The Fallible Study Bible

The Fallible · Synthetic · Study Bible

Leviticus27:30–34

Instruction on Tithes

Public-domain source — quoted & attributed AI synthesis — generated, verify

Leviticus 27:30–34 — Instruction on Tithes. Each verse below carries the full apparatus: the Berean Standard Bible, the vocalized original (tap any word), and a parsed breakdown of every term transcribed from the interlinear. Synthesized commentary, canonical threads, and the reading of Christ gather at the end, over the whole unit.

30

Thus any tithe from the land, whether from the seed of the land or the fruit of the trees, belongs to the LORD; it is holy to the LORD.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

wə·ḵāl ma‘·śar hā·’ā·reṣ miz·ze·ra‘ hā·’ā·reṣ mip·pə·rî hā·‘êṣ Yah·weh hū qō·ḏeš Yah·weh

Word by word11 · parsed
וְכָל־wə·ḵālThus anyH3605
√ kôl — properly, the wholeConjunctive wawNounmasculine singular construct
wə-ḵāl, “and all / every.” The conjunctive waw ties this law to the chain of consecrations before it; kōl sweeps in the whole crop without exception.
מַעְשַׂ֨רma‘·śartitheH4643
√ maʻăsêr — a tenthNounmasculine singular construct
maʻăśar — “tithe,” from the root for ten. Keil & Delitzsch note the tithe is introduced “as something well known,” older than Sinai (Genesis 14:20; 28:22); the law does not invent it but incorporates it into the covenant.
הָאָ֜רֶץhā·’ā·reṣfrom the landH776
√ ʼerets — the earth (at large, or partitively a land)ArticleNounfeminine singular
hā-’āreṣ, “the land.” The same noun governs both halves — the tithe is of the land, the very land the LORD calls His own (cf. Leviticus 25:23), so its yield was never wholly the farmer’s to begin with.
מִזֶּ֤רַעmiz·ze·ra‘[whether] from the seedH2233
√ zeraʻ — seedPreposition-mNounmasculine singular construct
הָאָ֙רֶץ֙hā·’ā·reṣof the landH776
√ ʼerets — the earth (at large, or partitively a land)ArticleNounfeminine singular
מִפְּרִ֣יmip·pə·rîor the fruitH6529
√ pᵉrîy — fruit (literally or figuratively)Preposition-mNounmasculine singular construct
mip-pərî, “from the fruit” — Keil & Delitzsch gloss this as “the fulness of the press,” the wine and oil (Numbers 18:27; Deuteronomy 14:23), distinct from the threshing-floor grain.
הָעֵ֔ץhā·‘êṣof the treesH6086
√ ʻêts — a tree (from its firmness)ArticleNounmasculine singular
לַיהוָ֖הYah·wehbelongs to the LORDH3068
√ Yᵉhôvâh — Jehovah, Jewish national name of GodPreposition-lNounpropermasculine singular
la-YHWH, “to YHWH.” The lamed of possession: the tithe is assigned, not offered. Because it is already His, Ellicott notes, “a man cannot vow to God what is not his own.”
ה֑וּאitH1931
√ hûwʼ — he (she or it)Pronounthird person masculine singular
קֹ֖דֶשׁqō·ḏešis holyH6944
√ qôdesh — a sacred place or thingNounmasculine singular
qōḏeš, “holy / a holy thing.” The decisive word: the tenth is not a gift that becomes sacred upon giving — it is sacred already, withheld from common use. Matthew Henry: this is how Israel “acknowledge God to be the Owner of their land… and themselves to be his tenants.”
לַֽיהוָֽה׃Yah·wehto the LORDH3068
√ Yᵉhôvâh — Jehovah, Jewish national name of GodPreposition-lNounpropermasculine singular
31

