren·nū wə·’im- hā·mêr yə·mî·ren·nū hū ū·ṯə·mū·rā·ṯōw yih·yeh- wə·hā·yāh- qō·ḏeš lō yig·gā·’êl

Literal — word-for-word from the original

“He-shall-not inspect between good and-bad, and-he-shall-not exchange-it; and-if exchanging he-exchanges-it, then-it and-its-substitute shall-be holy — it-shall-not be-redeemed.”

Where the English smooths the original

  • יְבַקֵּר yəḇaqqēr (Piel of bāqar) means to examine, scrutinize, sort out — the BSB’s “inspect” is good, but the point is selective grading: the owner may not sift the tenth for quality. Notably the verb is cognate with bāqār, “herd” — a near-pun in a verse about herds.
  • הָמֵר יְמִירֶנּוּ Again the infinitive-absolute emphatic: hāmēr yəmîrennū, “exchanging he exchanges it.” The BSB’s plain “if he does make a substitution” flattens the Hebrew’s doubled, stubborn insistence.
  • תְּמוּרָתוֹ təmûrāṯōw, “its exchange / barter-substitute,” is a rare word (six occurrences in the whole OT). It binds this verse to Leviticus 27:10 and lends the verse its legal force: the swap does not free the original — it sanctifies both.
  • לֹא יִגָּאֵל The redeem-verb of v. 31 (gā’al) returns, now Niphal (passive) and negated: “it shall not be redeemed.” What could be bought back as produce cannot be bought back once it is the tithe-animal under the rod.
Word by word17 · parsed+
לֹ֧אlōHe must notH3808
√ lôʼ — not (the simple or absAdverbNegative particle
יְבַקֵּ֛רyə·ḇaq·qêrinspectH1239
√ bâqar — properly, to plough, or (generally) break forth, iVerbPielImperfectthird person masculine singular
yəḇaqqēr, “he shall inspect / sort.” Ellicott: “the owner is not to pick out the good ones from the bad” — the rod’s verdict overrides the eye’s judgment, removing human preference from the holy.
ט֥וֹבṭō·wḇwhether it is goodH2896
√ ṭôwb — good (as an adjective) in the widest senseAdjectivemasculine singular
ṭōwḇ / raʻ, “good… bad.” The Edenic pair (Genesis 2:9) here marks not moral but qualitative grading — fat or lean, sound or blemished — which the owner is forbidden to weigh.
בֵּֽין־bên-orH996
√ bêyn — between (repeated before each noun, often with other particles)Preposition
לָרַ֖עlā·ra‘badH7451
√ raʻ — bad or (as noun) evil (natural or moral)Preposition-l, ArticleAdjectivemasculine singular
וְלֹ֣אwə·lōand he shall notH3808
√ lôʼ — not (the simple or absConjunctive wawAdverbNegative particle
יְמִירֶ֑נּוּyə·mî·ren·nūmake any substitutionH4171
√ mûwr — to alterVerbHifilImperfectthird person masculine singularthird person masculine singular
yəmîrennū, “he exchanges it” (Hiphil of mûr, “to alter”). The verb and its noun təmûrāh dominate v. 10 as well; substitution of a vowed animal there, of a tithed animal here, draws the same penalty.
וְאִם־wə·’im-But ifH518
√ ʼim — used very widely as demonstrative, lo!Conjunction
הָמֵ֣רhā·mêrhe does make a substitutionH4171
√ mûwr — to alterVerbHifilInfinitive absolute
יְמִירֶ֔נּוּyə·mî·ren·nū. . .H4171
√ mûwr — to alterVerbHifilImperfectthird person masculine singularthird person masculine singular
