What Does Deuteronomy 26:12 Mean in the King James?
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;
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
The tithe reaches its measure when the people at the gate are filled.
THE MEANING
The increase in your hands becomes food for the Levite, the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow within your gates. They eat and are filled, so provision reaches its purpose when the people at the edges are satisfied.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that what is set apart for God is removed from ordinary needs: here, the set-apart portion becomes food for hungry people.
THE ROOT
וְשָׂבֵעוּ
veśāveʿū
GROWS FROM
שׂבע
ś-b-ʿ
To be sated or satisfied; to have enough.
“filled” in this verse is veśāveʿū. The Hebrew moves from food to the state that food is meant to create: being full and satisfied. The same verb appears in Deuteronomy 14:29, making satiety the stated endpoint of this provision.
ALSO GROWS
śāvēaʿ: Sated, satisfied
שָׂבֵעַ
This describes the people’s condition after they eat, not merely the presence of food.
śōvaʿ: Fullness, satiety
שֹׂבַע
This noun names the outcome the shared provision reaches: hunger gives way to enough.
מַעֲשֵׂר
maʿăśēr
GROWS FROM
עשר
ʿ-ś-r
Ten; in this word family, to tithe or take a tenth.
“tithes” in this verse is maʿăśēr. The Hebrew keeps the counted tenth visible inside the word, binding the portion to the increase it comes from. The verse gives that counted portion a destination: the people named are fed until they are full.
ALSO GROWS
ʿeśer: Ten
עֶשֶׂר
The word for ten makes the tithe’s relation to counted increase audible.
ʿāśar: To tithe, take a tenth
עָשַׂר
This verb names the act of setting aside the portion that the verse then directs toward those who need food.
וְנָתַתָּה
wenātattā
GROWS FROM
נתן
n-t-n
To give, set, or place.
“given” in this verse is wenātattā. The verb can be heard as placing something where another can receive it. The named people are not abstract recipients: the portion is set within their reach as food.
ALSO GROWS
nātan: To give, set, or place
נָתַן
This verb makes the movement of the tithe concrete: it is placed with the people who will eat.
mattān: Gift, present
מַתָּן
The noun carries the same root into what is given, linking the act of placing provision with the provision itself.
THE PATTERN
Provision reaches its purpose when shared resources meet the needs of people who could otherwise be left without.
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.The LORD preserveth the strangers; he relieveth the fatherless and widow: but the way of the wicked he turneth upside down.And laid them down at the apostles’ feet: and distribution was made unto every man according as he had need.THE THREAD
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.Deuteronomy 14:29 uses the same Hebrew root שׂבע (ś-b-ʿ, to be sated or satisfied) as “be filled” here. The parallel makes the tithe’s endpoint clear: the people at the gate eat and reach satiety.
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