If a man wishes to redeem part of his tithe, he must add a fifth to its value.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

wə·’im- ’îš gā·’ōl yiḡ·’al mim·ma·‘aś·rōw yō·sêp̄ ḥă·mi·šî·ṯōw ‘ā·lāw

Word by word8 · parsed
וְאִם־wə·’im-IfH518
√ ʼim — used very widely as demonstrative, lo!Conjunction
אִ֖ישׁ’îša manH376
√ ʼîysh — a man as an individual or a male personNounmasculine singular
גָּאֹ֥לgā·’ōlwishesH1350
√ gâʼal — to be the next of kin (and as such to buy back a relative's property, marry his widow, etcVerbQalInfinitive absolute
gā’ōl, infinitive absolute of gā’al, “to redeem / act as kinsman.” Paired with the finite verb it forms the Hebrew emphatic: “if he indeed redeems.”
יִגְאַ֛לyiḡ·’alto redeemH1350
√ gâʼal — to be the next of kin (and as such to buy back a relative's property, marry his widow, etcVerbQalImperfectthird person masculine singular
yiḡ’al — the finite redeem-verb, root gā’al, the great kinsman-redeemer word of Scripture: Boaz redeeming Ruth’s inheritance (Ruth 4), the avenger-of-blood, Job’s confession “I know that my Redeemer (gō’ēl) lives” (Job 19:25), and Isaiah’s repeated title for the LORD as Israel’s Redeemer. Here it is drained to its commercial floor — buying back farm produce — yet the same verb returns negated in v. 33 (the tithe-animal “shall not be redeemed”), so the chapter spans the word’s full range, from a transaction with a price to a thing beyond all purchase. Gill restricts the buy-back to one’s own tithe, redeemed with the added fifth.
מִמַּֽעַשְׂר֑וֹmim·ma·‘aś·rōwpart of his titheH4643
√ maʻăsêr — a tenthPreposition-mNounmasculine singular constructthird person masculine singular
יֹסֵ֥ףyō·sêp̄he must addH3254
√ yâçaph — to add or augment (often adverbial, to continue to do a thing)VerbHifilImperfect Jussivethird person masculine singular
yōsēp̄, “he must add” — Hiphil jussive. The fifth is not optional generosity but the price of recall; the surcharge discourages frivolous buy-back of what is already the LORD’s.
חֲמִשִׁית֖וֹḥă·mi·šî·ṯōwa fifthH2549
√ chămîyshîy — fifthNumberordinal feminine singular constructthird person masculine singular
ḥămîšîṯōw, “its fifth.” The same one-fifth penalty governs redemption of houses (v. 15), fields (v. 19), and devoted things throughout the chapter — a unifying tariff on reclaiming the holy.
עָלָֽיו׃‘ā·lāwto its valueH5921
√ ʻal — above, over, upon, or against (yet always in this last relation with a downward aspect) in a great variety of applicationsPrepositionthird person masculine singular
ʻālāw, “upon it / to it.” The fifth is reckoned on top of the valuation, so the redeemer always pays more than the thing is worth — the cost of taking back what was given to God.
32

Every tenth animal from the herd or flock that passes under the shepherd’s rod will be holy to the LORD.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

wə·ḵāl ma‘·śar bā·qār wā·ṣōn kōl ’ă·šer- ya·‘ă·ḇōr ta·ḥaṯ haš·šā·ḇeṭ hā·‘ă·śî·rî yih·yeh- qō·ḏeš Yah·weh