ה֧וּאhūboth the animalH1931
√ hûwʼ — he (she or it)Pronounthird person masculine singular
וּתְמוּרָת֛וֹū·ṯə·mū·rā·ṯōwand its substituteH8545
√ tᵉmûwrâh — barter, compensationConjunctive wawNounfeminine singular constructthird person masculine singular
təmûrāṯōw, “and its substitute.” The rare noun is the hinge: an illicit swap does not transfer holiness — it multiplies it, so the LORD gains both beasts. Gill: the offender “were to be beaten with forty stripes, save one” as well.
יִֽהְיֶה־yih·yeh-. . .H1961
√ hâyâh — to exist, iVerbQalImperfectthird person masculine singular
וְהָֽיָה־wə·hā·yāh-shall becomeH1961
√ hâyâh — to exist, iConjunctive wawVerbQalConjunctive perfectthird person masculine singular
קֹ֖דֶשׁqō·ḏešholyH6944
√ qôdesh — a sacred place or thingNounmasculine singular
לֹ֥אlōthey cannotH3808
√ lôʼ — not (the simple or absAdverbNegative particle
יִגָּאֵֽל׃yig·gā·’êlbe redeemedH1350
√ gâʼal — to be the next of kin (and as such to buy back a relative's property, marry his widow, etcVerbNifalImperfectthird person masculine singular
yiggā’ēl, “it shall be redeemed” (Niphal, passive, negated). The same root gā’al that opened the buy-back option in v. 31 now closes it: the produce tithe could be redeemed with the fifth, but the living tenth that crossed under the rod cannot. The verb’s arc within the chapter — active redemption permitted (v. 31), then passive redemption forbidden (v. 33) — quietly marks the boundary between what is commutable and what, once made holy, is held by God beyond all price.
The Voices✦ public domain+
✦Charles EllicottCommentary for English Readers1878
He shall not search whether it be good or bad. —That is, the owner is not to pick out the good ones from the bad, but, as described above, is to mark every tenth one as it comes out of the fold as belonging to the Lord.
✦John GillExposition of the Entire Bible1746–63
neither shall he change it; neither for the better nor the worse, no alteration was to be made, but the beast was to be taken as it came: and if he change it at all, then both it and the change shall be holy; be sacred to the Lord, and for his use and service; this was done to restrain men from making any alteration, since if they did, both the one and the other were taken from them
✦Geneva Study BibleMarginal Notes1599
He shall not search whether it be good or bad, neither shall he change it: and if he change it at all, then both it and the change thereof shall be holy; it shall not be redeemed.
The 1599 text mirrors the verse itself, marking the double prohibition — no sorting, no swap — that the verse enforces.
✦Keil & DelitzschBiblical Commentary on the Old Testament1860s
No discrimination was to be made in this case between good and bad, and no exchange to be made: if, however, this did take place, the tenth animal was to be holy as well as the one for which it was exchanged, and could not be redeemed.
34“These are the commandments that the LORD gave to Moses for the I…”+

