Section 37 of 12014:22–29Deuteronomy

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King James VersionDeuteronomy 14:22–29

Thou shalt truly tithe all the increase of thy seed, that the field bringeth forth year by year.

And thou shalt eat before the LORD thy God, in the place which he shall choose to place his name there, the tithe of thy corn, of thy wine, and of thine oil, and the firstlings of thy herds and of thy flocks; that thou mayest learn to fear the LORD thy God always.

And if the way be too long for thee, so that thou art not able to carry it; or if the place be too far from thee, which the LORD thy God shall choose to set his name there, when the LORD thy God hath blessed thee:

Then shalt thou turn it into money, and bind up the money in thine hand, and shalt go unto the place which the LORD thy God shall choose:

And thou shalt bestow that money for whatsoever thy soul lusteth after, for oxen, or for sheep, or for wine, or for strong drink, or for whatsoever thy soul desireth: and thou shalt eat there before the LORD thy God, and thou shalt rejoice, thou, and thine household,

And the Levite that is within thy gates; thou shalt not forsake him; for he hath no part nor inheritance with thee.

At the end of three years thou shalt bring forth all the tithe of thine increase the same year, and shalt lay it up within thy gates:

And the Levite, (because he hath no part nor inheritance with thee,) and the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow, which are within thy gates, shall come, and shall eat and be satisfied; that the LORD thy God may bless thee in all the work of thine hand which thou doest.

Italic words were supplied in the English translation for clarity.

Scripture text: King James Version, Standardized 1769 text. Public domain in the United States.About this Bible text

Deuteronomy 14:22–29

Tithes Produce Rejoicing and Feed the Vulnerable

Year by year the tithe is eaten as worship

Israel is to tithe the field's increase and eat corn, wine, oil, and firstlings before the LORD at the chosen place, in order to learn fear always. If the way is too long and the place too far, the tithe becomes money carried in the hand. That money may be spent on cattle, sheep, wine, strong drink, or whatever is desired, and eaten there with household joy. Distance receives a practical mercy. The feast is still at the place the LORD chooses, not a private levy for leaders.

The third year stores food inside the gates

Every third year the whole tithe is laid up locally. Levite, stranger, fatherless, and widow come and eat and are satisfied. The landless Levite is named twice so he will not be forgotten. Tithing here is celebration plus audited provision. It does not purchase blessing, enrich unaccountable officials, or replace public justice for people in poverty.

How this should shape us

Build giving that can become a shared meal and, in its season, a local store the vulnerable can actually eat. Do not let religious collection replace that satisfaction.

Teach it back

Explain Deuteronomy 14:22–29 in your own words. Include its place in Moses' speeches or the final narrative, both movements, one material uncertainty, one affected person or group, and one use the complete context rules out.

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Go deeper

The explanation above is meant to stand on its own. Open these notes only if you want language, history, disagreements, or source locations.

Where careful interpreters disagreeThe strongest options and their difficulties

Where do careful interpreters disagree?

Best judgment: Interpreters disagree about the composition, date, Mosaic presentation, final-form role, legal relationship, rhetoric, history, and reception of “Tithes Produce Rejoicing and Feed the Vulnerable.” Confidence is strongest in the received unit's movement summarized here; historical and source-critical reconstructions remain probable, plausible, or uncertain as the evidence warrants.

How certain? probable

Research trail and exact locationsThe source record behind this section

King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006

Supports: Exact reader-facing KJV wording, paragraph metadata, supplied-word markup, and complete verse coverage for this thought unit.

Deuteronomy 14:22–29, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM corpus

Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible: Deuteronomy

Supports: Hebrew wording, morphology, names, speech and legal clauses, poetic lines, older-English controls, and translation limits.

Open Scriptures MorphHB v.2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Deut.xml, Masoretic words and morphology for 14:22–29

NET Bible: Deuteronomy with translators' notes

Supports: Unit-bounded translation, syntax, lexical, legal, poetic, measure, name, and selected textual notes; silence is not evidence.

NET Bible Deuteronomy PDF, complete PDF pp. 1–111, translation and translator notes attached to 14:22–29

Deuteronomy Part 1: Law, Reform, and Historical Setting

Supports: Concise critical framing of Deuteronomy's law collection, historical setting, relationship to other Torah laws, centralization, and moral tensions.

Yale Bible Study, 'Deuteronomy Part 1,' complete two-page PDF and linked lesson sections on law, legal collections, reform, centralization, and ethics, applied to Deuteronomy 14:22–29

The Place of Deuteronomy in the Formation of the Pentateuch

Supports: A current debate map only; no unexposed chapter argument is attributed.

Schmid, Oxford Handbook chapter (2020), official abstract and six-question scope: Pentateuchal setting, reworked Tetrateuch, layers, date, covenant and treaty, and Deuteronomism

Deuteronomy: The First Torah

Supports: Mosaic speech presentation, self-referential Torah language, final-form function, and one model of earlier independent literary life.

Glatt-Gilad, 'Deuteronomy: The First Torah,' complete article sections on speeches, Torah self-reference, law differences, and Joshua-Kings reception; applied to Deuteronomy 14:22–29

Gleanings for the Poor: Justice, Not Charity

Supports: Concrete poor-person access, restricted owner agency, release, wages, pledges, gleaning, and later Jewish interpretation.