Word by word13 · parsed
וְכָל־wə·ḵālEveryH3605
√ kôl — properly, the wholeConjunctive wawNounmasculine singular construct
מַעְשַׂ֤רma‘·śartenthH4643
√ maʻăsêr — a tenthNounmasculine singular construct
maʻăśar again — but now of livestock, which Cambridge calls “a fresh demand, found nowhere else in O.T. except 2 Chronicles 31:6.” This animal tithe is the chapter’s own contribution.
בָּקָר֙bā·qāranimal from the herdH1241
√ bâqâr — beef cattle or an animal of the ox family of either gender (as used for plowing)Nounmasculine singular
וָצֹ֔אןwā·ṣōnor flockH6629
√ tsôʼn — a collective name for a flock (of sheep or goats)Conjunctive wawNouncommon singular
כֹּ֥לkōl. . .H3605
√ kôl — properly, the wholeNounmasculine singular
אֲשֶׁר־’ă·šer-thatH834
√ ʼăsher — who, which, what, thatPronounrelative
יַעֲבֹ֖רya·‘ă·ḇōrpassesH5674
√ ʻâbar — to cross overVerbQalImperfectthird person masculine singular
yaʻăḇōr, “passes under.” Keil & Delitzsch: the phrase points to “the custom of numbering the flocks by driving the animals one by one past the shepherd, who counted them with a rod” (cf. Jeremiah 33:13; Ezekiel 20:37).
תַּ֣חַתta·ḥaṯunderH8478
√ tachath — the bottom (as depressed)Preposition
הַשָּׁ֑בֶטhaš·šā·ḇeṭthe shepherd’s rodH7626
√ shêbeṭ — a scion, iArticleNounmasculine singular
haš-šāḇeṭ, “the rod / staff.” Cambridge identifies it as the very ‘staff’ of Psalm 23:4, Micah 7:14, Zechariah 11:7 — the pastoral implement, here turned to counting rather than guiding.
הָֽעֲשִׂירִ֕יhā·‘ă·śî·rî. . .H6224
√ ʻăsîyrîy — tenthArticleNumberordinal masculine singular
hā-ʻăśîrî, “the tenth.” Per the rabbinic procedure quoted by Ellicott, the lamb is marked “whether it be male or female, whether it be perfect or blemished” — chance, not choice, designates the holy one.
יִֽהְיֶה־yih·yeh-will beH1961
√ hâyâh — to exist, iVerbQalImperfectthird person masculine singular
קֹּ֖דֶשׁqō·ḏešholyH6944
√ qôdesh — a sacred place or thingNounmasculine singular
qōḏeš, “holy.” The same noun as the produce tithe (v. 30): the animal singled out by the rod enters the sacred class, beyond recall and beyond exchange (v. 33).
לַֽיהוָֽה׃Yah·wehto the LORDH3068
√ Yᵉhôvâh — Jehovah, Jewish national name of GodPreposition-lNounpropermasculine singular
33

He must not inspect whether it is good or bad, and he shall not make any substitution. But if he does make a substitution, both the animal and its substitute shall become holy; they cannot be redeemed.’”

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

lō yə·ḇaq·qêr ṭō·wḇ bên- lā·ra‘ wə·lō yə·mî·ren·nū wə·’im- hā·mêr yə·mî·ren·nū hū ū·ṯə·mū·rā·ṯōw yih·yeh- wə·hā·yāh- qō·ḏeš lō yig·gā·’êl

Word by word17 · parsed
לֹ֧אHe must notH3808
√ lôʼ — not (the simple or absAdverbNegative particle
יְבַקֵּ֛רyə·ḇaq·qêrinspectH1239
√ bâqar — properly, to plough, or (generally) break forth, iVerbPielImperfectthird person masculine singular
yəḇaqqēr, “he shall inspect / sort.” Ellicott: “the owner is not to pick out the good ones from the bad” — the rod’s verdict overrides the eye’s judgment, removing human preference from the holy.
ט֥וֹבṭō·wḇwhether it is goodH2896
√ ṭôwb — good (as an adjective) in the widest senseAdjectivemasculine singular
ṭōwḇ / raʻ, “good… bad.” The Edenic pair (Genesis 2:9) here marks not moral but qualitative grading — fat or lean, sound or blemished — which the owner is forbidden to weigh.
בֵּֽין־bên-orH996
√ bêyn — between (repeated before each noun, often with other particles)Preposition
לָרַ֖עlā·ra‘badH7451
√ raʻ — bad or (as noun) evil (natural or moral)Preposition-l, ArticleAdjectivemasculine singular
וְלֹ֣אwə·lōand he shall notH3808
√ lôʼ — not (the simple or absConjunctive wawAdverbNegative particle
יְמִירֶ֑נּוּyə·mî·ren·nūmake any substitutionH4171
√ mûwr — to alterVerbHifilImperfectthird person masculine singularthird person masculine singular
yəmîrennū, “he exchanges it” (Hiphil of mûr, “to alter”). The verb and its noun təmûrāh dominate v. 10 as well; substitution of a vowed animal there, of a tithed animal here, draws the same penalty.
וְאִם־wə·’im-But ifH518
√ ʼim — used very widely as demonstrative, lo!Conjunction
הָמֵ֣רhā·mêrhe does make a substitutionH4171
√ mûwr — to alterVerbHifilInfinitive absolute
יְמִירֶ֔נּוּyə·mî·ren·nū. . .H4171
√ mûwr — to alterVerbHifilImperfectthird person masculine singularthird person masculine singular
ה֧וּאboth the animalH1931
√ hûwʼ — he (she or it)Pronounthird person masculine singular
וּתְמוּרָת֛וֹū·ṯə·mū·rā·ṯōwand its substituteH8545
√ tᵉmûwrâh — barter, compensationConjunctive wawNounfeminine singular constructthird person masculine singular
təmûrāṯōw, “and its substitute.” The rare noun is the hinge: an illicit swap does not transfer holiness — it multiplies it, so the LORD gains both beasts. Gill: the offender “were to be beaten with forty stripes, save one” as well.
יִֽהְיֶה־yih·yeh-. . .H1961
√ hâyâh — to exist, iVerbQalImperfectthird person masculine singular
וְהָֽיָה־wə·hā·yāh-shall becomeH1961
√ hâyâh — to exist, iConjunctive wawVerbQalConjunctive perfectthird person masculine singular
קֹ֖דֶשׁqō·ḏešholyH6944
√ qôdesh — a sacred place or thingNounmasculine singular
לֹ֥אthey cannotH3808
√ lôʼ — not (the simple or absAdverbNegative particle
יִגָּאֵֽל׃yig·gā·’êlbe redeemedH1350
√ gâʼal — to be the next of kin (and as such to buy back a relative's property, marry his widow, etcVerbNifalImperfectthird person masculine singular
yiggā’ēl, “it shall be redeemed” (Niphal, passive, negated). The same root gā’al that opened the buy-back option in v. 31 now closes it: the produce tithe could be redeemed with the fifth, but the living tenth that crossed under the rod cannot. The verb’s arc within the chapter — active redemption permitted (v. 31), then passive redemption forbidden (v. 33) — quietly marks the boundary between what is commutable and what, once made holy, is held by God beyond all price.
34

