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Deuteronomy Chapter Fourteen                            

 

Deuteronomy 14 (Outlines)

Improper Mourning (v.1~2)

Clean and Unclean Meat (v.3~21)

Tithing Principles (v.22~29)

New King James Version (NKJV)

 

INTRODUCTION TO DEUTERONOMY 14

In this chapter some cautions are given against the use of some rites and ceremonies in mourning for the dead with the reason thereof Deuteronomy 14:1 and instructions about what are lawful to be eaten and what not whether of beasts fishes or fowl Deuteronomy 14:3 and concerning eating one sort of tithes both at the place God should choose and within their own gates Deuteronomy 14:22.

 

Deuteronomy 14:1   “You are the children of the Lord your God; you shall not cut yourselves nor shave the front of your head for the dead.

   YLT  1`Sons ye [are] to Jehovah your God; ye do not cut yourselves nor make baldness between your eyes for the dead;

Ye are the children of the Lord your God .... Some of them were so by the special grace of adoption and all of them by national adoption; which was the peculiar privilege of the people of Israel and laid them under great obligation to honour and obey the Lord their God who stood in the relation of a father to them and they of children to him Malachi 1:6. The Targum of Jonathan paraphrases it "beloved children"; so the apostle calls the saints; the "dear children of God" who therefore ought to be followers of him Ephesians 5:1 and for a like reason this relation is observed here namely to quicken a regard to the exhortations of the Lord his cautions commands laws and ordinances particularly to what follows:

ye shall not cut yourselves; for the dead as appears from the next clause as the Heathens did who not only tore their garments but their flesh in several parts of their bodies in their mouths cheeks breasts &c.F18Vid. Virgil. Aeneid. 12. ver. 870 871. and Servium in Aeneid. 1. ver. 78. and in l. 12. ; and used other extravagant signs of mourning which the apostle cautions against 1 Thessalonians 4:13 and were condemned by the Heathens themselvesF19Vid. Cicero de Leg. l. 2. c. 23. and Tusculan. Quaest. l. 3. c. 27. . Though some think this refers to incisions the Heathens made in their flesh to the honour of their gods cutting the names of them therein to whom they devoted themselves; or lashing their bodies at the worship of them as the worshippers of Baal did when they called upon him 1 Kings 18:28 and so the Jerusalem Targum "make not marks marks 'that is here and there in many places or bruises black and blue by striping and beating themselves for strange worship or at it in honour of their gods; but the former sense seems best to agree with what follows; see Leviticus 19:28

nor make any baldness between your eyes for the dead; by shaving the forepart of their head or their eyebrows or both which used to be done in lamentations for the dead; see Jeremiah 16:6 if this could be thought to have any respect to rites and ceremonies used in the worship of dead and lifeless idols the customs of the Egyptians might be referred to who are said to shave their heads and their eyebrows in their sacred rites to IsisF20Ambros. Epist. l. 4. c. 30. p. 259. .

 

Deuteronomy 14:2   2 For you are a holy people to the Lord your God and the Lord has chosen you to be a people for Himself a special treasure above all the peoples who are on the face of the earth.

   YLT  2for a holy people [art] thou to Jehovah thy God and on thee hath Jehovah fixed to be to Him for a people a peculiar treasure out of all the peoples who [are] on the face of the ground.

For thou art an holy people unto the Lord thy God .... Set apart by him from all other people and devoted to his worship and service and many of them were sanctified and made holy in a special and spiritual sense; and therefore should not conform to the customs of Gentiles whether in their extravagant mourning for the dead or in their religious services; see Deuteronomy 7:6

and the Lord hath chosen thee to be a peculiar people above all the nations that are upon the earth; to be his peculiar treasure to be his peculiar servants and worshippers to enjoy peculiar blessings and privileges and behave in a peculiar manner different from all other people; and have no connection with them especially in things sacred; and in order to keep them a distinct peculiar people from all others a peculiar diet was appointed them that so being prohibited to eat such things as others did they might be kept out of their company and conversation and so from being drawn into their idolatrous practices; the rules concerning which follow; see Deuteronomy 7:6.

 

Deuteronomy 14:3   3 “You shall not eat any detestable thing.

   YLT  3`Thou dost not eat any abominable thing;

Thou shall not eat any abominable thing. That is so either in its own nature or because forbidden by the Lord; what are such are declared in the following verses.

