Deuteronomy 26:13

Deuteronomy 26:13

Then thou shalt say before the Lord thy God, I have brought away the hallowed things out of mine house, and also have given them unto the Levite, and unto the stranger, to the fatherless, and to the widow, according to all thy commandments which thou hast commanded me: I have not transgressed thy commandments, neither have I forgotten them.

a. ASV: And thou shalt say before Jehovah thy God, I have put away the hallowed things out of my house, and also have given them unto the Levite, and unto the sojourner, to the fatherless, and to the widow, according to all thy commandment which thou hast commanded me: I have not transgressed any of thy commandments, neither have I forgotten them:

b. YLT: And thou hast said before Jehovah thy God, I have put away the separated thing out of the house, and also have given it to the Levite, and to the sojourner, and to the orphan, and to the widow, according to all Thy command which Thou hast commanded me; I have not passed over from Thy commands, nor have I forgotten.

c. Amplified Bible Classic: Then you shall say before the Lord your God, I have brought the hallowed things (the tithe) out of my house and moreover have given them to the Levite, to the stranger and the sojourner, to the fatherless, and to the widow, according to all Your commandments which You have commanded me; I have not transgressed any of Your commandments, neither have I forgotten them.

d. Septuagint: And thou shalt say before the Lord thy God, I have fully collected the holy things out of my house, and I have given them to the Levite, and the stranger, and the orphan, and the widow, according to all commands which thou didst command me: I did not transgress thy command, and I did not forget it.

e. Stone Edition Torah/Prophets/Writings: Then you shall say before HASHEM, your God, “I have removed the holy things from the house, and have also given it to the Levite, to the proselyte, to the orphan, and to the widow, according to all the commandment that you commanded me; I have not transgressed any of Your commandments, and I have not forgotten.

1. “Then thou shalt say before the Lord thy God…”

a. [Then you shall] say [Strong: 559 ʼâmar, aw-mar'; a primitive root; to say (used with great latitude):—answer, appoint, avouch, bid, boast self, call, certify, challenge, charge, (at the, give) command(-ment), commune, consider, declare, demand, × desire, determine, ×expressly, × indeed, × intend, name, × plainly, promise, publish, report, require, say, speak (against, of), × still, × suppose, talk, tell, term, × that is, × think, use (speech), utter, × verily, × yet.]

b. before [Strong: 6440 pânîym, paw-neem'; plural (but always as singular) of an unused noun פָּנֶה pâneh; from H6437); the face (as the part that turns); used in a great variety of applications (literally and figuratively); also (with prepositional prefix) as a preposition (before, etc.):— accept, a-(be-) fore(-time), against, anger, × as (long as), at, battle, because (of), beseech, countenance, edge, employ, endure, enquire, face, favour, fear of, for, forefront(-part), form(-er time, -ward), from, front, heaviness, × him(-self), honourable, impudent, in, it, look(-eth) (-s), × me, meet, × more than, mouth, of, off, (of) old (time), × on, open, out of, over against, the partial, person, please, presence, prospect, was purposed, by reason of, regard, right forth, serve, × shewbread, sight, state, straight, street, × thee, × them(-selves), through ( -out), till, time(-s) past, (un-) to(-ward), upon, upside ( down), with(-in, -stand), × ye, × you.]

c. [the] LORD [Strong: 3068 Yᵉhôvâh, yeh-ho-vaw'; from H1961; (the) self-Existent or Eternal; Jeho-vah, Jewish national name of God:—Jehovah, the Lord.]

d. [your] God [Strong: 430 ʼĕlôhîym, el-o-heem'; plural of H433; gods in the ordinary sense; but specifically used (in the plural thus, especially with the article) of the supreme God; occasionally applied by way of deference to magistrates; and sometimes as a superlative:—angels, × exceeding, God (gods) (-dess, -ly), × (very) great, judges, × mighty.]

1). The entire confession (Deuteronomy 26:13-15), was given every third year, which was the year of tithing.  Some believe that this confession was made just for this particular tithe. It's possible it could have been said at the time this tithe was given but was a general confession that concerned all of the three tithes.

