2 Chronicles 31:4-10

31:4 He ordered ¹  the people living in Jerusalem ²  to contribute the portion prescribed for the priests and Levites so they might be obedient ³  to the law of the Lord. 31:5 When the edict was issued, ⁴  the Israelites freely contributed ⁵  the initial portion of their grain, wine, olive oil, honey, and all the produce of their fields. They brought a tenth of everything, which added up to a huge amount. 31:6 The Israelites and people of Judah ⁶  who lived in the cities of Judah also contributed a tenth of their cattle and sheep, as well as a tenth of the holy items consecrated to the Lord their God. They brought them and placed them in many heaps. ⁷  31:7 In the third month they began piling their contributions in heaps ⁸  and finished in the seventh month. 31:8 When Hezekiah and the officials came and saw the heaps, they praised the Lord and pronounced blessings on his people Israel. ⁹ 

31:9 When Hezekiah asked the priests and Levites about the heaps, 31:10 Azariah, the head priest from the family of Zadok, said to him, “Since the contributions began arriving in the Lord’s temple, we have had plenty to eat and have a large quantity left over. For the Lord has blessed his people, and this large amount remains.”

Nehemiah 10:33-39

10:33 for the loaves of presentation and for the regular grain offerings and regular burnt offerings, for the Sabbaths, for the new moons, for the appointed meetings, for the holy offerings, for the sin offerings to make atonement for Israel, and for all the work of the temple of our God.

10:34 “We – the priests, the Levites, and the people – have cast lots concerning the wood offerings, to bring them to the temple of our God according to our families ¹⁰  at the designated times year by year to burn on the altar of the LORD our God, as is written in the law. 10:35 We also accept responsibility for ¹¹  bringing the first fruits of our land and the first fruits of every fruit tree year by year to the temple of the LORD. 10:36 We also accept responsibility, as is written in the law, for bringing the firstborn of our sons and our cattle and the firstborn of our herds and of our flocks to the temple of our God, to the priests who are ministering in the temple of our God. 10:37 We will also bring the first of our coarse meal, of our contributions, of the fruit of every tree, of new wine, and of olive oil to the priests at the storerooms of the temple of our God, along with a tenth of the produce ¹²  of our land to the Levites, for the Levites are the ones who collect the tithes in all the cities where we work. ¹³  10:38 A priest of Aaron’s line ¹⁴  will be with the Levites when the Levites collect the tithes, and the Levites will bring up a tenth of the tithes to the temple of our God, to the storerooms of the treasury. 10:39 The Israelites and the Levites will bring the contribution of the grain, the new wine, and the olive oil to the storerooms where the utensils of the sanctuary are kept, and where the priests who minister stay, along with the gatekeepers and the singers. We will not neglect the temple of our God.”

Proverbs 3:9-10

3:9 Honor ¹⁵  the Lord from your wealth

and from the first fruits of all your crops; ¹⁶ 

3:10 then your barns will be filled completely, ¹⁷ 

and your vats ¹⁸  will overflow ¹⁹  with new wine.

¹ tn Heb “said to.”

² map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.

³ tn Heb “might hold firmly.”

⁴ tn Heb “and when the word spread out.”

⁵ tn Heb “the sons of Israel multiplied.”

⁶ tn Heb “and the sons of Israel and Judah.”

⁷ tn Heb “heaps, heaps.” Repetition of the noun draws attention to the large number of heaps.

⁸ tn Heb “they began the heaps, to establish.”

⁹ tn Heb “they blessed the Lord and his people Israel.”

¹⁰ tn Heb “the house of our fathers.”

¹¹ tn The words “we accept responsibility” are not included in the Hebrew text, but are inferred from v. 33 (so also in v. 37).

¹² tn Heb “a tithe of our land.”

¹³ tn Heb “of our work.”

¹⁴ tn Heb “And the priest the son of Aaron.”

¹⁵ tn The imperative כַּבֵּד (kabbed, “honor”) functions as a command, instruction, counsel or exhortation. To honor God means to give him the rightful place of authority by rendering to him gifts of tribute. One way to acknowledge God in one’s ways (v. 6) is to honor him with one’s wealth (v. 9).

¹⁶ tn Heb “produce.” The noun תְּבוּאָה (tÿvu’ah) has a two-fold range of meaning: (1) “product; yield” of the earth (= crops; harvest) and (2) “income; revenue” in general (BDB 100 s.v.). The imagery in vv. 9-10 is agricultural; however, all Israelites – not just farmers – were expected to give the best portion (= first fruits) of their income to Lord.

¹⁷ tn Heb “with plenty” (so KJV, NASB, NRSV); NIV “to overflowing.” The noun שָׂבָע (sava’, “plenty; satiety”) functions as an adverbial accusative of manner or contents: “completely.”

¹⁸ sn This pictures the process of pressing grapes in which the upper receptacle is filled with grapes and the lower one catches the juice. The harvest of grapes will be so plentiful that the lower vat will overflow with grape juice. The pictures in v. 10 are metonymies of effect for cause (= the great harvest that God will provide when they honor him).

¹⁹ tn Heb “burst open.” The verb פָּרַץ (parats, “to burst open”) functions as hyperbole here to emphasize the fullness of the wine vats (BDB 829 s.v. 9).