 

Deuteronomy 14:4   4 These are the animals which you may eat: the ox the sheep the goat

   YLT  4`this [is] the beast which ye do eat: ox lamb of the sheep or kid of the goats

These are the beasts which they shall eat .... That is which they might lawfully eat of which were allowed for their food; for they were not obliged to eat of them if they did not choose it:

the ox the sheep and the goat; which were creatures used in sacrifice and the only ones yet nevertheless they might be used for food if chosen.

 

Deuteronomy 14:5   5 the deer the gazelle the roe deer the wild goat the mountain goat [a] the antelope and the mountain sheep.

   YLT  5hart and roe and fallow deer and wild goat and pygarg and wild ox and chamois;

The hart the roebuck and the fallow deer .... All of the deer kind and very agreeable food; harts were very common in the land of Canaan and parts adjacent; Aelianus saysF21Hist. Animal. l. 5. c. 56. harts are bred in the great mountains in Syria Amanus Lebanon and Carmel: the roebuck or "dorcas" from whence a good woman had her name Acts 9:36 is spoken of by MartialF23"Delicium parvo" &c. Epigram. l. 13. 93. as very delicious food and so are fallow deer; the word "jachmur" here used having the signification of redness in it may be used for that sort which are called red deer: it is observed that in the Arabic language it is used for an animal with two horns living in the woods not unlike an hart but swifter than that; and it is asked is it not the "aloe" or "elch"F24Castel. Lex. Polyglott. Col. 1. 294. ?

and the wild goat and the pygarg and the wild ox and the chamois; the wild goat is reckoned by PlinyF25Nat. Hist. l. 8. c. 53. among the half wild creatures in Africa; according to the philosopherF26Aristot. Hist. Animal. l. 8. c. 28. there are none but in Syria on which Canaan bordered and were very remarkable ones having ears a span and nine inches long and some reached to the ground. The Hebrew name for this creature is "akko"; and there is a fourfooted wild beast by the Tartarians called "akkyk" and by the Turks "akoim" and which with the Scythians and Sarmatians are to be met with in flocks; it is between a hart and a ram its body whitish and the flesh exceeding sweetF1Scheuchzer. Physic. Sacr. vol. 3. p. 415. ; it seems to be the same with the "tragelaphus" of which there were in Arabia as Diodorus SiculusF2Bibliothec. l. 2. p. 134. Vid. Plin. l. 8. c. 33. says; the next is the "pygarg" which we so render from the Septuagint and Vulgate Latin versions or white buttocks so called from the hinder part of it being white; a species of the eagle with a white tail is called a "pygarg" but here a four footed animal is meant; and which is mentioned as such along with hinds does and goats by HerodotusF3Melpomene sive l. 4. c. 192. AelianF4Hist. Animal l. 7. c. 19. and PlinyF5Nat. Hist. l. 8. c. 53. : it has its name "dishon" in Hebrew from its ash colour and the "tragelaphus" or goat deer has part of its back ash coloured and has ash coloured spots or streaks on its sidesF6Calmet's Dictionary on the word "Pygarg". : some take it to be the "strepsiceros" a kind of buck or goat with writhed horns which the Africans as Pliny saysF7Nat. Hist. l. 11. c. 39. call "addaca" which is thought by some to be a corruption of "al-dashen" so Junius; the Targum of Jonathan takes it for the "unicorn" or "rhinoceros"; and the Talmudists sayF8T. Bab. Cholin fol. 59. 2. that the unicorn though it has but one horn is free i.e. lawful to be eaten: the "wild ox" was common in Arabia; StraboF9Geograph. l. 16. p. 530. speaks of multitudes of wild oxen in some parts of Arabia on the flesh of which and other animals the Arabians live; in the Septuagint version it is called the "oryx" which is a creature that has but one horn and divides the hoofF11Aristot. Hist. Animal l. 2. c. 1. and so might be eaten; See Gill on Isaiah 51:20 the last the "chamois" has a French name and is a creature of the goat kind from whose skin the chamois leather is made; in the figure of its body it seems to approach very much to the stag kindF12Supplement to Chambers's Dictionary on the word "Rupricapra". ; perhaps it is the same with the "cemas" of AelianF13Hist. Animal. l. 14. c. 14. mentioned by him along with roebucks. Some take it to be the "tarandus" of which Pliny saysF14Nat. Hist. l. 8. c. 34. 34. it is of the size of an ox has a head bigger than a hart and not unlike it; its horns are branched hoofs cloven and is hairy like a bear. In the Targums of Onkelos and Jonathan this is the "pygarg"; these several sorts of beasts were allowed to be eaten; the three first there is no difficulty about them but the other seven it is hard to determine what they are at least some of them. Dr. ShawF15Travels p. 418. thinks that the deer the antelope the wild bear the goat deer the white buttocks the buffalo and jeraffa may lay in the best claim to the "ailee" "tzebi" "yachmur" "akkub" "dishon" "thau" and "zomer" here.

