Verse Lens · Expanded explanation

Nehemiah 10:38 Explained in Context

Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.

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Verse 38. And the priest the son of Aaron shall be with the Levites, when the Levites take tithes: and the Levites shall bring up the tithe of the tithes unto the house of our God, to the chambers, into the treasure house.

King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions

Quick Meaning

This verse requires Aaronide priestly oversight when Levites collect and transfer the tithe of tithes.

A third of a shekel and a wood lot underwrite the house

This verse is one part of that explanation in Nehemiah 10:32–10:39. The complete section carries the connected meaning and how it should shape life.

Read It With

  • Nehemiah 10:32–10:39

Read Nehemiah 10:32–10:39 together. This verse requires Aaronide priestly oversight when Levites collect and transfer the tithe of tithes. Read Nehemiah 10:32–10:39 as one complete scene: The community accepts recurring contributions and organized delivery of wood, produce, firstborn offerings, tithes, and distributions so temple service will not be abandoned.

Why This Verse Appears Here

The annual contribution, wood lot, first produce, firstborn rules, tithes, supervised storage, and closing pledge form one institutional support plan. Its placement advances the book. Worship is sustained through specified goods, locations, personnel, oversight, and shared responsibility rather than sentiment alone. Within that movement, this verse requires Aaronide priestly oversight when Levites collect and transfer the tithe of tithes.

Read Nehemiah 10:32–39 together

Why these verses belong together: The annual contribution, wood lot, first produce, firstborn rules, tithes, supervised storage, and closing pledge form one institutional support plan.

Verse 32. Also we made ordinances for us, to charge ourselves yearly with the third part of a shekel for the service of the house of our God;

Verse 33. For the shewbread, and for the continual meat offering, and for the continual burnt offering, of the sabbaths, of the new moons, for the set feasts, and for the holy things, and for the sin offerings to make an atonement for Israel, and for all the work of the house of our God.

Verse 34. And we cast the lots among the priests, the Levites, and the people, for the wood offering, to bring it into the house of our God, after the houses of our fathers, at times appointed year by year, to burn upon the altar of the LORD our God, as it is written in the law:

Verse 35. And to bring the firstfruits of our ground, and the firstfruits of all fruit of all trees, year by year, unto the house of the LORD:

Verse 36. Also the firstborn of our sons, and of our cattle, as it is written in the law, and the firstlings of our herds and of our flocks, to bring to the house of our God, unto the priests that minister in the house of our God:

Verse 37. And that we should bring the firstfruits of our dough, and our offerings, and the fruit of all manner of trees, of wine and of oil, unto the priests, to the chambers of the house of our God; and the tithes of our ground unto the Levites, that the same Levites might have the tithes in all the cities of our tillage.

Verse 38. And the priest the son of Aaron shall be with the Levites, when the Levites take tithes: and the Levites shall bring up the tithe of the tithes unto the house of our God, to the chambers, into the treasure house.

Verse 39. For the children of Israel and the children of Levi shall bring the offering of the corn, of the new wine, and the oil, unto the chambers, where are the vessels of the sanctuary, and the priests that minister, and the porters, and the singers: and we will not forsake the house of our God.

Follow the Context

  1. The community accepts recurring contributions and organized delivery of wood, produce, firstborn offerings, tithes, and distributions so temple service will not be abandoned.
  2. Worship is sustained through specified goods, locations, personnel, oversight, and shared responsibility rather than sentiment alone.

What This Verse Is Not Saying

Nehemiah 10:38 does not reduce its distinct role—requires Aaronide priestly oversight when Levites collect and transfer the tithe of tithes—to a standalone claim or rule; read it within Nehemiah 10:32–10:39. These contributions do not authorize manipulative fundraising, invented modern percentages, neglect of household needs, or unaccountable religious wealth.

What Remains True

Within Nehemiah 10:32–10:39, Nehemiah 10:38 requires Aaronide priestly oversight when Levites collect and transfer the tithe of tithes. Institutions that serve communal worship need transparent, proportionate, supervised provision.

Teach It Back

Explain Nehemiah 10:38's precise role in Nehemiah 10:32–10:39. Include the first historical horizon, the surrounding verses, one person or cost that could be obscured, material uncertainty, and one conclusion this verse does not authorize.

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Continue in Context

Read the complete section for the connected explanation and how it should shape life. This verse is a doorway into that passage, not a saying that stands alone.

Read Nehemiah 10:32–10:39 — Temple commitments specify shared material support
Sources used for this Verse Lens

How certain is this explanation? probable

Where care is needed

The relation among the third-shekel levy, Pentateuchal taxes, and later practice is debated; exact modern equivalents are inappropriate.

These are the sources used directly for this lens. Language, grammar, disagreements, and the complete source shelf remain attached to the full thought-unit research record.

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: Nehemiah 10:32–10:39, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM corpus

Open source ↗

hebrew text and morphology

Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible: Nehemiah

Open Scriptures

Open Scriptures, release 2.2

Supports: Hebrew wording, morphology, clause relationships, repeated roots, Persian titles, names, and translation controls.

Exact location: Open Scriptures MorphHB v.2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Neh.xml, Masoretic words and morphology for 10:32–10:39

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translation and translator notes

NET Bible: Nehemiah with translators' notes

Biblical Studies Press

Biblical Studies Press, 2006

Supports: A unit-bounded KJV comparison plus only the lexical, grammatical, textual, historical, literary, or older-English notes actually printed for these verses; silence in the notes is not treated as positive evidence.

Exact location: NET Bible Nehemiah PDF, printed pp. 775–776, translation text and any translator notes printed for 10:32–10:39

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