Gardner, 'Gleanings for the Poor,' complete sections on Deuteronomy 14, 15, 24, and 26, debt, tithes, harvest access, and rabbinic property-right development; applied to Deuteronomy 14:22–29

How the Jerusalem Temple Was Chosen as the Only Place of Worship

Supports: Cult centralization, the law collection's opening, the Torah's unnamed place, and one historical reconstruction of later Jerusalem identification.

Glatt-Gilad, 'How the Jerusalem Temple Was Chosen,' complete sections on Deuteronomy 12, the unnamed chosen place, Shiloh, Solomon, and Josianic centralization; applied to Deuteronomy 14:22–29

Sources for This Section

These records identify the source, the claim it supports, and the exact location used. A source remains evidence to evaluate; it does not replace the biblical text.

Biblical text

King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006

eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society

USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.

Supports: Exact reader-facing KJV wording, paragraph metadata, supplied-word markup, and complete verse coverage for this thought unit.

Exact location: Deuteronomy 14:22–29, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM corpus

Open source ↗

hebrew text and morphology

Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible: Deuteronomy

Open Scriptures

Open Scriptures, release 2.2

Supports: Hebrew wording, morphology, names, speech and legal clauses, poetic lines, older-English controls, and translation limits.

Exact location: Open Scriptures MorphHB v.2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Deut.xml, Masoretic words and morphology for 14:22–29

Open source ↗

translation and translator notes

NET Bible: Deuteronomy with translators' notes

Biblical Studies Press

eBible.org distribution of the NET Bible, PDF generated 2026-08-12

Supports: Unit-bounded translation, syntax, lexical, legal, poetic, measure, name, and selected textual notes; silence is not evidence.

Exact location: NET Bible Deuteronomy PDF, complete PDF pp. 1–111, translation and translator notes attached to 14:22–29

Open source ↗

modern critical open study guide

Deuteronomy Part 1: Law, Reform, and Historical Setting

Joel S. Baden and Yale Bible Study

Yale Divinity School, 2023 course edition

Supports: Concise critical framing of Deuteronomy's law collection, historical setting, relationship to other Torah laws, centralization, and moral tensions.

Exact location: Yale Bible Study, 'Deuteronomy Part 1,' complete two-page PDF and linked lesson sections on law, legal collections, reform, centralization, and ethics, applied to Deuteronomy 14:22–29

Open source ↗

modern scholarly handbook chapter abstract

The Place of Deuteronomy in the Formation of the Pentateuch

Konrad Schmid

The Oxford Handbook of the Pentateuch, Oxford University Press, 2020

Supports: A current debate map only; no unexposed chapter argument is attributed.

Exact location: Schmid, Oxford Handbook chapter (2020), official abstract and six-question scope: Pentateuchal setting, reworked Tetrateuch, layers, date, covenant and treaty, and Deuteronomism

Open source ↗

modern jewish scholarly open composition study

Deuteronomy: The First Torah

David A. Glatt-Gilad

TheTorah.com, 2015

Supports: Mosaic speech presentation, self-referential Torah language, final-form function, and one model of earlier independent literary life.

Exact location: Glatt-Gilad, 'Deuteronomy: The First Torah,' complete article sections on speeches, Torah self-reference, law differences, and Joshua-Kings reception; applied to Deuteronomy 14:22–29

Open source ↗

modern jewish scholarly open poverty and reception study

Gleanings for the Poor: Justice, Not Charity

Gregg E. Gardner

TheTorah.com, 2018

Supports: Concrete poor-person access, restricted owner agency, release, wages, pledges, gleaning, and later Jewish interpretation.

Exact location: Gardner, 'Gleanings for the Poor,' complete sections on Deuteronomy 14, 15, 24, and 26, debt, tithes, harvest access, and rabbinic property-right development; applied to Deuteronomy 14:22–29

Open source ↗

modern jewish scholarly open centralization study

How the Jerusalem Temple Was Chosen as the Only Place of Worship

David A. Glatt-Gilad

TheTorah.com, 2017

Supports: Cult centralization, the law collection's opening, the Torah's unnamed place, and one historical reconstruction of later Jerusalem identification.

Exact location: Glatt-Gilad, 'How the Jerusalem Temple Was Chosen,' complete sections on Deuteronomy 12, the unnamed chosen place, Shiloh, Solomon, and Josianic centralization; applied to Deuteronomy 14:22–29

Open source ↗

Deuteronomy 14:22–29, King James Version

Year by year the tithe is eaten as worship

The third year stores food inside the gates

How this should shape us

Teach it back

Go deeper

Where do careful interpreters disagree?

King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006

Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible: Deuteronomy

NET Bible: Deuteronomy with translators' notes

Deuteronomy Part 1: Law, Reform, and Historical Setting

The Place of Deuteronomy in the Formation of the Pentateuch

Deuteronomy: The First Torah

Gleanings for the Poor: Justice, Not Charity

How the Jerusalem Temple Was Chosen as the Only Place of Worship