Bible Strands
Ezekiel 44:30
The best of all the firstfruits and of every contribution from all your offerings will belong to the priests. You are to give your first batch of dough to the priest, so that a blessing may rest upon your homes.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — God addresses the exiled Israelites through Ezekiel to establish operational laws for the restored temple. The directive follows the allocation of sacred offerings and precedes dietary restrictions for the priesthood.
The words — וְ/רֵאשִׁית (ve./re.Shit) translates literally to "and [the] best," while תְּר֣וּמַת (te.Ru.mat) means "contribution." These terms designate the mandatory transfer of premium harvest yields and dough to the priests.
The thread — Dedicated agricultural yields appear in Nehemiah 10:35 and Numbers 15:19, while Numbers 18:12 explicitly grants the finest olive oil, wine, and grain to the priests.
Why it lands — The text commands that the first and best portions of food offerings go directly to the priests. It states this material transfer as the condition for a blessing to rest upon the people's homes.
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
And the first of all the firstfruits of all things, and every oblation of all, of every sort of your oblations, shall be the priest’s: ye shall also give unto the priest the first of your dough, that he may cause the blessing to rest in thine house.
Cross-references
- Nehemiah 10:35 We will also bring the firstfruits of our land and of every fruit tree to the house of the LORD year by year.
- Numbers 15:19 and you eat the food of the land, you shall lift up an offering to the LORD.
- Numbers 18:12 I give you all the freshest olive oil and all the finest new wine and grain that the Israelites give to the LORD as their firstfruits.
- Deuteronomy 18:4 You are to give them the firstfruits of your grain, new wine, and oil, and the first wool sheared from your flock.
- 2 Chronicles 31:10 and Azariah, the chief priest of the household of Zadok, answered him, “Since the people began to bring their contributions into the house of the LORD, we have had enough to eat, and there is plenty left over, because the LORD has blessed His people; this great abundance is what is left over.”
- Exodus 13:2 “Consecrate to Me every firstborn male. The firstborn from every womb among the Israelites belongs to Me, both of man and beast.”
- Exodus 13:12 you are to present to the LORD the firstborn male of every womb. All the firstborn males of your livestock belong to the LORD.
- Exodus 22:29 You must not hold back offerings from your granaries or vats. You are to give Me the firstborn of your sons.
- Exodus 23:19 Bring the best of the firstfruits of your soil to the house of the LORD your God. You must not cook a young goat in its mother’s milk.
- Numbers 3:13 for all the firstborn are Mine. On the day I struck down every firstborn in the land of Egypt, I consecrated to Myself all the firstborn in Israel, both man and beast. They are Mine; I am the LORD.”