Leviticus 19:24

In the fourth year all its fruit must be consecrated as a praise offering to the LORD.

Berean Standard Bible

Study note

Setting — God addresses Israel through Moses at Sinai, prescribing agricultural regulations for the moment they enter and plant in the Promised Land. The directive falls specifically within the four-year cultivation cycle following the initial planting of fruit trees.

The words — The Hebrew קֹדֶשׁ הִלּוּלִים (qodesh hillulim) literally means "a holy thing of praises." It designates the fourth-year fruit as consecrated property set apart for Yahweh rather than consumed by the planter.

The thread — The text records a temporary consecration before full harvest rights resume in Leviticus 19:25. This pattern corresponds to firstfruits mandates in Deuteronomy 18:4, Numbers 18:12, and Proverbs 3:9.

Why it lands — The passage commands the withholding of fourth-year fruit to establish a ritual boundary before personal use. It requires the planter to acknowledge divine ownership by dedicating the initial yield before claiming the harvest.

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

וּבַשָּׁנָה֙u./va./sha.Nahand/ in the/ year הָרְבִיעִ֔תha./re.vi.'It<the>/ fourth יִהְיֶ֖הyih.Yehit will be כָּל־kol-all פִּרְי֑וֹpir.Y/ofruit/ its קֹ֥דֶשׁKo.desha holy thing הִלּוּלִ֖יםhi.lu.Limpraise offerings לַיהוָֽה׃la./Yah.wehto/ Yahweh

King James Version

But in the fourth year all the fruit thereof shall be holy to praise the Lord withal.

Cross-references

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.
Proverbs 3:9 Honor the LORD with your wealth and with the firstfruits of all your crops;
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 14:28 At the end of every three years, bring a tenth of all your produce for that year and lay it up within your gates.
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.