Deuteronomy 14:24
Ver. 24. And if the way be too long for thee,.... The way from the place where any Israelite might live:to carry it; the tithe and the firstlings, it would be too expensive or too troublesome in any way that could be devised:or if the place shall be too far from thee, which the Lord thy God shall choose to set his name there; which by the event appeared to be the city of Jerusalem, and this from some parts of the land of Canaan was very distant:when the Lord thy God hath blessed thee; with a large increase of the fruits of the earth, and of flocks and herds. Deuteronomy 14:25Ver. 25. Thou shalt then turn it into money,.... The tithe, which would be lighter and easier carriage:and bind up the money in thine hand; put it into a bag or purse, and tie it up and carry it in the hand; which some think was ordered, that it might not be mixed with other money; but it seems only to have respect to journeying, and making it fit for that. The Jewish writers {u}, some of them, give a different sense of the word we render "bind up", and interpret it of marking the silver, or impressing a form, figure, or image on it with the hand; they mean that it must be coined money; so Maimonides {w}, they may not profane the sacred tithe with money not coined, nor with money not current, nor with money which is not in a man's power; for it is said,in thine hand; which the man is possessed of and is his own property:and shalt go unto the place which the Lord that God shall choose; carrying the money along with him, for which he sold the tithe.{u} Bartenora in Misn. Beracot, c. 7. sect. 1. Maimon. & Bartenora in Misn. Maaser Sheni, c. 11. sect. 2. & in Misn. Sabbat, c. 18. sect. 1. {w} In Misn. Maaser Sheni, c. 11. sect. 2. Deuteronomy 14:26Ver. 26. And thou shall bestow that money for whatsoever thy soul lusteth after,.... He might buy what provision he would with it, what he best liked, and was most agreeable to his appetite:for oxen, or for sheep; he might purchase beef or mutton, or any other sort of meat that could be got, and was lawful to be eaten, as before directed:or for wine, or for strong drink; to drink with his food, whether wine or any other liquor; the Targum of Jonathan is, wine new or old, which he chose; but the latter, strong drink, Aben Ezra says, was a liquor made of honey and of dates, of wheat and of barley:or for whatsoever thy soul desireth; whether eatable or drinkable:and thou shalt eat there before the Lord thy God; he having put his name in that place; and dwelling there, as the Lord did in the temple of Jerusalem:and thou shalt rejoice, thou and thy household; eat their food with cheerfulness and gladness, making a feast of it and keeping it as such, he and his whole family, his wife and children, or as many as were with him; and all males were obliged to appear at the three grand yearly festivals, and it was at one of these this was to be done. Deuteronomy 14:27Ver. 27. And the Levite that is within thy gates, thou shalt not forsake him,.... As not from giving him the first tithe, as Jarchi remarks, so he was not to forget him in this; he was not to leave him behind, but take him with him to partake of this entertainment:for he hath no part nor inheritance with thee in the land: see De 12:12. Deuteronomy 14:28Ver. 28. At the end of three years thou shalt bring forth all the tithe of thine increase the same year,.... This, according to Aben Ezra, was a third tithe, and did not excuse the second tithe; so says:"I gave the third tithe to the repair of the temple,'' (Tobit 1:7)as in one copy, but, according to another, to the stranger, fatherless, and widow, which better agrees with what follows; but the Jewish writers generally understand this as the same with the second tithe, which on the two first years from the sabbatical year was carried to Jerusalem, or money in lieu of it, with which provisions were bought and eaten there, but on the third year were eaten in their own cities with the poor, and in the stead of the other; so says Maimonides {x}, on the third and sixth years from the sabbatical year, after they have separated the first tithe they separate from what remains another tithe, and give it to the poor, and it is called the poor's tithe, and not on those two years is the second tithe, but the poor's tithe, as it is said, "at the end of three years", &c. and still more expressly elsewhere {y}; after they have separated the first tithe every year, they separate the second tithe, De 14:22 and on the third and sixth years they separate the poor's tithe instead of the second; and this was done, not at the latter end of the third year, but, as Aben Ezra interprets it, at the beginning; for the word used signifies an extremity, and the beginning of the year is one extremity of it as well as the latter end of it:and lay it up within thy gates; not to be hoarded up, or to be sold at a proper time, but to be disposed and made use of as follows.{x} Hilchot Mattanot. Anayim, c. 6. sect. 4. {y} In Maaser Sheni, c. 1. sect. 1. Deuteronomy 14:29Ver. 29. And the Levite, because he hath no part nor inheritance with thee,.... Shall come and take the first tithe, according to Jarchi; but though this he was to do, yet is not what is intended here, but he was to partake of the second tithe, or what was in the room of it, the poor's tithe, with whom he is here joined:and the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow, which are within thy gates, shall come; and take the second tithe, as the above writer rightly interprets it, and which he says is the poor's of this year; see De 12:12,and shall eat and be satisfied; make a plentiful meal, eat freely as at a feast; and, as the same writer observes, they were not obliged to eat it at Jerusalem, according to the way they were bound to eat the second tithe of the two years, that is, the two preceding this:that the Lord thy God may bless thee in all the work of thine hand which thou doest; as might be expected, when his commands, and particularly those respecting the tithes and firstlings, were obeyed.
John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible.