And if the way be too long for thee, so that thou art not able to carry it; or if the place be too far from thee, which the LORD thy God shall choose to set his name there, when the LORD thy God hath blessed thee:

But when the way and the place which the Lord thy God shall choose, are far off, and he hath blessed thee, and thou canst not carry all these things thither,

And if the way be too long for thee, so that thou art not able to carry it, because the place is too far from thee, which Jehovah thy God will choose to set his name there, when Jehovah thy God blesseth thee;

And when the way is too much for thee, that thou art not able to carry it, when the place is too far off from thee which Jehovah thy God doth choose to put His name there, when Jehovah thy God doth bless thee;,

And if the way be too long for you, so that you are not able to carry it; or if the place be too far from you, which the LORD your God shall choose to set his name there, when the LORD your God has blessed you:

And if the way is so long that you are not able to take these things to the place marked out by the Lord your God for his name, when he has given you his blessing, because it is far away from you;

But when the way and the place which the Lord your God will have chosen is further away, and he will have blessed you, so that you are not able to carry all these things to it,

Quod si longior fuerit via quam ut per eam ferre possis illas, quod distet a te locus ille quem elegerit Jehova Deus tuus ut ponat nomen suum ibi, quum benedixerit tibi Jehova Deus tuus:

And if the way be too long. I am prevented from understanding this restriction as having reference to the tithes, by the ordinance which is elsewhere made, that whosoever would redeem them by a money-payment, (Leviticus 27:31,) should add a fifth part, and this is omitted here; and, again, by the explanation which is soon after added, that they should bring money with them instead of their offerings, and buy with it oxen and sheep, wine, and strong drink, as they pleased. The sum is, that if it were too burdensome for them to bring from their distant homes victims and other gifts, they were permitted to buy at Jerusalem whatever they chose to offer, provided they made no offerings elsewhere.

And if the way be too long for thee, so that thou art not able to carry it; [or] if the place be too far from thee, which the LORD thy God shall choose to set his name there, (f) when the LORD thy God hath blessed thee:
(f) When he shall give thee abilities.

And if the way be too long for thee,.... The way from the place where any Israelite might live:
to carry it; the tithe and the firstlings, it would be too expensive or too troublesome in any way that could be devised:
or if the place shall be too far from thee, which the Lord thy God shall choose to set his name there; which by the event appeared to be the city of Jerusalem, and this from some parts of the land of Canaan was very distant:
when the Lord thy God hath blessed thee; with a large increase of the fruits of the earth, and of flocks and herds.

In the land of Canaan, however, where the people would be scattered over a great extent of country, there would be many for whom the fulfilment of this command would be very difficult-would, in fact, appear almost impossible. To meet this difficulty, permission was given for those who lived at a great distance from the sanctuary to sell the tithes at home, provided they could not convey them in kind, and then to spend the money so obtained in the purchase of the things required for the sacrificial meals at the place of the sanctuary. ממּך ירבּה כּי, "if the way be too great (too far) for thee," etc., sc., for the delivery of the tithe. The parenthetical clause, "if Jehovah thy God shall bless thee," hardly means "if He shall extend thy territory" (Knobel), but if He shall bless thee by plentiful produce from the field and the cattle.