34These are the commandments that the LORD gave to Moses for the Israelites on Mount Sinai.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

’êl·leh ham·miṣ·wōṯ ’ă·šer Yah·weh ’eṯ- ṣiw·wāh mō·šeh ’el- bə·nê yiś·rā·’êl bə·har sî·nāy

Literal — word-for-word from the original

“These [are] the-commandments that YHWH commanded Moses unto the-sons-of Israel on Mount Sinai.”

Where the English smooths the original

  • הַמִּצְוֺת ham-miṣwōṯ, “the commandments” — feminine plural of miṣwāh, the word that becomes mitzvah. The BSB is faithful, but the term means commands as charge / enjoined duty, collectively the Law itself.
  • צִוָּה ṣiwwāh (Piel of ṣāwāh) is the cognate verb of miṣwāh — Hebrew binds noun and verb: “the commandments that He commanded.” The BSB’s “gave” loses the root-echo that the original drives home.
  • בְּהַר סִינָי bə-har Sînāy, “on/in Mount Sinai.” Ellicott reads it as “the mountainous district of Sinai”; the colophon does not say the law was uttered on the summit but that the whole code is Sinaitic — anchored to the covenant mountain (cf. Leviticus 26:46).
  • אֶל־בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל Literally “unto the sons of Israel” — the commands are for Israel but routed through Moses; the BSB’s “for the Israelites” keeps the destination but mutes the mediating chain (YHWH → Moses → the sons).
Word by word12 · parsed+
אֵ֣לֶּה’êl·lehTheseH428
√ ʼêl-leh — these or thosePronouncommon plural
’ēlleh, “these.” The demonstrative gathers the whole book into one closing seal; Pulpit and Benson agree the colophon “has reference to this whole book,” not merely chapter 27.
הַמִּצְוֺ֗תham·miṣ·wōṯare the commandmentsH4687
√ mitsvâh — a command, whether human or divine (collectively, the Law)ArticleNounfeminine plural
ham-miṣwōṯ, “the commandments.” The closing formula matches Leviticus 26:46; Keil & Delitzsch call it “a new concluding formula… by which they are attached to the law given at Sinai.”
אֲשֶׁ֨ר’ă·šerthatH834
√ ʼăsher — who, which, what, thatPronounrelative
יְהוָ֛הYah·wehthe LORDH3068
√ Yᵉhôvâh — Jehovah, Jewish national name of GodNounpropermasculine singular
אֶת־’eṯ-H853
√ ʼêth — properly, self (but generally used to point out more definitely the object of a verb or preposition, even or namely)Direct object marker
צִוָּ֧הṣiw·wāhgaveH6680
√ tsâvâh — (intensively) to constitute, enjoinVerbPielPerfectthird person masculine singular
ṣiwwāh, “commanded.” Piel of ṣāwāh, the verb cognate to miṣwāh — the sentence is self-referential: the commanding-words that He commanded.
מֹשֶׁ֖הmō·šehto MosesH4872
√ Môsheh — Mosheh, the Israelite lawgiverNounpropermasculine singular
mōšeh, “Moses.” The mediator named at the book’s start (Leviticus 1:1) is named again at its close — Leviticus opens and shuts with God speaking to Moses. Henry hears the gospel beyond it: “BLESSED BE GOD FOR JESUS CHRIST.”
אֶל־’el-forH413
√ ʼêl — near, with or amongPreposition
בְּנֵ֣יbə·nêthe IsraelitesH1121
√ bên — a son (as a builder of the family name), in the widest sense (of literal and figurative relationship, including grandson, subject, nation, quality or condition, etcNounmasculine plural construct
יִשְׂרָאֵ֑לyiś·rā·’êl. . .H3478
√ Yisrâʼêl — Jisrael, a symbolical name of JacobNounpropermasculine singular
בְּהַ֖רbə·haron MountH2022
√ har — a mountain or range of hills (sometimes used figuratively)Preposition-bNounmasculine singular construct
bə-har Sînāy, “on Mount Sinai.” The geographic anchor: this law is not free-floating ethic but covenant stipulation, sworn at the mountain of fire (cf. Hebrews 12:18).
סִינָֽי׃sî·nāySinaiH5514
√ Çîynay — Sinai, mountain of ArabiaNounproperfeminine singular
The Voices✦ public domain+
✦Joseph BensonCommentary on the Old and New Testaments1810s
This has reference to the whole book. Many of these commandments are moral; others ceremonial, and peculiar to the Jewish economy; which yet are instructive to us, who have a key to the mysteries that are contained in them.
✦Matthew HenryConcise Commentary on the Whole Bible1706
The doctrine of reconciliation to God by a Mediator, is not clouded with the smoke of burning sacrifice, but cleared by the knowledge of Christ and him crucified. We are under the sweet and easy institutions of the gospel, which pronounces those true worshippers, who worship the Father in spirit and truth, by Christ only, and in his name.
Henry’s close to Leviticus reads the colophon forward into the gospel; he ends, beyond this excerpt, “BLESSED BE GOD FOR JESUS CHRIST.”
✦Jamieson, Fausset & BrownCommentary Critical and Explanatory1871
The laws contained in this book, for the most part ceremonial, had an important spiritual bearing, the study of which is highly instructive (Ro 10:4; Heb 4:2; 12:18). They imposed a burdensome yoke (Ac 15:10), but yet in the infantine age of the Church formed the necessary discipline of "a schoolmaster to Christ" [Ga 3:24].
✦The Pulpit CommentarySpence & Exell, eds.1880s
The final verse of the previous chapter is repeated after the further legislation on vows and on their commutation has been added, to show that it too makes part of the Sinaitic code.
✣

The verse-by-verse work is done. What follows gathers the whole unit. All three layers below are machine-generated (⚙). Weigh them; they have no authority.

