Deuteronomy 26:14
in Deuteronomy 26I have not eaten any of the sacred portion while in mourning, or removed any of it while unclean, or offered any of it for the dead. I have obeyed the LORD my God; I have done everything You commanded me.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
I have not eaten thereof in my mourning, neither have I put away thereof, being unclean, nor given thereof for the dead: I have hearkened to the voice of Jehovah my God; I have done according to all that thou hast commanded me.
KJV
I have not eaten thereof in my mourning, neither have I taken away ought thereof for any unclean use, nor given ought thereof for the dead: but I have hearkened to the voice of the Lord my God, and have done according to all that thou hast commanded me.
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This verse in Deuteronomy 26
Commentary
7 notes on this verseI have not eaten thereof in my mourning,.... When in grief and sorrow on account of any afflictive circumstance, for these were to be eaten with joy, Deu 16:11; and especially of the loss of relations by death, when holy things were not to be eaten by such persons; see Lev 10:19; and particularly tithes, though it is said (n),"What is doubtful of tithing (whether it has been tithed or no) might be eaten by a mourner;''and a man was reckoned such an one until his dead was buried.
This site's exposition
I have not eaten thereof in my mourning
on Deuteronomy 26:14-15
Three denials, and the third is the hardest to place. Clarke reads given ought thereof for the dead as food devoted to an idol, which was often a dead man raised to a god, while Gill and Wesley keep the clause inside Israelite mourning practice, where holy things were not handled by a man with a corpse in his house. The declaration then turns into a prayer, and what the speaker asks for is a blessing on the people and on the land rather than on his own field, which Henry takes as the pattern for public-minded praying.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
In my mourning - In sorrow, or grieving that I was to give away so much of my profits to the poor, but I have cheerfully eaten and feasted with them, as I was obliged to do.
It is fit that God, who by his providence gives us all we have, should by his law direct the using of it, and, though we are not now under such particular appropriations of our revenue as they then were, yet, in general, we are commanded to give alms of such things as we have; and then, and not otherwise, all things are clean to us.
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
I have not - given aught thereof for the dead - That is, I have not consecrated any of it to an idol which was generally a dead man whom superstition and ignorance had deified. From 1Co 10:27, 1Co 10:28, we learn that it was customary to offer that flesh to idols which was afterwards sold publicly in the shambles; probably the blood was poured out before the idol in imitation of the sacrifices offered to the true God. Perhaps the text here alludes to a similar custom.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
The first was appropriated to the Levites (Nu 18:21). The second, being the tenth of what remained, was brought to Jerusalem in kind; or it was converted into money, and the owner, on arriving in the capital, purchased sheep, bread, and oil (De 14:22, 23).
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
I have not eaten thereof in my mourning - When the Israelite would be unclean (compare the marginal references). Nor given ought thereof for the dead - The reference is not so much to the superstitious custom of placing food on or in tombs as to the funeral expenses, and more especially the usual feast for the mourners (compare Jer 16:7; Eze 24:17; Hos 9:4; Tobit 4:17). The dedicated things were to be employed in glad and holy feasting, not therefore for funeral banquets; for death and all associated with it was regarded as unclean.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
Even though the avowal. The “avowal was recited at the time of the Afternoon Offering on the last day of Passover, in the fourth and seventh years of the Sabbatical cycle.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 5 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
