What Does Nehemiah 13:5 Mean?
And he had made for him a great chamber, where before they had set down the gifts, the frankincense, and the vessels, and the tenths of the grain, the new wine, and the oil, which was commanded to be given to the Levites, and the singers, and the gatekeepers; and the lifted offering of the priests.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
And he had prepared for him a great chamber, where aforetime they laid the meat offerings, the frankincense, and the vessels, and the tithes of the corn, the new wine, and the oil, which was commanded to be given to the Levites, and the singers, and the porters; and the offerings of the priests.THE KEY
The room’s purpose shifts from holding shared provision to serving one man, and that change reaches everyone the stores were meant to support.
THE MEANING
This verse shows how a room’s assigned purpose shapes who is served. The chamber holds portions of grain, new wine, and oil, alongside incense and vessels, for Levites, singers, gatekeepers, and priests; when it is prepared for one person, the whole provision system changes. A choice about space reaches everyone who depends on what it holds.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It dissolves the belief that reallocating a room affects only the person who occupies it: the verse ties that room to the provision of an entire community.
THE ROOT
נֹתְנִים
notnim
GROWS FROM
נתן
n-t-n
give, set, place
“set down” in this verse is notnim. The verb behind “laid” also means “give” and “set in place.” The chamber is more than storage: it is where provision is placed so it can reach the people it is meant to serve.
ALSO GROWS
natan: to give, set, or place
נָתַן
This root gathers giving and placement into one action, showing why the chamber’s purpose matters.
mattan: gift
מַתָּן
A gift is something given and placed into another’s hands; here the provisions have a designated place within a shared life.
מַעֲשֵׂר
ma'aser
GROWS FROM
עשר
ʿ-ś-r
ten; a tenth
“tenths” in this verse is ma'aser. The word makes the portion measurable: these are counted shares of grain, new wine, and oil, not an unspecified store of wealth. Their placement in the chamber ties the harvest to the people who serve the community.
ALSO GROWS
ʿeser: ten
עֶשֶׂר
The number beneath the tithe makes its measured share visible.
ʿasiri: tenth
עֲשִׂירִי
This related form names the portion as one part in ten, clarifying what the chamber holds.
THE PATTERN
Shared provision holds a community together when its portions are placed where those who serve and those in need can receive them.
The Levite, for he has no portion nor inheritance with you, and the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow who are within your gates, shall come and eat and be filled, so that the LORD your God may bless you in all the work of your hands which you do.and set them down at the feet of the sent ones, and it was given out to each as anyone had need.THE THREAD
Bring all of the tenth into the storehouse, so that there may be food in my house. Test me now in this, says the LORD of hosts, if I do not open the windows of heaven for you and pour out a blessing until there is no more room.Both verses use מַעֲשֵׂר (ma’aser, a tenth), naming a measured portion directed to a storehouse. Malachi names the storehouse’s purpose; Nehemiah shows what is at stake when the chamber that held those portions is assigned elsewhere.
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