⚙Grand Commentary — the unit, read wholesynthesis · verify+

AI synthesis — woven from the public-domain voices above and the original text; generated and fallible.

i. The tenth was never the giver’s to keep — 30–31

The chapter on vows ends where vows cannot reach. Charles Ellicott states the governing logic: the tithe, “like the firstborn of Animals… already belong[s] to God by another statute. A man, therefore, cannot vow to God what is not his own.” The Hebrew says it without a verb — la-YHWH hū, “to-YHWH it [is]” — and then names it qōḏeš, not the adjective “holy” but the noun holiness, a sacred thing in the same class as the altar. Jamieson, Fausset & Brown draw out the relationship the word encodes: the tithe “was a yearly rent which the Israelites, as tenants, paid to God, the owner of the land.” Tenancy, not charity. And so redemption (v. 31) carries a deterrent fifth: as John Gill reckons it, “supposing the tithe was worth fifty shillings, then he gave that, and ten shillings more” — the Geneva margin specifying it is added “besides the value of the thing itself.” You may buy back the produce, but you will always overpay for what was God’s to begin with.

ii. Under the rod — chosen by the count, not the eye — 32–33

The animal tithe (v. 32) is, Cambridge notes, “a fresh demand, found nowhere else in O.T. except 2 Chronicles 31:6” — the chapter’s own contribution to the law. Its mechanism is vivid. Keil & Delitzsch explain “whatsoever passeth under the rod” from “the custom of numbering the flocks by driving the animals one by one past the shepherd, who counted them with a rod.” The rabbinic detail Ellicott preserves makes the holiness blind to quality: the tenth to emerge “whether it be male or female, whether it be perfect or blemished, he marks… with a red mark, and says, ‘This is the tithe.’” Hence v. 33’s prohibition: yəḇaqqēr, the owner “is not to pick out the good ones from the bad” (Ellicott), and an illicit swap, the rare word təmûrāh, only doubles the loss — Keil & Delitzsch: “the tenth animal was to be holy as well as the one for which it was exchanged, and could not be redeemed.” Sanctity is assigned by position in the count, immune to human grading.

iii. The colophon: all of it, sworn at the mountain — 34

The book closes as it opened — God speaking to Moses. Keil & Delitzsch read v. 34 as “a new concluding formula (see Leviticus 26:46), by which they are attached to the law given at Sinai”; Benson and the Pulpit Commentary agree the verse “has reference to the whole book.” The Hebrew is self-referential — ham-miṣwōṯ ’ăšer ṣiwwāh, “the commandments that He commanded,” noun and verb from one root — and roots the entire code in bə-har Sînāy, the covenant mountain. Yet the public-domain voices refuse to leave it as cold statute. Jamieson, Fausset & Brown call the ceremonial law “a schoolmaster to Christ” (Galatians 3:24); Matthew Henry turns the last page toward “the knowledge of Christ and him crucified,” ending — beyond our excerpt — “BLESSED BE GOD FOR JESUS CHRIST.”

Read under Sola Scriptura — this tool’s own fallible reading (⚙)

⚙ A fallible reading, offered to be tested. Read whole, these five verses make one claim against the human heart: the tenth was holy before the worshipper decided anything about it. It is qōḏeš in the field, qōḏeš under the rod — not made sacred by the act of giving, but already God’s and merely acknowledged. That is why it cannot be vowed (you cannot dedicate what is not yours), why redemption costs a punitive fifth, and why the living tenth cannot be bought back at all. The whole apparatus is built to strip choice out of the holy: no sorting good from bad, no swapping, no eye for advantage — the rod counts, and the tenth that crosses is the LORD’s, blemished or perfect. The instinct the law fights is the universal one — to give God the leftover, the lean, the manageable. Scripture answers it by declaring the portion holy before the hand can curate it. Whether this generalizes into a doctrine of proportion for the church (the firstfruits principle of 1 Corinthians 16:2, named by JFB and the Pulpit) or remains a tenancy-rent peculiar to the land of Israel is exactly the line the commentators dispute — and exactly what the reader must weigh against the whole counsel of Scripture, not assume from a single verse.