20 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| לֹא־ | lo'- | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| אָכַ֨לְתִּי | ʾakhalti | I have eaten | H398 → | 810 times |
| בְאֹנִ֜י | veoni | in mourning my | H205 → | |
| מִמֶּ֗נּוּ | mimenu | any of it | H4480 → | 1188 times |
| וְלֹא־ | velo'- | and not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| בִעַ֤רְתִּי | viarti | I have removed | H1197 → | 94 times |
| מִמֶּ֙נּוּ֙ | mimenu | any of it | H4480 → | 1188 times |
| בְּטָמֵ֔א | betame' | <in> unclean | H2931 → | 88 times |
| וְלֹא־ | velo'- | and not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| נָתַ֥תִּי | natati | I have given | H5414 → | 2011 times |
| מִמֶּ֖נּוּ | mimenu | any of it | H4480 → | 1188 times |
| לְמֵ֑ת | lemet | to [the] dead | H4191 → | 839 times |
| שָׁמַ֗עְתִּי | shama'ti | I have listened | H8085 → | 1159 times |
| בְּקוֹל֙ | bekol | to [the] voice of | H6963 → | 506 times |
| יְהוָ֣ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| אֱלֹהָ֔י | ʾelohai | God my | H430 → | 2601 times |
| עָשִׂ֕יתִי | ʾasiti | I have done | H6213 → | 2628 times |
| כְּכֹ֖ל | kekhol | according to all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| אֲשֶׁ֥ר | ʾasher | that | H834 → | 5497 times |
| צִוִּיתָֽנִי׃ | tzivitani | you have commanded me | H6680 → | 494 times |
לֹא־not
lo'-H3808 →5168 times
אָכַ֨לְתִּיI have eaten
ʾakhaltiH398 →810 times
בְאֹנִ֜יin mourning my
veoniH205 →
מִמֶּ֗נּוּany of it
mimenuH4480 →1188 times
וְלֹא־and not
velo'-H3808 →5168 times
בִעַ֤רְתִּיI have removed
viartiH1197 →94 times
מִמֶּ֙נּוּ֙any of it
mimenuH4480 →1188 times
בְּטָמֵ֔א<in> unclean
betame'H2931 →88 times
וְלֹא־and not
velo'-H3808 →5168 times
נָתַ֥תִּיI have given
natatiH5414 →2011 times
מִמֶּ֖נּוּany of it
mimenuH4480 →1188 times
לְמֵ֑תto [the] dead
lemetH4191 →839 times
שָׁמַ֗עְתִּיI have listened
shama'tiH8085 →1159 times
בְּקוֹל֙to [the] voice of
bekolH6963 →506 times
יְהוָ֣הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
אֱלֹהָ֔יGod my
ʾelohaiH430 →2601 times
עָשִׂ֕יתִיI have done
ʾasitiH6213 →2628 times
כְּכֹ֖לaccording to all
kekholH3605 →5413 times
אֲשֶׁ֥רthat
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
צִוִּיתָֽנִי׃you have commanded me
tzivitaniH6680 →494 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Leviticus 21:11He must not go near any dead body; he must not defile himself, even for his father or mother.
it leads to
- Numbers 19:14
This is the law when a person dies in a tent: Everyone who enters the tent and everyone already in the tent will be unclean for seven days,
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Numbers 19:14
Through
Leviticus 21:1Then the LORD said to Moses, “Speak to Aaron’s sons, the priests, and tell them that a priest is not to defile himself for a dead person among his people,
it leads to
- Leviticus 19:28
You must not make any cuts in your bodies for the dead or put tattoo marks on yourselves. I am the LORD.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Ezekiel 44:25
A priest must not defile himself by going near a dead person. However, for a father, a mother, a son, a daughter, a brother, or an unmarried sister, he may do so,
- Leviticus 19:28
Through
Psalms 106:28They yoked themselves to Baal of Peor and ate sacrifices offered to lifeless gods.
it leads to
- Numbers 25:1–3
While Israel was staying in Shittim, the men began to indulge in sexual immorality with the daughters of Moab,
- Hosea 9:10
I found Israel like grapes in the wilderness. I saw your fathers as the firstfruits of the fig tree in its first season. But they went to Baal-peor, and consecrated themselves to Shame; so…
- Numbers 25:5
So Moses told the judges of Israel, “Each of you must kill all of his men who have joined in worshiping Baal of Peor.”
- Numbers 25:1–3
Through
Hosea 9:4They will not pour out wine offerings to the LORD, and their sacrifices will not please Him, but will be to them like the bread of mourners; all who eat will be defiled. For…
it leads to
- Hosea 8:13
Though they offer sacrifices as gifts to Me, and though they eat the meat, the LORD does not accept them. Now He will remember their iniquity and punish their sins: They will return to…
- Jeremiah 6:20
What use to Me is frankincense from Sheba or sweet cane from a distant land? Your burnt offerings are not acceptable; your sacrifices do not please Me.”
- Hosea 8:13
About Deuteronomy
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.