These are the commandments that the LORD gave to Moses for the Israelites on Mount Sinai.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

’êl·leh ham·miṣ·wōṯ ’ă·šer Yah·weh ’eṯ- ṣiw·wāh mō·šeh ’el- bə·nê yiś·rā·’êl bə·har sî·nāy

Word by word12 · parsed
אֵ֣לֶּה’êl·lehTheseH428
√ ʼêl-leh — these or thosePronouncommon plural
’ēlleh, “these.” The demonstrative gathers the whole book into one closing seal; Pulpit and Benson agree the colophon “has reference to this whole book,” not merely chapter 27.
הַמִּצְוֺ֗תham·miṣ·wōṯare the commandmentsH4687
√ mitsvâh — a command, whether human or divine (collectively, the Law)ArticleNounfeminine plural
ham-miṣwōṯ, “the commandments.” The closing formula matches Leviticus 26:46; Keil & Delitzsch call it “a new concluding formula… by which they are attached to the law given at Sinai.”
אֲשֶׁ֨ר’ă·šerthatH834
√ ʼăsher — who, which, what, thatPronounrelative
יְהוָ֛הYah·wehthe LORDH3068
√ Yᵉhôvâh — Jehovah, Jewish national name of GodNounpropermasculine singular
אֶת־’eṯ-H853
√ ʼêth — properly, self (but generally used to point out more definitely the object of a verb or preposition, even or namely)Direct object marker
צִוָּ֧הṣiw·wāhgaveH6680
√ tsâvâh — (intensively) to constitute, enjoinVerbPielPerfectthird person masculine singular
ṣiwwāh, “commanded.” Piel of ṣāwāh, the verb cognate to miṣwāh — the sentence is self-referential: the commanding-words that He commanded.
מֹשֶׁ֖הmō·šehto MosesH4872
√ Môsheh — Mosheh, the Israelite lawgiverNounpropermasculine singular
mōšeh, “Moses.” The mediator named at the book’s start (Leviticus 1:1) is named again at its close — Leviticus opens and shuts with God speaking to Moses. Henry hears the gospel beyond it: “BLESSED BE GOD FOR JESUS CHRIST.”
אֶל־’el-forH413
√ ʼêl — near, with or amongPreposition
בְּנֵ֣יbə·nêthe IsraelitesH1121
√ bên — a son (as a builder of the family name), in the widest sense (of literal and figurative relationship, including grandson, subject, nation, quality or condition, etcNounmasculine plural construct
יִשְׂרָאֵ֑לyiś·rā·’êl. . .H3478
√ Yisrâʼêl — Jisrael, a symbolical name of JacobNounpropermasculine singular
בְּהַ֖רbə·haron MountH2022
√ har — a mountain or range of hills (sometimes used figuratively)Preposition-bNounmasculine singular construct
bə-har Sînāy, “on Mount Sinai.” The geographic anchor: this law is not free-floating ethic but covenant stipulation, sworn at the mountain of fire (cf. Hebrews 12:18).
סִינָֽי׃sî·nāySinaiH5514
√ Çîynay — Sinai, mountain of ArabiaNounproperfeminine singular