The tenth is not made holy by giving; it is confessed holy by giving back.

⚙Canonical Threads — out to the whole of Scripturecross-refs · verify+

AI-generated connections. Each carries a verification badge with a recorded basis; contested links are flagged.

The substituted beast — both become holy verbal / quotation — confirmed

The animal-tithe ban on exchange (v. 33) restates the vow-law of Leviticus 27:10 almost word for word: no swap good-for-bad, and if one swaps, “both it and the change thereof shall be holy.” The link is lexical, not merely thematic — they share the rare noun təmûrāh (“substitute,” only 6 verses in the OT) and its verb mûr (10 verses), plus qōḏeš and the good/bad pair ṭōwḇ/raʻ. The Verifier rates the rarity of təmûrāh high enough to call this a confirmed verbal echo.

Leviticus 27:10 · Leviticus 27:33

basis: shared rare lexeme H8545 tᵉmûwrâh (only 6 vv) and H4171 mûwr (10 vv), with H6944 qôdesh and the ṭôwḇ/raʻ pair (H2896/H7451) — Verifier-confirmed verbal link (Hebrew↔Hebrew)

I will cause you to pass under the rod structural / thematic — confirmed

Ellicott, Benson, Poole, Cambridge and Keil & Delitzsch all read “passeth under the rod” (v. 32) against Ezekiel 20:37, where the LORD says, “I will cause you to pass under the rod, and I will bring you into the bond of the covenant.” The image of the tithe-count becomes an image of God claiming His people. The Verifier finds the shared vocabulary — šēḇeṭ (rod), tachaṯ (under), ʻāḇar (pass over) — but these are common words, so the connection is rated structural/thematic, an echo of motif rather than a quotation.

Leviticus 27:32 · Ezekiel 20:37

basis: shared lexemes H7626 shêbeṭ (178 vv), H8478 tachath (450 vv), H5674 ʻâbar (492 vv) — all common, so the shared imagery is a thematic motif, not a verbal quotation; named by Ellicott, Benson, Poole, Cambridge, K&D

Hezekiah’s heaps — the only other animal tithe structural / thematic — confirmed

Cambridge flags that the livestock tithe of v. 32 appears nowhere else in the Old Testament except 2 Chronicles 31:6, where Hezekiah’s reform brings in “the tithe of oxen and sheep, and the tithe of holy things which were consecrated unto the LORD.” That single later instance is the historical realization of this command, and the verbal contact is unusually full: the Verifier finds 2 Chronicles 31:6 reproduces nearly the whole construct chain of Leviticus 27:32 — maʻăśar (tithe), bāqār (herd), tsō’n (flock) and qōḏeš (holy). Yet every one of these is a common cult-and-agriculture term, so even four shared lexemes do not amount to a quotation; the Chronicler is describing the law being kept, not citing it. We therefore tier this structural/thematic — but as a strong, multi-word echo, not a thin one.

Leviticus 27:32 · 2 Chronicles 31:6

basis: shared lexemes H4643 maʻăsêr (27 vv), H1241 bâqâr (172 vv), H6629 tsôʼn (247 vv) and H6944 qôdesh (382 vv) — the whole herd-and-flock-tithe construct of Lev 27:32 recurs, but all are common terms, so this is the historical realization of the law (per Cambridge), structural rather than a quotation

The tithe assigned to Levi structural / thematic — confirmed

Why this tithe is the LORD’s, and what becomes of it, is supplied by Numbers 18:21 — “I have given the children of Levi all the tenth in Israel for an inheritance.” The Pulpit Commentary, Keil & Delitzsch and Gill all route Leviticus 27:30–32 forward to this Levitical appropriation. The shared word is maʻăśar (tithe), of moderate frequency; the link is the law and its administration, so it is structural, not a quotation.