 

Deuteronomy 14:6   6 And you may eat every animal with cloven hooves having the hoof split into two parts and that chews the cud among the animals.

   YLT  6and every beast dividing the hoof and cleaving the cleft into two hoofs bringing up the cud among the beasts -- it ye do eat.

Verses 6-8

And every beast that parted the hoof .... In this and the two following verses two general rules are given by which it might be known what beasts were fit for food and what not; one is if they parted the hoof and the other if they chewed the cud such might be eaten; but such that only chewed the cud but did not divide the hoof as the camel hare and coney might not be eaten; and so if they divided the hoof and did not chew the cud as the swine they were alike unlawful; See Gill on Leviticus 11:3; see Gill on Leviticus 11:4; see Gill on Leviticus 11:5; see Gill on Leviticus 11:6; see Gill on Leviticus 11:7; see Gill on Leviticus 11:8.

 

Deuteronomy 14:7   7 Nevertheless of those that chew the cud or have cloven hooves you shall not eat such as these: the camel the hare and the rock hyrax; for they chew the cud but do not have cloven hooves; they are unclean for you.

   YLT  7`Only this ye do not eat of those bringing up the cud and of those dividing the cloven hoof: the camel and the hare and the rabbit for they are bringing up the cud but the hoof have not divided; unclean they [are] to you;

 

Deuteronomy 14:8   8 Also the swine is unclean for you because it has cloven hooves yet does not chew the cud; you shall not eat their flesh or touch their dead carcasses.

   YLT  8and the sow for it is dividing the hoof and not [bringing] up the cud unclean it [is] to you; of their flesh ye do not eat and against their carcase ye do not come.

 

Deuteronomy 14:9   9 “These you may eat of all that are in the waters: you may eat all that have fins and scales.

   YLT  9`This ye do eat of all that [are] in the waters; all that hath fins and scales ye do eat;

Verse 9-10

These ye shall eat of all that are in the waters .... The fishes there even such as have fins and scales but they that have not were not to be eaten: See Gill on Leviticus 11:9 Leviticus 11:10 Leviticus 11:11 Leviticus 11:12.

 

Deuteronomy 14:10   10 And whatever does not have fins and scales you shall not eat; it is unclean for you.

   YLT  10and anything which hath not fins and scales ye do not eat; unclean it [is] to you.

 

Deuteronomy 14:11   11 “All clean birds you may eat.

   YLT  11`Any clean bird ye do eat;

Of all clean birds ye shall eat. Which the Targum of Jonathan describes everyone that has a craw and whose crop is naked and has a superfluous talon and is not rapacious; but such as are unclean are expressed by name in the following verses so that all except them might be reckoned clean and fit for food. MaimonidesF16Hilchot. Maacolot Asurot c. 1. sect. 14. observes that only the number of the unclean are reckoned so that all the rest are free.

 

Deuteronomy 14:12   12 But these you shall not eat: the eagle the vulture the buzzard

   YLT  12and these [are] they of which ye do not eat: the eagle and the ossifrage and the ospray

Verses 12-18

But these are they of which they shall not eat .... Jarchi observes that the unclean birds are particularly mentioned to teach that the clean sort are more than the unclean and therefore the particulars of the fewest are given: these are all the same names as in Leviticus 11:13 excepting one "the glede" Deuteronomy 14:13 which is a kind of kite or puttock; the Jerusalem Targum renders it the vulture and the Targum of Jonathan the white "dayetha" or vulture; and Aristotle saysF17Hist. Animal. l. 8. c. 3. there are two sorts of vultures the one small and whiter the other larger and of many forms or colours; in Hebrew its name here is "raah" and is thought to be the same with "daah" in Leviticus 11:14 there translated the "vulture" which has its name there from flying and here from seeing for which it is remarkable; see Job 28:7 and the letters ד and ר are pretty much alike and are sometimes changed but there is another here in Deuteronomy 14:13 mentioned the "dayah" which is not mentioned in Leviticus 11:1 though some think it the same with the "ayah" rendered both here and there the "kite"; perhaps it means another sort of vulture the black vulture as the Targum of Jonathan.

