What Does Nehemiah 10:36 Mean in the King James?
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:
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
One Hebrew word names the first arrival of both children and livestock, revealing that the first yield is already marked as belonging to God.
THE MEANING
Your household’s life and livelihood meet at the point of first yield: sons and animals are named together under the same instruction. What arrives first is directed to the house of God, into the care of the priests who serve there. The verse makes belonging visible in what comes first.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that what arrives first is automatically private possession: here the first yield is already claimed within a larger belonging.
THE ROOT
בְּכוֹר
bekhor
GROWS FROM
בכר
To bring forth first; the earliest offspring or yield.
“firstborn / firstlings” in this verse is bekhor. The same Hebrew word names the firstborn among sons, cattle, herds, and flocks. Its family includes firstfruits and the birthright, gathering birth, increase, and inheritance around what comes first and is set apart.
ALSO GROWS
bikkurim: Firstfruits; the first yield of a harvest.
בִּכּוּרִים
It extends the firstborn’s root into the harvest: the earliest increase is also marked as a first yield.
bekhorah: Birthright; the status or inheritance of the firstborn.
בְּכוֹרָה
It shows that what comes first carries a claim into the future, not merely a place in sequence.
THE PATTERN
The first yield is set apart as belonging to God and marks the relationship of the whole yield.
Sanctify unto me all the firstborn, whatsoever openeth the womb among the children of Israel, both of man and of beast: it is mine.Honour the LORD with thy substance, and with the firstfruits of all thine increase:For if the firstfruit be holy, the lump is also holy: and if the root be holy, so are the branches.THE THREAD
Sanctify unto me all the firstborn, whatsoever openeth the womb among the children of Israel, both of man and of beast: it is mine.The same Hebrew root ב־כ־ר (b-k-r, to bring forth first) names what is set apart in both verses. Exodus states the claim plainly, “it is mine”, while Nehemiah gives that firstborn belonging a destination in God’s house and among the priests who serve there.
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