The verse-by-verse work is done. What follows gathers the whole unit. All three layers below are machine-generated (⚙). Weigh them; they have no authority.

Grand Commentary — the unit, read whole

synthesis · verify

AI synthesis — woven from the public-domain voices above and the original text; generated and fallible.

i. The tenth was never the giver’s to keep — 30–31

The chapter on vows ends where vows cannot reach. Charles Ellicott states the governing logic: the tithe, “like the firstborn of Animals… already belong[s] to God by another statute. A man, therefore, cannot vow to God what is not his own.” The Hebrew says it without a verb — la-YHWH hū, “to-YHWH it [is]” — and then names it qōḏeš, not the adjective “holy” but the noun holiness, a sacred thing in the same class as the altar. Jamieson, Fausset & Brown draw out the relationship the word encodes: the tithe “was a yearly rent which the Israelites, as tenants, paid to God, the owner of the land.” Tenancy, not charity. And so redemption (v. 31) carries a deterrent fifth: as John Gill reckons it, “supposing the tithe was worth fifty shillings, then he gave that, and ten shillings more” — the Geneva margin specifying it is added “besides the value of the thing itself.” You may buy back the produce, but you will always overpay for what was God’s to begin with.

ii. Under the rod — chosen by the count, not the eye — 32–33

The animal tithe (v. 32) is, Cambridge notes, “a fresh demand, found nowhere else in O.T. except 2 Chronicles 31:6” — the chapter’s own contribution to the law. Its mechanism is vivid. Keil & Delitzsch explain “whatsoever passeth under the rod” from “the custom of numbering the flocks by driving the animals one by one past the shepherd, who counted them with a rod.” The rabbinic detail Ellicott preserves makes the holiness blind to quality: the tenth to emerge “whether it be male or female, whether it be perfect or blemished, he marks… with a red mark, and says, ‘This is the tithe.’” Hence v. 33’s prohibition: yəḇaqqēr, the owner “is not to pick out the good ones from the bad” (Ellicott), and an illicit swap, the rare word təmûrāh, only doubles the loss — Keil & Delitzsch: “the tenth animal was to be holy as well as the one for which it was exchanged, and could not be redeemed.” Sanctity is assigned by position in the count, immune to human grading.

iii. The colophon: all of it, sworn at the mountain — 34

The book closes as it opened — God speaking to Moses. Keil & Delitzsch read v. 34 as “a new concluding formula (see Leviticus 26:46), by which they are attached to the law given at Sinai”; Benson and the Pulpit Commentary agree the verse “has reference to the whole book.” The Hebrew is self-referential — ham-miṣwōṯ ’ăšer ṣiwwāh, “the commandments that He commanded,” noun and verb from one root — and roots the entire code in bə-har Sînāy, the covenant mountain. Yet the public-domain voices refuse to leave it as cold statute. Jamieson, Fausset & Brown call the ceremonial law “a schoolmaster to Christ” (Galatians 3:24); Matthew Henry turns the last page toward “the knowledge of Christ and him crucified,” ending — beyond our excerpt — “BLESSED BE GOD FOR JESUS CHRIST.”

