Text: Nehemiah 10:34
OT Text Referred to: Leviticus 6:12
Subject: wood supply for perpetual altar fire
Source: Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Reference Type: Echo
Connection Method(s): Longitudinal Theme
Significance: Leviticus 6:12 commands that "the fire on the altar must be kept burning; it must not go out. Every morning the priest is to add wood (עֵצִים, etzim) to it." Nehemiah 10:34 records the post-exilic community's practical arrangement to fulfill this requirement: "We also cast lots among the priests, the Levites, and the people for the wood offering (קֻרְבַּן הָעֵצִים), to bring it to the house of our God at appointed times each year, to burn on the altar of the LORD our God as prescribed in the Law." The Nehemiah passage shows the restored community creating a new administrative mechanism — the wood-lot system — to ensure the perpetual fire of Leviticus 6:12 could be maintained. The innovation demonstrates adaptive Torah observance: the same Levitical command, new practical infrastructure.