When thou hast made an end of tithing all the tithes of thine increase the third year, which is the year of tithing, and hast given it unto the Levite, the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, that they may eat within thy gates, and be filled;
When thou hast made an end of tithing ... the third year - (see the notes at Deuteronomy 12:17; Deuteronomy 14:22; Deuteronomy 14:28.) Among the Hebrews there were two tithings. The first was appropriated to the Levites (Numbers 18:21); the second, being the tenth of what remained, was brought to Jerusalem in kind; or if that was found inconvenient, it was converted into money, and the owner, on arriving in the capital, purchased sheep, bread, and oil, which afforded a feast to his family and the Levites (Deuteronomy 14:22-23). This was done for two years together. But this second tithing was eaten at home; and lest the poor-law provisions during the harvest (Deuteronomy 24:10) should not be sufficient, it was distributed among the poor, "the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow" of the place, at discretion.