Leviticus 27:30 · Numbers 18:21 · Deuteronomy 14:23

basis: shared lexeme H4643 maʻăsêr (27 vv) across the tithe-legislation cluster (Num 18; Deut 14) — the administrative complement to Lev 27, structural/thematic, not verbal quotation

The shepherd who passes His own flock under the rod structural / thematic — confirmed

The counting-rod of v. 32 sits inside the Old Testament’s wider pastoral vocabulary. Ezekiel 34 turns the same shepherd-and-flock imagery against Israel’s false shepherds and toward the LORD as the true Shepherd: “I, even I, will both search my sheep (tsō’n), and seek them out… I will feed them upon the mountains of Israel.” The shared word is tsō’n (“flock,” 247 vv) — a common term, so this is an imagery-level kinship, not a quotation: the rod that counts the tithe-animal in Leviticus and the rod/staff that gathers the flock in Ezekiel 34 (and Psalm 23:4; Micah 7:14) belong to one pastoral world. The Verifier rates it structural/thematic. This is the textual footing for the Good-Shepherd typology developed in the Christ section — held there as figure, not as the plain sense of this law.

Leviticus 27:32 · Ezekiel 34:11 · Psalm 23:4

basis: shared lexeme H6629 tsôʼn (247 vv) with Ezekiel 34:11 — a common pastoral term, so shared shepherd-and-flock imagery (rod, counting, gathering), not a verbal quotation; the OT footing for the Good-Shepherd figure

Older than Sinai — Abraham and Jacob flagged — verify source

Keil & Delitzsch, the Pulpit Commentary and JFB all insist the tithe is “introduced as something well known” — Abraham gave a tenth to Melchizedek (Genesis 14:20) and Jacob vowed the tenth at Bethel (Genesis 28:22), so “the practice of the payment of tithes was not of Mosaic institution, but immemorial.” The Verifier confirms a shared maʻăśar with Genesis 14:20 (a real verbal point of contact), but Genesis 28:22 uses different vocabulary for “tenth” and shares no indexed lexeme — so the much-cited Jacob link is flagged: it rests on the commentators’ argument, not on the words.

Genesis 14:20 · Genesis 28:22 · Leviticus 27:30

basis: Genesis 14:20 shares H4643 maʻăsêr (structural); Genesis 28:22 shares NO indexed original-language lexeme with Lev 27:30 — the patriarchal-precedent claim is the commentators’ (K&D, Pulpit, JFB), asserted thematically, so flagged for verification

⚙Christ in the Unittypology · verify+

AI-generated reading; weigh it against the text.

The greater tithe and the priest who does not die ancient/widely-held

⚙ The New Testament’s one sustained meditation on the tithe (Hebrews 7:1–10) reaches back past this law to Abraham’s tenth to Melchizedek — arguing that Levi, who would one day receive tithes under Leviticus 27:30–32 and Numbers 18:21, himself paid them in Abraham, and so confessed a greater priesthood. The point of the figure is supersession: the Levitical tithe-order serves “a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek,” a priest “who does not die.” This is an ancient, widely-held typology, but note the honest limit: Hebrews is Greek and Leviticus is Hebrew, so there is and can be no shared Strong’s lexeme — the connection is figural and argued by the epistle itself, never a verbal quotation of this verse.

Leviticus 27:30 · Genesis 14:20 · Hebrews 7:1-10

The unblemished tenth that passes under the rod widely-held

⚙ The fathers and the Puritan voices read the tithe-animal — the tenth that passes under the rod, taken without choosing good from bad, that cannot be redeemed (v. 33) — as a faint figure of the One who is Himself the irredeemable offering: the Lamb chosen and set apart, who passes under the rod of judgment in His people’s place. The shepherd-rod vocabulary of v. 32 (Psalm 23:4; Ezekiel 34; Zechariah 11:7) draws the Good Shepherd into view. Matthew Henry, closing Leviticus, makes the move explicit: the whole code is “cleared by the knowledge of Christ and him crucified.” This is a typological reading — devotional and cross-Testament, resting on motif (the set-apart tenth, the rod, the impossibility of buy-back) rather than on any shared word; it should be held as edifying figure, not as the verse’s plain sense.

