Bible Strands
Deuteronomy 12:17
Within your gates you must not eat the tithe of your grain or new wine or oil, the firstborn of your herds or flocks, any of the offerings that you have vowed to give, or your freewill offerings or special gifts.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Moses addresses Israel with a transitional command that shifts focus from the prohibition against eating blood to the regulation of sacred food consumption. The directive is embedded in a broader legal framework governing centralized worship before the nation enters Canaan.
The words — The Hebrew לֹא תוכל לאכל (lo’ tuḵal le’ḵōl) literally reads “you will not be able to eat,” establishing an absolute prohibition. The term מַעְשַׂר (ma‘śar) specifies the tithe of grain, new wine, and oil that must be withheld from local consumption.
The thread — This restriction against local tithe consumption runs parallel to Deuteronomy 12:6’s command to bring tithes to the chosen place and Deuteronomy 14:22’s mandate to set aside a tenth of yearly produce. It also aligns with Deuteronomy 26:14, which records the tithe being kept separate from mourning or ritual impurity contexts.
Why it lands — The text requires that sacred agricultural and livestock portions be reserved for the central sanctuary rather than treated as private property. Readers must recognize that religious obligations demand physical relocation to a designated location before any consumption occurs.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
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 freewill offerings, or heave offering of thine hand:
Cross-references
- Deuteronomy 26:14 I have not eaten any of the sacred portion while in mourning, or removed any of it while unclean, or offered any of it for the dead. I have obeyed the LORD my God; I have done everything You commanded me.
- Deuteronomy 12:6 To that place you are to bring your burnt offerings and sacrifices, your tithes and heave offerings, your vow offerings and freewill offerings, as well as the firstborn of your herds and flocks.
- Deuteronomy 14:22 You must be sure to set aside a tenth of all the produce brought forth each year from your fields.
- Leviticus 27:30 Thus 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.
- Numbers 18:21 Behold, I have given to the Levites all the tithes in Israel as an inheritance in return for the work they do, the service of the Tent of Meeting.
- Deuteronomy 12:11 then the LORD your God will choose a dwelling for His Name. And there you are to bring everything I command you: your burnt offerings and sacrifices, your tithes and special gifts, and all the choice offerings you vow to the LORD.
- Deuteronomy 12:26 But you are to take your holy things and your vow offerings and go to the place the LORD will choose.
- Deuteronomy 26:12 When you have finished laying aside a tenth of all your produce in the third year, the year of the tithe, you are to give it to the Levite, the foreigner, the fatherless, and the widow, that they may eat and be filled within your gates.