Thou shalt truly tithe all the increase of thy seed, that the field bringeth forth year by year.
Thou shalt truly tithe all the increase of thy seed. The dedication of a tenth part of the year's produce in everything was then a religious duty (see the notes at Deuteronomy 12:17; Deuteronomy 26:12). It was to be brought as an offering to the sanctuary; and where distance prevented its being taken in kind, it was by this statute convertible into money, with which, on arrival in the city of solemnities, the materials of a private sacrifice or free-will offering were purchased. It is spoken of here entirely as the voluntary act of the people (cf. Amos 4:4), whereas the first tithes were the legal dues of the Levites (see the notes at Numbers 10:10; Numbers 18:26; Nehemiah 10:38).