Leviticus 27:32 · Leviticus 27:33 · Psalm 23:4 · John 10:11

From the smoke of sacrifice to the worship in spirit ancient/widely-held

⚙ The colophon (v. 34) seals “all the commandments… at Mount Sinai,” and the commentators turn at once to the gospel: JFB calls the whole ceremonial system “a schoolmaster to Christ” (Galatians 3:24); Matthew Henry and Benson read Leviticus closing toward worship “in spirit and in truth, by Christ only.” The fulfillment claim is the New Testament’s own (Romans 10:4; Hebrews 4:2; 12:18, all cited by JFB) — the Sinai law is not abolished into nothing but completed in the Mediator. This is the widely-held reading of Leviticus’ end, argued from the NT and named by the public-domain voices, not invented here.

Leviticus 27:34 · Galatians 3:24 · Romans 10:4 · Hebrews 12:18

Apparatus & Provenance

The biblical text is the Berean Standard Bible (BSB), public domain (CC0). Hebrew/Greek text, transliteration, morphology and Strong’s are transcribed from the Berean interlinear (CC0) + Strong’s lexicons (PD); the literal renderings, divergence notes, word notes and all synthesis are this tool’s own work (⚙) — fallible; verify them.

Named voices, quoted verbatim from public-domain works:

⚙ Honesty notes for this unit. (1) Several Bible-Hub entries are misaligned at the source: Barnes’ note printed under 27:33 and 27:34, and Keil & Delitzsch’s note under 27:31, 27:33 and 27:34, are not comments on those verses — Barnes’ is his note on the cherem (devoted thing) / “passeth under the rod,” and K&D’s is the running comment on 27:30–34. We have only quoted material under the verse it actually treats, and have not used the Barnes-on-cherem block at all here because it concerns vv. 28–29, outside this unit. (2) Matthew Poole and the Geneva Bible supply “No text… on this verse” or bare lemma-only entries for 27:31, 27:33 and 27:34; those non-comments were excluded, which is why some verses draw on fewer than the full author roster. (3) The most-repeated cross-reference in the commentaries — Jacob’s vow at Bethel (Genesis 28:22) — does not share an indexed original-language lexeme with Leviticus 27:30; the Hebrew there uses a different construction for “a tenth.” We have therefore flagged that thread rather than asserting it, even though K&D, JFB and the Pulpit all cite it confidently. (4) The Hebrews 7 / Melchizedek typology and the colophon’s gospel reading are cross-Testament (Greek↔Hebrew): by rule they cannot be tiered “verbal,” and we have marked them typological/widely-held, resting on the New Testament’s own argument. (5) The ⚙ literal renderings, divergence notes and word-notes are machine synthesis built on the supplied Berean/Strong’s parses; where the parse and our reading could differ (e.g., qōḏeš as noun vs. adjective) we have followed the morphology given and flagged the nuance, not overruled the source. (6) The Good-Shepherd typology in the Christ section now has a tiered thread behind it (Leviticus 27:32 ↔ Ezekiel 34:11, shared tsō’n): the Verifier confirms only a common-word imagery link, so the typology rests on motif, not on a rare lexeme, and is held as figure. (7) The 2 Chronicles 31:6 thread shares four lexemes with v. 32, not two as a first pass suggested — the fuller herd-and-flock-tithe construct recurs — but all four are common terms, so the tier remains structural, now with the stronger basis recorded.

✦ = human, public-domain source, quoted and named. ⚙ = machine synthesis, to be verified. Flagged cross-references are left visible on purpose — the verifier working in the open. “Search the Scriptures daily, whether those things were so.” (Acts 17:11)