Deuteronomy 26:13

26:12-15 How should the earth yield its increase, or, if it does, what comfort can we take in it, unless therewith our God gives us his blessing? All this represented the covenant relation between a reconciled God and every true believer, and the privileges and duties belonging to it. We must be watchful, and show that according to the covenant of grace in Christ Jesus, the Lord is our God, and we are his people, waiting in his appointed way for the performance of his gracious promises.

Then thou shalt say before the Lord thy God,.... Make the following declaration as in his presence; for this was not made in the tabernacle or temple at, Jerusalem, since the tithe was to be eaten with the poor in the gates of the owner, as in Deuteronomy 26:12 , I have brought away the hallowed things out of mine house: which Aben Ezra and Onkelos interpret of the tithe; but it seems, besides that, to take in everything devoted to all holy uses, be they what they will, which were at this time to be separated from a man's own common goods, and applied to the purposes for which they were designed and devoted, and particularly what was to be given to the poor: 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; giving to each according as the law directs; which the Targum of Jonathan and Jarchi interpret as before, giving the first tithe to the Levites, and the second tithe to the rest: I have not transgressed thy commandments, neither have I forgotten them: neither broken them wilfully, nor omitted them through carelessness, negligence, and forgetfulness, but was mindful to observe them punctually and exactly.

Deuteronomy 26:13 . Before the Lord thy God — As this tithe of the third year was to be spent at home, these words must signify either that every man was to make this solemn profession at home in his private addresses to God, or that the next time he went up to the place of the sanctuary he was to make this declaration before the most holy place, where God was supposed to be peculiarly present. At whichever place he made it, it was to be done as before God; that is, solemnly, seriously, and in a religious manner, with due respect to God’s presence, in obedience to his command, and with an eye to his glory.

Verse 13. - Say before the Lord ; i . e . address him as present and ready to hear. The expression, "before the Lord," does not necessarily imply that it was in the sanctuary that the prayer was to be offered. Isaac proposed to bless his son "before the Lord," i . e . within his own house or tent ( Genesis 27:7 ); and so the Israelite here might in his own home make his prayer to the Omnipresent Jehovah. I have not transgressed thy commandments , etc. This is not a self-righteous boast; it is rather a solemn profession of attention to duties which might have been neglected, and refers, not to the keeping of every commandment, but to the having faithfully done all that the Law required in respect of tithes. Deuteronomy 26:13

Then thou shalt {h} 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 {i} transgressed thy commandments, neither have I forgotten them: (h) Without hypocrisy. (i) Of malice and contempt.

Before the Lord, i.e. either before the tabernacle or temple; or rather, in thy private and domestic addresses to God; for this is to be said presently upon the distribution of these tithes, which was not done at Jerusalem, but in their own private gates or dwellings; except we will suppose that after he had given away these tithes at home he should go up to Jerusalem merely to make this acknowledgment, which seems improbable. And this is to be spoken before the Lord , i.e. solemnly, seriously, and in a religious manner, with due respect to God’s presence and will and glory, which is a sufficient ground for that phrase. I have brought away , or, separated , or, removed , to wit, from my own proper and private fruits. The hallowed things , i.e. the tithes which have been sanctified and set apart for these uses.

13 . then thou shalt say before the Lord thy God ] That is (in accordance with Deuteronomy 26:5; Deuteronomy 26:10 , Deuteronomy 12:7 ; Deuteronomy 12:12 ; Deuteronomy 12:18 , Deuteronomy 14:23 ; Deuteronomy 14:25 f., Deuteronomy 15:20 , Deuteronomy 16:11 , Deuteronomy 19:17 ) at the sanctuary, and probably during the Feast of Booths (so all recent commentators). I have put away ] The same vb. as, in Deuteronomy 13:5 (6), q.v. , Deuteronomy 17:7 , etc., is used for putting away evil things. Equally with them the tithe is taboo , forbidden and dangerous for common use. the hallowed things ] Heb. the ḳodesh , lit. holiness or hallowedness (see above on Deuteronomy 7:6 ), but applied also to the concrete objects or persons set apart for the Deity or (as here) by His command, e.g. the Temple and its contents, the Holy City, sacrifices, etc.; in Deuteronomy 12:26 parallel to vows , here the tithes for the poor, an interesting extension of the idea of ceremonial sacredness; not without its ethical meaning for ourselves. ‘We are commanded to give alms of such things as we have ; and then, and not otherwise, all things are clean to us ’ (M. Henry). out of mine house ] where they had been stored, Deuteronomy 14:28 . all thy commandments ] So Sam., LXX. The anxiety to keep these ritual laws, with a great ethical purpose behind them—viz. the relief of the poor—is very striking. The laws are now detailed:—

The delivery of the tithes, like the presentation of the first-fruits, was also to be sanctified by prayer before the Lord. It is true that only a prayer after taking the second tithe in the third year is commanded here; but that is simply because this tithe was appropriated everywhere throughout the land to festal meals for the poor and destitute ( Deuteronomy 14:28 ), when prayer before the Lord would not follow per analogiam from the previous injunction concerning the presentation of first-fruits, as it would in the case of the tithes with which sacrificial meals were prepared at the sanctuary ( Deuteronomy 14:22 .). לעשׂר is the infinitive Hiphil for להעשׂר, as in Nehemiah 10:39 (on this form, vid., Ges. 53, 3 Anm. 2 and 7, and Ew. 131, b. and 244, b.). "Saying before the Lord" does not denote prayer in the sanctuary (at the tabernacle), but, as in Genesis 27:7 , simply prayer before God the omnipresent One, who is enthroned in heaven ( Deuteronomy 26:15 ), and blesses His people from above from His holy habitation.

The declaration of having fulfilled the commandments of God refers primarily to the directions concerning the tithes, and was such a rendering of an account as springs from the consciousness that a man very easily transgresses the commandments of God, and has nothing in common with the blindness of pharisaic self-righteousness "I have cleaned out the holy out of my house:" the holy is that which is sanctified to God, that which belongs to the Lord and His servants, as in Leviticus 21:22 . בּער signifies not only to remove, but to clean out, wipe out. That which was sanctified to God appeared as a debt, which was to be wiped out of a man's house (Schultz).