Commentary on Harmony of the Law Volume 1 Complete John Calvin
JOHN CALVIN
28. At the end of three years thou shalt bring forth all the tithe of thine increase the same year, and shalt lay it up within thy gates:
28. Tertio autem anno proferes omnes decimas proventus tui anno ipso, et repones intra portas tuas.
29. 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.
29. Venietque Levita (quia non est ei portio et haereditas tecum,) et peregrinus, et pupillus, atque vidua, qui sunt intra portas: et comedent, et saturabuntur, ut benedicat tibi Jehova Deus tuus in omni opere manus tuae quod feceris.
22. Thou shalt truly tithe. He repeats in general terms the law before enacted, whereby he claims for God the tithe of all the fruit. He does not, however, immediately declare to whom they are to be paid, but inserts some provisions respecting other offerings, which I have elsewhere explained. But when, soon afterwards, in verse 27, he recommends the Levites to them, he shews what is the proper use to which they are to be applied. He signifies that it would be cruel to defraud the Levites of them, 559 and that they would be wicked and unjust if they were grudgingly to pay them the tithes, which were theirs by hereditary right, since their tribe possessed no inheritance in land.
28. At the end of three years. Those are mistaken, in my opinion, who think that another kind of tithe is here referred to. It is rather a correction or interpretation of the Law, lest the priests and Levites alone should consume all the tithes, without applying a part to the relief of the poor, of strangers, and widows. In order to make this clearer, we must first observe, that not every third year is here prescribed, 560 but that the years are counted from the Sabbatical year; for we shall elsewhere see that on every seventh year the land was to rest, so that there was no sowing nor reaping. After two harvests, therefore, the tithes of the third year were not the entire property of the Levites, but were shared also by the poor, the orphans, and widows, and
"S'ils soustrayent et desrobbent a leurs freres ce qui est assigne pour leur nouristure:" if they withheld and stole from their brethren what was assigned them for their maintenance. — Fr.
"Que l'annec troisieme ne se prend pas d'une suite continuelle." — Fr.