Read under Sola Scriptura — this tool’s own fallible reading (⚙)

A fallible reading, offered to be tested. Read whole, these five verses make one claim against the human heart: the tenth was holy before the worshipper decided anything about it. It is qōḏeš in the field, qōḏeš under the rod — not made sacred by the act of giving, but already God’s and merely acknowledged. That is why it cannot be vowed (you cannot dedicate what is not yours), why redemption costs a punitive fifth, and why the living tenth cannot be bought back at all. The whole apparatus is built to strip choice out of the holy: no sorting good from bad, no swapping, no eye for advantage — the rod counts, and the tenth that crosses is the LORD’s, blemished or perfect. The instinct the law fights is the universal one — to give God the leftover, the lean, the manageable. Scripture answers it by declaring the portion holy before the hand can curate it. Whether this generalizes into a doctrine of proportion for the church (the firstfruits principle of 1 Corinthians 16:2, named by JFB and the Pulpit) or remains a tenancy-rent peculiar to the land of Israel is exactly the line the commentators dispute — and exactly what the reader must weigh against the whole counsel of Scripture, not assume from a single verse.

The tenth is not made holy by giving; it is confessed holy by giving back.

Canonical Threads — out to the whole of Scripture

cross-refs · verify

AI-generated connections. Each carries a verification badge with a recorded basis; contested links are flagged.

The substituted beast — both become holy verbal / quotation — confirmed

The animal-tithe ban on exchange (v. 33) restates the vow-law of Leviticus 27:10 almost word for word: no swap good-for-bad, and if one swaps, “both it and the change thereof shall be holy.” The link is lexical, not merely thematic — they share the rare noun təmûrāh (“substitute,” only 6 verses in the OT) and its verb mûr (10 verses), plus qōḏeš and the good/bad pair ṭōwḇ/raʻ. The Verifier rates the rarity of təmûrāh high enough to call this a confirmed verbal echo.

Leviticus 27:10 · Leviticus 27:33

basis: shared rare lexeme H8545 tᵉmûwrâh (only 6 vv) and H4171 mûwr (10 vv), with H6944 qôdesh and the ṭôwḇ/raʻ pair (H2896/H7451) — Verifier-confirmed verbal link (Hebrew↔Hebrew)

I will cause you to pass under the rod structural / thematic — confirmed

Ellicott, Benson, Poole, Cambridge and Keil & Delitzsch all read “passeth under the rod” (v. 32) against Ezekiel 20:37, where the LORD says, “I will cause you to pass under the rod, and I will bring you into the bond of the covenant.” The image of the tithe-count becomes an image of God claiming His people. The Verifier finds the shared vocabulary — šēḇeṭ (rod), tachaṯ (under), ʻāḇar (pass over) — but these are common words, so the connection is rated structural/thematic, an echo of motif rather than a quotation.

Leviticus 27:32 · Ezekiel 20:37

basis: shared lexemes H7626 shêbeṭ (178 vv), H8478 tachath (450 vv), H5674 ʻâbar (492 vv) — all common, so the shared imagery is a thematic motif, not a verbal quotation; named by Ellicott, Benson, Poole, Cambridge, K&D

Hezekiah’s heaps — the only other animal tithe structural / thematic — confirmed

Cambridge flags that the livestock tithe of v. 32 appears nowhere else in the Old Testament except 2 Chronicles 31:6, where Hezekiah’s reform brings in “the tithe of oxen and sheep, and the tithe of holy things which were consecrated unto the LORD.” That single later instance is the historical realization of this command, and the verbal contact is unusually full: the Verifier finds 2 Chronicles 31:6 reproduces nearly the whole construct chain of Leviticus 27:32 — maʻăśar (tithe), bāqār (herd), tsō’n (flock) and qōḏeš (holy). Yet every one of these is a common cult-and-agriculture term, so even four shared lexemes do not amount to a quotation; the Chronicler is describing the law being kept, not citing it. We therefore tier this structural/thematic — but as a strong, multi-word echo, not a thin one.

Leviticus 27:32 · 2 Chronicles 31:6

basis: shared lexemes H4643 maʻăsêr (27 vv), H1241 bâqâr (172 vv), H6629 tsôʼn (247 vv) and H6944 qôdesh (382 vv) — the whole herd-and-flock-tithe construct of Lev 27:32 recurs, but all are common terms, so this is the historical realization of the law (per Cambridge), structural rather than a quotation

The tithe assigned to Levi structural / thematic — confirmed

Why this tithe is the LORD’s, and what becomes of it, is supplied by Numbers 18:21 — “I have given the children of Levi all the tenth in Israel for an inheritance.” The Pulpit Commentary, Keil & Delitzsch and Gill all route Leviticus 27:30–32 forward to this Levitical appropriation. The shared word is maʻăśar (tithe), of moderate frequency; the link is the law and its administration, so it is structural, not a quotation.

