Nehemiah 10:32

32 We will impose [the following] commandments on ourselves: To give an eighth of an ounce of silver^[a] yearly for the service of the house of our God:

Nehemiah 10:32 Meaning and Commentary

Nehemiah 10:32

Also we made ordinance, for us
Laws among themselves, binding them to that which the laws of God did not:

to charge ourselves yearly with the third part of a shekel, for the
service of the house of our God;
the particulars of which follow in the next verse; for the defraying of which there used to be a treasury in the temple; but now there was none, and therefore they took this method to assess themselves; and being poor, instead of the half shekel, which in some cases was required, they only charged themselves with the third part of one; though Aben Ezra thinks this was added to the half shekel, and was paid over and above that; according to Brerewood ^F1, it was of the value of ten pence of our money: Waserus ^F2 has given us the figure of one of these coins, with this inscription, a "third" part of a shekel of Israel.

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FOOTNOTES:

F1 De Pond. & Pret. Vet. Num. c. 1.
F2 De Antiqu. Num. Heb. l. 2.

Nehemiah 10:32 In-Context

30 We will not give our daughters in marriage to the surrounding peoples and will not take their daughters as wives for our sons.

31 When the surrounding peoples bring merchandise or any kind of grain to sell on the Sabbath day, we will not buy from them on the Sabbath or a holy day. We will also leave [the land] uncultivated in the seventh year and will cancel every debt.

32 We will impose [the following] commandments on ourselves: To give an eighth of an ounce of silver yearly for the service of the house of our God:

33 the bread displayed before the Lord,the daily grain offering, the regular burnt offering, the Sabbath and New Moon offerings, the appointed festivals, the holy things, the sin offerings to atone for Israel, and for all the work of the house of our God.

34 We have cast lots among the priests, Levites, and people for the donation of wood by our ancestral houses at the appointed times each year. They are to bring [the wood] to our God's house to burn on the altar of the Lord our God, as it is written in the law.

Footnotes

• [a]. Lit give one-third of a shekel