And all the tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land, or of the fruit of the tree, is the LORD's: it is holy unto the LORD.
All the tithe of the land. This law gave the sanction of divine authority to an ancient usage (Genesis 14:20; Genesis 28:22). The whole produce of the land was subjected to the tithe tribute-it was a yearly rent which the Israelites, as tenants, paid to God, the owner of the land, and a thank offering they rendered to Him for the bounties of His providence (see Proverbs 3:9; 1 Corinthians 9:11; Galatians 6:6).
Verse 32. Whatsoever passeth ... This alludes to the mode of taking the tithe of cattle, which were made to pass singly through a narrow gateway, where a person with a rod, tipped in ochre, stood, and counting them, marked the back of every tenth beast, whether male or female, sound or unsound. Tithes which were due under the Levitical priesthood, and were necessary to support the expensive institution of the Mosaic economy, were of great antiquity, (see Genesis 14:1-24). 'The only difference which the laws of Moses produced in these gifts was to make some of them no longer free-will offerings, but regularly appointed payments for the service of religion. Up to the date of the exodus, all unbloody sacrifices were probably made, not in obedience to an express law, but as marks of the worshipper's piety, in positions of great good fortune, or as vows during adversity. But when the service of Yahweh was legally enforced, it became necessary to oblige the people to support it, Many of the previously existing sacrificial gifts became now a kind of tax; while others were added, proper to the new phase of religion and the consecrated ministry of it. The tithes were paid to support the tribe of Levi; and the Lord claimed the first-born of beasts and the first-fruits of the earth' ('Israel after the Flesh,' pp. 38, 39).