 

Deuteronomy 14:13   13 the red kite the falcon and the kite after their kinds;

   YLT  13and the glede and the kite and the vulture after its kind

 

Deuteronomy 14:14   14 every raven after its kind;

   YLT  14and every raven after its kind;

 

Deuteronomy 14:15   15 the ostrich the short-eared owl the sea gull and the hawk after their kinds;

   YLT  15and the owl and the night-hawk and the cuckoo and the hawk after its kind;

 

Deuteronomy 14:16   16 the little owl the screech owl the white owl

   YLT  16the [little] owl and the [great] owl and the swan

 

Deuteronomy 14:17   17 the jackdaw the carrion vulture the fisher owl

   YLT  17and the pelican and the gier-eagle and the cormorant

 

Deuteronomy 14:18   18 the stork the heron after its kind and the hoopoe and the bat.

   YLT  18and the stork and the heron after its kind and the lapwing and the bat;

 

Deuteronomy 14:19   19 “Also every creeping thing that flies is unclean for you; they shall not be eaten.

   YLT  19and every teeming thing which is flying unclean it [is] to you; they are not eaten;

And every creeping thing that flieth is unclean .... Which the Targum of Jonathan thus paraphrases;"all flies and wasps (or hornets) and worms of lentiles and of beans which are separated from food and fly as birds they are unclean;'See Gill on Leviticus 11:20; see Gill on Leviticus 11:21.

 

Deuteronomy 14:20   20 “You may eat all clean birds.

   YLT  20any clean fowl ye do eat.

But of all clean fowls ye may eat. Even of all fowls but those before excepted; Aben Ezra instances in the locust as being a clean fowl that might be eaten; and so the Targum of Jonathan is"every clean locust ye may eat;'see Leviticus 11:22.

 

Deuteronomy 14:21   21 “You shall not eat anything that dies of itself; you may give it to the alien who is within your gates that he may eat it or you may sell it to a foreigner; for you are a holy people to the Lord your God. “You shall not boil a young goat in its mother’s milk.

   YLT  21`Ye do not eat of any carcase; to the sojourner who [is] within thy gates thou dost give it and he hath eaten it; or sell [it] to a stranger; for a holy people thou [art] to Jehovah thy God; thou dost not boil a kid in its mother's milk.

Ye shall not eat of anything that dieth of itself .... This law is repeated from Leviticus 17:15; see Gill on Leviticus 17:15

thou shalt give it unto the stranger that is in thy gates that he may eat it; not to the proselyte of righteousness for he might not eat of it any more than an Israelite and if he did he was obliged to wash his clothes and bathe himself in water and was unclean until the evening as in Leviticus 17:15 but to a proselyte of the gate who took upon him as Jarchi observes not to serve idols one that has renounced idolatry but has not embraced the Jewish religion; such an one might eat of things that died of themselves or were not killed in a proper manner. The Targums of Onkelos and Jonathan call him an uncircumcised stranger or proselyte who had not submitted to circumcision as the proselyte of righteousness did:

or thou mayest sell it unto an alien; an idolater one that was neither a proselyte of righteousness nor of the gate an entire alien from the commonwealth of Israel; one that was occasionally in the land of Canaan or was travelling in it or through it to such an one it might be sold:

for thou art an holy people unto the Lord thy God; separated from all others and devoted to his service and therefore must live on clean food and good meat and not eat what others might:

thou shalt not seethe a kid in its mother's milk; this is the third time this law is mentioned; refer to the notes; see Gill on Exodus 23:19; see Gill on Exodus 34:26; the reason of which repetition the Jewish writers sayF19Maimon. & Bartenora in Misn. Kiddushin c. 2. sect. 9. is that it is once said to forbid the eating it a second time to forbid any use of it or profit by it and a third time to forbid the boiling of it.

 

Deuteronomy 14:22   22 “You shall truly tithe all the increase of your grain that the field produces year by year.

