Text: Nehemiah 10:35-37
OT Text Referred to: Deuteronomy 26:12
Subject: Third-year tithe and firstfruits obligations
Source: Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Reference Type: Allusion
Connection Method(s): None
Significance: Deuteronomy 26:12 prescribes the third-year tithe (מַעְשַׂר, ma'aser) to be given to the Levite, foreigner, fatherless, and widow "that they may eat and be filled within your gates." Nehemiah 10:35-37 records the post-exilic community pledging to bring firstfruits, firstborn, and tithes to the temple storerooms for the Levites, combining multiple Deuteronomic and Levitical obligations into a single covenant renewal pledge. The returned exiles' formal commitment to tithe—including the provision that "the Levites shall bring up a tenth of the tithes to the house of our God"—demonstrates systematic implementation of the Deuteronomic welfare system after decades of exile when these practices had lapsed.