2). Louis Goldberg, Professor of Theology and Jewish studies at Moody Bible Institute, wrote in his commentary on Deuteronomy: “Because these tithes [the third tithe]were not directly controlled by the priests, Moses gave instructions to avoid their misuse. The Israelites had to make a statement (Deuteronomy 26:13-15), before the LORD that the tithes were used as He had specified.”

2. “…I have brought away the hallowed things out of mine house…”

a. [I have] brought away [Strong: 1197 bâʻar, baw-ar'; a primitive root; also as denominative from H1198 to kindle, i.e. consume (by fire or by eating); to be (-come) brutish:—be brutish, bring (put, take) away, burn, (cause to) eat (up), feed, heat, kindle, set (on fire), waste.]

b. [the] hallowed things [Strong: 6944 qôdesh, ko'-desh; from H6942; a sacred place or thing; rarely abstract, sanctity:—consecrated (thing), dedicated (thing), hallowed (thing), holiness, (× most) holy (× day, portion, thing), saint, sanctuary.]

c. out of [Strong: 4480 min min or minniy {min-nee'}; or minney (constructive plural) {min-nay'}; (Isaiah 30:11); for 4482; properly, a part of; hence (prepositionally), from or out of in many senses (as follows):--above, after, among, at, because of, by (reason of), from (among), in, X neither, X nor, (out) of, over, since, X then, through, X whether, with.]

d. [mine] house [Strong: 1004 bayith, bah'-yith; probably from H1129 abbreviated; a house (in the greatest variation of applications, especially family, etc.):—court, daughter, door, + dungeon, family, + forth of, × great as would contain, hangings, home(born), (winter) house(-hold), inside(-ward), palace, place, + prison, + steward, + tablet, temple, web, +within(-out).]

1). The “hallowed” things were those things set apart for God, and the tithe was God’s. The Hebrew word for “holy” in the following two verses is the same word for “hallowed” in Deuteronomy 26:13, “qodesh”.

a). Leviticus 27:30 And all the tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land, or of the fruit of the tree, is the LORD'S: it is holy unto the LORD.

b). Leviticus 27:32 And concerning the tithe of the herd, or of the flock, even of whatsoever passeth under the rod, the tenth shall be holy unto the LORD.

3. “…and also have given them unto the Levite, and unto the stranger, to the fatherless, and to the widow…”

a. [and] also [Strong: 1571 gam gam by contraction from an unused root meaning to gather; properly, assemblage; used only adverbially also, even, yea, though; often repeated as correl. both...and:--again, alike, also, (so much) as (soon), both (so)...and , but, either...or, even, for all, (in) likewise (manner), moreover, nay...neither, one, then(-refore), though, what, with, yea.]

b. [ahve] given [them] [Strong: 5414  nâthan, naw-than'; a primitive root; to give, used with greatest latitude of application (put, make, etc.):—add, apply, appoint, ascribe, assign, × avenge, × be (healed), bestow, bring (forth, hither), cast, cause, charge, come, commit, consider, count, cry, deliver (up), direct, distribute, do, × doubtless, × without fail, fasten, frame, × get, give (forth, over, up), grant, hang (up), × have, × indeed, lay (unto charge, up), (give) leave, lend, let (out), lie, lift up, make, O that, occupy, offer, ordain, pay, perform, place, pour, print, × pull, put (forth), recompense, render, requite, restore, send (out), set (forth), shew, shoot forth (up), sing, slander, strike, (sub-) mit, suffer, × surely, × take, thrust, trade, turn, utter, weep, willingly, withdraw, would (to) God, yield.]

c. [to the] Levite [Strong: 3881 Lêvîyîy, lay-vee-ee'; or לֵוִי Lêvîy; patronymically from H3878; a Levite or descendant of Levi:—Leviite.]

d. [and to the] stranger [Strong: 1616 gêr, gare; or (fully) geyr (gare); from H1481; properly, a guest; by implication, a foreigner:—alien, sojourner, stranger.]

e. [to the] fatherless [Strong: 3490 yâthôwm, yaw-thome'; from an unused root meaning to be lonely; a bereaved person:—fatherless (child), orphan.]

f. [and to the] widow [Strong: 490 ʼalmânâh, al-maw-naw'; feminine of H488; a widow; also a desolate place:—desolate house (palace), widow.]