   YLT  22`Thou dost certainly tithe all the increase of thy seed which the field is bringing forth year by year;

Thou shalt truly tithe all the increase of thy seed .... This was a different tithe from that which was made and given to the Levites and out of which a tithe was taken and given to the priests and which they only ate of; but this as appears by the following verse was what the owners themselves ate of and so the tithing was left to be made by them themselves and which they were to be sure to make and to make it truly and faithfully:

that the field bringeth forth year by year; being ploughed and sowed yearly the produce of it was to be tithed yearly; the Jewish writersF20Ib. in Misn. Maaserot c. 1. sect. 1. observe on this that it must be what the earth produces and is fit for food: and it must be thy seed which is especially thine and is not common but has an owner and this excludes mushrooms &c. which thou sowest not and therefore cannot be called thy seed.

 

Deuteronomy 14:23   23 And you shall eat before the Lord your God in the place where He chooses to make His name abide the tithe of your grain and your new wine and your oil of the firstborn of your herds and your flocks that you may learn to fear the Lord your God always.

   YLT  23and thou hast eaten before Jehovah thy God in the place where He doth choose to cause His name to tabernacle the tithe of thy corn of thy new wine and of thine oil and the firstlings of thy herd and of thy flock so that thou dost learn to fear Jehovah thy God all the days.

And thou shalt eat before the Lord thy God in the place which he shall choose to place his name there .... See Deuteronomy 12:5 there the tithe of all the fruits of the earth was to be eaten; this is the second tithe as the Targum of Jonathan and so Jarchi and which is more particularly described as follows:

the tithe of thy corn of thy wine and of thine oil: see Deuteronomy 12:7

and the firstlings of thine herds and of thy flocks; of which see the note on the above place:

that thou mayest learn to fear the Lord thy God always; which such a constant practice would inure unto; see Deuteronomy 10:12.

 

Deuteronomy 14:24   24 But if the journey is too long for you so that you are not able to carry the tithe or if the place where the Lord your God chooses to put His name is too far from you when the Lord your God has blessed you

   YLT  24`And when the way is too much for thee that thou art not able to carry it -- when the place is too far off from thee which Jehovah thy God doth choose to put His name there when Jehovah thy God doth bless thee; --

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 14:25   25 then you shall exchange it for money take the money in your hand and go to the place which the Lord your God chooses.

   YLT  25then thou hast given [it] in money and hast bound up the money in thy hand and gone unto the place on which Jehovah thy God doth fix;

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 writersF21Bartenora in Misn. Beracot c. 7. sect. 1. Maimon. & Bartenora in Misn. Maaser Sheni c. 11. sect. 2. & in Misn. Sabbat c. 18. sect. 1. 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 MaimonidesF23In Misn. Maaser Sheni c. 11. sect. 2. 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.

 

Deuteronomy 14:26   26 And you shall spend that money for whatever your heart desires: for oxen or sheep for wine or similar drink for whatever your heart desires; you shall eat there before the Lord your God and you shall rejoice you and your household.

   YLT  26and thou hast given the money for any thing which thy soul desireth for oxen and for sheep and for wine and for strong drink and for any thing which thy soul asketh and thou hast eaten there before Jehovah thy God and thou hast rejoiced thou and thy house.

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 14:27   27 You shall not forsake the Levite who is within your gates for he has no part nor inheritance with you.

   YLT  27As to the Levite who [is] within thy gates thou dost not forsake him for he hath no portion and inheritance with thee.

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 Deuteronomy 12:12.

 

Deuteronomy 14:28   28 “At the end of every third year you shall bring out the tithe of your produce of that year and store it up within your gates.

   YLT  28`At the end of three years thou dost bring out all the tithe of thine increase in that year and hast placed [it] within thy gates;

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 MaimonidesF24Hilchot Mattanot. Anayim c. 6. sect. 4. 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 elsewhereF25In Maaser Sheni c. 1. sect. 1. ; after they have separated the first tithe every year they separate the second tithe Deuteronomy 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.

 

Deuteronomy 14:29   29 And the Levite because he has no portion nor inheritance with you and the stranger and the fatherless and the widow who are within your gates may come and eat and be satisfied that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hand which you do.

   YLT  29and come in hath the Levite (for he hath no part and inheritance with thee) and the sojourner and the fatherless and the widow who [are] within thy gates and they have eaten and been satisfied so that Jehovah thy God doth bless thee in all the work of thy hand which thou dost.

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 Deuteronomy 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 Bible

 

New King James Version (NKJV)

Footnotes:

  1. Deuteronomy 14:5 Or addax