Leviticus 27:30 · Numbers 18:21 · Deuteronomy 14:23

basis: shared lexeme H4643 maʻăsêr (27 vv) across the tithe-legislation cluster (Num 18; Deut 14) — the administrative complement to Lev 27, structural/thematic, not verbal quotation

The shepherd who passes His own flock under the rod structural / thematic — confirmed

The counting-rod of v. 32 sits inside the Old Testament’s wider pastoral vocabulary. Ezekiel 34 turns the same shepherd-and-flock imagery against Israel’s false shepherds and toward the LORD as the true Shepherd: “I, even I, will both search my sheep (tsō’n), and seek them out… I will feed them upon the mountains of Israel.” The shared word is tsō’n (“flock,” 247 vv) — a common term, so this is an imagery-level kinship, not a quotation: the rod that counts the tithe-animal in Leviticus and the rod/staff that gathers the flock in Ezekiel 34 (and Psalm 23:4; Micah 7:14) belong to one pastoral world. The Verifier rates it structural/thematic. This is the textual footing for the Good-Shepherd typology developed in the Christ section — held there as figure, not as the plain sense of this law.

Leviticus 27:32 · Ezekiel 34:11 · Psalm 23:4

basis: shared lexeme H6629 tsôʼn (247 vv) with Ezekiel 34:11 — a common pastoral term, so shared shepherd-and-flock imagery (rod, counting, gathering), not a verbal quotation; the OT footing for the Good-Shepherd figure

Older than Sinai — Abraham and Jacob flagged — verify source

Keil & Delitzsch, the Pulpit Commentary and JFB all insist the tithe is “introduced as something well known” — Abraham gave a tenth to Melchizedek (Genesis 14:20) and Jacob vowed the tenth at Bethel (Genesis 28:22), so “the practice of the payment of tithes was not of Mosaic institution, but immemorial.” The Verifier confirms a shared maʻăśar with Genesis 14:20 (a real verbal point of contact), but Genesis 28:22 uses different vocabulary for “tenth” and shares no indexed lexeme — so the much-cited Jacob link is flagged: it rests on the commentators’ argument, not on the words.

Genesis 14:20 · Genesis 28:22 · Leviticus 27:30

basis: Genesis 14:20 shares H4643 maʻăsêr (structural); Genesis 28:22 shares NO indexed original-language lexeme with Lev 27:30 — the patriarchal-precedent claim is the commentators’ (K&D, Pulpit, JFB), asserted thematically, so flagged for verification

Christ in the Unittypology · verify

AI-generated reading; weigh it against the text.

The greater tithe and the priest who does not die ancient/widely-held

⚙ The New Testament’s one sustained meditation on the tithe (Hebrews 7:1–10) reaches back past this law to Abraham’s tenth to Melchizedek — arguing that Levi, who would one day receive tithes under Leviticus 27:30–32 and Numbers 18:21, himself paid them in Abraham, and so confessed a greater priesthood. The point of the figure is supersession: the Levitical tithe-order serves “a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek,” a priest “who does not die.” This is an ancient, widely-held typology, but note the honest limit: Hebrews is Greek and Leviticus is Hebrew, so there is and can be no shared Strong’s lexeme — the connection is figural and argued by the epistle itself, never a verbal quotation of this verse.

Leviticus 27:30 · Genesis 14:20 · Hebrews 7:1-10

The unblemished tenth that passes under the rod widely-held

⚙ The fathers and the Puritan voices read the tithe-animal — the tenth that passes under the rod, taken without choosing good from bad, that cannot be redeemed (v. 33) — as a faint figure of the One who is Himself the irredeemable offering: the Lamb chosen and set apart, who passes under the rod of judgment in His people’s place. The shepherd-rod vocabulary of v. 32 (Psalm 23:4; Ezekiel 34; Zechariah 11:7) draws the Good Shepherd into view. Matthew Henry, closing Leviticus, makes the move explicit: the whole code is “cleared by the knowledge of Christ and him crucified.” This is a typological reading — devotional and cross-Testament, resting on motif (the set-apart tenth, the rod, the impossibility of buy-back) rather than on any shared word; it should be held as edifying figure, not as the verse’s plain sense.