4. “...according to all thy commandments which thou hast commanded me…”

a. [according to] all [Strong: 3605 kol kole or (Jer. 33:8) kowl {kole}; from 3634; properly, the whole; hence, all, any or every (in the singular only, but often in a plural sense):--(in) all (manner, (ye)), altogether, any (manner), enough, every (one, place, thing), howsoever, as many as, (no-)thing, ought, whatsoever, (the) whole, whoso(-ever).]

b. [thy] commandments [Strong: 4687 mitsvâh, mits-vaw'; from H6680; a command, whether human or divine (collectively, the Law):—(which was) commanded(-ment), law, ordinance, precept.]

c. which [Strong: 834 'aher ash-er' a primitive relative pronoun (of every gender and number); who, which, what, that; also (as an adverb and a conjunction) when, where, how, because, in order that, etc.:--X after, X alike, as (soon as), because, X every, for, + forasmuch, + from whence, + how(-soever), X if, (so) that ((thing) which, wherein), X though, + until, + whatsoever, when, where (+ -as, -in, -of, -on, -soever, -with), which, whilst, + whither(- soever), who(-m, -soever, -se). As it is indeclinable, it is often accompanied by the personal pronoun expletively, used to show the connection.]

d. [you have] commanded [me] [Strong: 6680 tsâvâh, tsaw-vaw'; a primitive root; (intensively) to constitute, enjoin:—appoint, (for-) bid, (give a) charge, (give a, give in, send with) command(-er, -ment), send a messenger, put, (set) in order.]

5. “...I have not transgressed thy commandments, neither have I forgotten them.”

a. [I have] not [Strong: 3808 lo' lo or lowi {lo}; or loh (Deut. 3:11) {lo}; a primitive particle; not (the simple or abs. negation); by implication, no; often used with other particles (as follows):--X before, + or else, ere, + except, ig(-norant), much, less, nay, neither, never, no((-ne), -r, (-thing)), (X as though...,(can-), for) not (out of), of nought, otherwise, out of, + surely, + as truly as, + of a truth, + verily, for want, + whether, without.]

b. transgressed [Strong: 5674 ʻâbar, aw-bar'; a primitive root; to cross over; used very widely of any transition (literal or figurative; transitive, intransitive, intensive, causative); specifically, to cover (in copulation):—alienate, alter, × at all, beyond, bring (over, through), carry over, (over-) come (on, over), conduct (over), convey over, current, deliver, do away, enter, escape, fail, gender, get over, (make) go (away, beyond, by, forth, his way, in, on, over, through), have away (more), lay, meddle, overrun, make partition, (cause to, give, make to, over) pass(-age, along, away, beyond, by, -enger, on, out, over, through), (cause to, make) proclaim(-amation), perish, provoke to anger, put away, rage, raiser of taxes, remove, send over, set apart, shave, cause to (make) sound, ×speedily, × sweet smelling, take (away), (make to) transgress(-or), translate, turn away, (way-) faring man, be wrath.]

c. [thy] commandments [Strong: 4687 mitsvâh, mits-vaw'; from H6680; a command, whether human or divine (collectively, the Law):—(which was) commanded(-ment), law, ordinance, precept.]

d. neither [Strong: 3808 lo' lo or lowi {lo}; or loh (Deut. 3:11) {lo}; a primitive particle; not (the simple or abs. negation); by implication, no; often used with other particles (as follows):--X before, + or else, ere, + except, ig(-norant), much, less, nay, neither, never, no((-ne), -r, (-thing)), (X as though...,(can-), for) not (out of), of nought, otherwise, out of, + surely, + as truly as, + of a truth, + verily, for want, + whether, without.]

e. [have I] forgotten [them] [Strong:  7911 shâkach, shaw-kakh'; or שָׁכֵחַ shâkêach; a primitive root; to mislay, i.e. to be oblivious of, from want of memory or attention:—× at all, (cause to) forget.]

1). The hallowed things were dispersed “…according to all thy commandments which thou hast commanded me.” There was more than one commandment for tithing, there were three separate tithes, and different commandments for each.