12 and ye have rejoiced before Jehovah your God, ye, and your sons, and your daughters, and your men-servants, and your handmaids, and the Levite who `is' within your gates, for he hath no part and inheritance with you.
and ye have eaten there before Jehovah your God, and have rejoiced in every putting forth of your hand, ye and your households, with which Jehovah thy God hath blessed thee.
`When thou dost complete to tithe all the tithe of thine increase in the third year, the year of the tithe, then thou hast given to the Levite, to the sojourner, to the fatherless, and to the widow, and they have eaten within thy gates, and been satisfied,
And Jehovah saith unto Aaron, `In their land thou dost not inherit, and a portion thou hast not in their midst: I `am' thy portion, and thine inheritance in the midst of the sons of Israel;
and 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 rejoice doth Hezekiah and all the people, because of God's giving preparation to the people, for the thing hath been suddenly.
that which we have seen and heard declare we to you, that ye also may have fellowship with us, and our fellowship `is' with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ; and these things we write to you, that your joy may be full.
A Psalm of Thanksgiving. Shout to Jehovah, all the earth. Serve Jehovah with joy, come before him with singing.
And he saith to them, `Go, eat fat things, and drink sweet things, and sent portions to him for whom nothing is prepared, for to-day `is' holy to our Lord, and be not grieved, for the joy of Jehovah is your strength.' And the Levites are keeping all the people silent, saying, `Be silent, for to-day `is' holy, and be not grieved.' And all the people go to eat, and to drink, and to send portions, and to make great joy, because they have understood concerning the words that they made known to them.
And the sons of Israel, those found in Jerusalem, make the feast of unleavened things seven days with great joy; and giving praise to Jehovah day by day are the Levites and the priests, with instruments of praise before Jehovah. And Hezekiah speaketh unto the heart of all the Levites, those giving good understanding concerning Jehovah, and they eat the appointed thing seven days; sacrificing sacrifices of peace-offerings, and making confession to Jehovah, God of their fathers. And all the assembly take counsel to keep other seven days, and they keep seven days `with' joy; for Hezekiah king of Judah hath presented to the assembly a thousand bullocks, and seven thousand sheep; and the heads have presented to the assembly bullocks a thousand, and sheep ten thousand; and priests sanctify themselves in abundance. And all the assembly of Judah rejoice, and the priests, and the Levites, and all the assembly, those coming in from Israel, and the sojourners, those coming in from the land of Israel, and those dwelling in Judah, and there is great joy in Jerusalem; for from the days of Solomon son of David king of Israel there is not like this in Jerusalem,
On the eighth day he hath sent the people away, and they bless the king, and go to their tents, rejoicing and glad of heart for all the good that Jehovah hath done to David His servant, and to Israel His people.
for the sons of Joseph hath been two tribes, Manasseh and Ephraim, and they have not given a portion to the Levites in the land, except cities to dwell in, and their suburbs for their cattle, and for their possessions;
Only, to the tribe of Levi he hath not given an inheritance; fire-offerings of Jehovah, God of Israel, is its inheritance, as He hath spoken to it.
and the Levites have done the service of the tent of meeting, and they -- they bear their iniquity; a statute age-during to your generations, that in the midst of the sons of Israel they have no inheritance; but the tithe of the sons of Israel which they lift up to Jehovah, a heave-offering, I have given to the Levites for inheritance; therefore I have said of them, In the midst of the sons of Israel they have no inheritance.'
`And unto the Levites thou dost speak; and thou hast said unto them, When ye take from the sons of Israel the tithe which I have given to you from them, for your inheritance, then ye have lifted up from it the heave-offering of Jehovah, a tithe of the tithe;
`And when the Levite cometh from one of thy cities out of all Israel, where he hath sojourned, and hath come with all the desire of his soul unto the place which Jehovah doth choose,
`There is not to the priests the Levites -- all the tribe of Levi -- a portion and inheritance with Israel; fire-offerings of Jehovah, even His inheritance, they eat, and he hath no inheritance in the midst of his brethren; Jehovah Himself `is' his inheritance, as He hath spoken to him.
And thou hast rejoiced before Jehovah thy God, thou, and thy son, and thy daughter, and thy man-servant, and thy handmaid, and the Levite who `is' within thy gates, and the sojourner, and the fatherless, and the widow, who `are' in thy midst, in the place which Jehovah thy God doth choose to cause His name to tabernacle there,
and 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. As to the Levite who `is' within thy gates, thou dost not forsake him, for he hath no portion and inheritance with thee.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Deuteronomy 12
Commentary on Deuteronomy 12 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 12
Moses at this chapter comes to the particular statues which he had to give in charge to Israel, and he begins with those which relate to the worship of God, and particularly those which explain the second commandment, about which God is in a special manner jealous.
Deu 12:1-4
From those great original truths, That there is a God, and that there is but one God, arise those great fundamental laws, That that God is to be worshipped, and he only, and that therefore we are to have no other God before him: this is the first commandment, and the second is a guard upon it, or a hedge about it. To prevent a revolt to false gods, we are forbidden to worship the true God in such a way and manner as the false gods were worshipped in, and are commanded to observe the instituted ordinances of worship that we may adhere to the proper object of worship. For this reason Moses is very large in his exposition of the second commandment. What is contained in this and the four following chapters mostly refers to that. These are statutes and judgments which they must observe to do (v. 1),
Deu 12:5-32
There is not any one particular precept (as I remember) in all the law of Moses so largely pressed and inculcated as this, by which they are all tied to bring their sacrifices to that one altar which was set up in the court of the tabernacle, and there to perform all the rituals of their religion; for, as to moral services, then, no doubt, as now, men might pray every where, as they did in their synagogues. The command to do this, and the prohibition of the contrary, are here repeated again and again, as we teach children: and yet we are sure that there is in scripture no vain repetition; but all this stress is laid upon it,
Let us now reduce this long charge to its proper heads.