Leviticus 27:32 · Leviticus 27:33 · Psalm 23:4 · John 10:11

From the smoke of sacrifice to the worship in spirit ancient/widely-held

⚙ The colophon (v. 34) seals “all the commandments… at Mount Sinai,” and the commentators turn at once to the gospel: JFB calls the whole ceremonial system “a schoolmaster to Christ” (Galatians 3:24); Matthew Henry and Benson read Leviticus closing toward worship “in spirit and in truth, by Christ only.” The fulfillment claim is the New Testament’s own (Romans 10:4; Hebrews 4:2; 12:18, all cited by JFB) — the Sinai law is not abolished into nothing but completed in the Mediator. This is the widely-held reading of Leviticus’ end, argued from the NT and named by the public-domain voices, not invented here.

Leviticus 27:34 · Galatians 3:24 · Romans 10:4 · Hebrews 12:18

Apparatus & Provenance

The biblical text is the Berean Standard Bible (BSB), public domain (CC0). Hebrew/Greek text, transliteration, morphology and Strong’s are transcribed from the Berean interlinear (CC0) + Strong’s lexicons (PD); the literal renderings, divergence notes, word notes and all synthesis are this tool’s own work (⚙) — fallible; verify them.

Named voices, quoted verbatim from public-domain works:

  • Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges, (1880s)
  • Charles Ellicott, Commentary for English Readers (1878)
  • Geneva Study Bible, Marginal Notes (1599)
  • Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory (1871)
  • John Gill, Exposition of the Entire Bible (1746–63)
  • Joseph Benson, Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1810s)
  • Keil & Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament (1860s)
  • Matthew Henry, Concise Commentary on the Whole Bible (1706)
  • Matthew Poole, Annotations upon the Holy Bible (1685)
  • The Pulpit Commentary, Spence & Exell, eds. (1880s)

Honesty notes for this unit. (1) Several Bible-Hub entries are misaligned at the source: Barnes’ note printed under 27:33 and 27:34, and Keil & Delitzsch’s note under 27:31, 27:33 and 27:34, are not comments on those verses — Barnes’ is his note on the cherem (devoted thing) / “passeth under the rod,” and K&D’s is the running comment on 27:30–34. We have only quoted material under the verse it actually treats, and have not used the Barnes-on-cherem block at all here because it concerns vv. 28–29, outside this unit. (2) Matthew Poole and the Geneva Bible supply “No text… on this verse” or bare lemma-only entries for 27:31, 27:33 and 27:34; those non-comments were excluded, which is why some verses draw on fewer than the full author roster. (3) The most-repeated cross-reference in the commentaries — Jacob’s vow at Bethel (Genesis 28:22) — does not share an indexed original-language lexeme with Leviticus 27:30; the Hebrew there uses a different construction for “a tenth.” We have therefore flagged that thread rather than asserting it, even though K&D, JFB and the Pulpit all cite it confidently. (4) The Hebrews 7 / Melchizedek typology and the colophon’s gospel reading are cross-Testament (Greek↔Hebrew): by rule they cannot be tiered “verbal,” and we have marked them typological/widely-held, resting on the New Testament’s own argument. (5) The ⚙ literal renderings, divergence notes and word-notes are machine synthesis built on the supplied Berean/Strong’s parses; where the parse and our reading could differ (e.g., qōḏeš as noun vs. adjective) we have followed the morphology given and flagged the nuance, not overruled the source. (6) The Good-Shepherd typology in the Christ section now has a tiered thread behind it (Leviticus 27:32 ↔ Ezekiel 34:11, shared tsō’n): the Verifier confirms only a common-word imagery link, so the typology rests on motif, not on a rare lexeme, and is held as figure. (7) The 2 Chronicles 31:6 thread shares four lexemes with v. 32, not two as a first pass suggested — the fuller herd-and-flock-tithe construct recurs — but all four are common terms, so the tier remains structural, now with the stronger basis recorded.

= human, public-domain source, quoted and named. = machine synthesis, to be verified. Flagged cross-references are left visible on purpose — the verifier working in the open. “Search the Scriptures daily, whether those things were so.” (Acts 17:11)