2 That thou shalt take of the first of all the fruit of the earth, which thou shalt bring of thy land that the LORD thy God giveth thee, and shalt put it in a basket, and shalt go unto the place which the LORD thy God shall choose to place his name there.
3 And thou shalt go unto the priest that shall be in those days, and say unto him, I profess this day unto the LORD thy God, that I am come unto the country which the LORD sware unto our fathers for to give us.
4 And the priest shall take the basket out of thine hand, and set it down before the altar of the LORD thy God.
5 And thou shalt speak and say before the LORD thy God, A Syrian ready to perish was my father, and he went down into Egypt, and sojourned there with a few, and became there a nation, great, mighty, and populous:
6 And the Egyptians evil entreated us, and afflicted us, and laid upon us hard bondage:
7 And when we cried unto the LORD God of our fathers, the LORD heard our voice, and looked on our affliction, and our labor, and our oppression:
8 And the LORD brought us forth out of Egypt with a mighty hand, and with an outstretched arm, and with great terribleness, and with signs, and with wonders:
9 And he hath brought us into this place, and hath given us this land, even a land that floweth with milk and honey.
10 And now, behold, I have brought the firstfruits of the land, which thou, O LORD, hast given me. And thou shalt set it before the LORD thy God, and worship before the LORD thy God:
11 And thou shalt rejoice in every good thing which the LORD thy God hath given unto thee, and unto thine house, thou, and the Levite, and the stranger that is among you.
2 That thou shalt take H3947 of the first H7225 of all the fruit H6529 of the earth, H127 which thou shalt bring H935 of thy land H776 that the LORD H3068 thy God H430 giveth H5414 thee, and shalt put H7760 it in a basket, H2935 and shalt go H1980 unto the place H4725 which the LORD H3068 thy God H430 shall choose H977 to place H7931 his name H8034 there.
3 And thou shalt go H935 unto the priest H3548 that shall be in those days, H3117 and say H559 unto him, I profess H5046 this day H3117 unto the LORD H3068 thy God, H430 that I am come H935 unto the country H776 which the LORD H3068 sware H7650 unto our fathers H1 for to give H5414 us.
4 And the priest H3548 shall take H3947 the basket H2935 out of thine hand, H3027 and set it down H3240 before H6440 the altar H4196 of the LORD H3068 thy God. H430
5 And thou shalt speak H6030 and say H559 before H6440 the LORD H3068 thy God, H430 A Syrian H761 ready to perish H6 was my father, H1 and he went down H3381 into Egypt, H4714 and sojourned H1481 there with H4962 a few, H4592 and became there a nation, H1471 great, H1419 mighty, H6099 and populous: H7227
6 And the Egyptians H4713 evil entreated H7489 us, and afflicted H6031 us, and laid H5414 upon us hard H7186 bondage: H5656
7 And when we cried H6817 unto the LORD H3068 God H430 of our fathers, H1 the LORD H3068 heard H8085 our voice, H6963 and looked H7200 on our affliction, H6040 and our labour, H5999 and our oppression: H3906
8 And the LORD H3068 brought us forth H3318 out of Egypt H4714 with a mighty H2389 hand, H3027 and with an outstretched H5186 arm, H2220 and with great H1419 terribleness, H4172 and with signs, H226 and with wonders: H4159
9 And he hath brought H935 us into this place, H4725 and hath given H5414 us this land, H776 even a land H776 that floweth H2100 with milk H2461 and honey. H1706
10 And now, behold, I have brought H935 the firstfruits H6529 H7225 of the land, H127 which thou, O LORD, H3068 hast given H5414 me. And thou shalt set H3240 it before H6440 the LORD H3068 thy God, H430 and worship H7812 before H6440 the LORD H3068 thy God: H430
11 And thou shalt rejoice H8055 in every good H2896 thing which the LORD H3068 thy God H430 hath given H5414 unto thee, and unto thine house, H1004 thou, and the Levite, H3881 and the stranger H1616 that is among H7130 you.
2 that thou shalt take of the first of all the fruit of the ground, which thou shalt bring in from thy land that Jehovah thy God giveth thee; and thou shalt put it in a basket, and shalt go unto the place which Jehovah thy God shall choose, to cause his name to dwell there.
3 And thou shalt come unto the priest that shall be in those days, and say unto him, I profess this day unto Jehovah thy God, that I am come unto the land which Jehovah sware unto our fathers to give us.
4 And the priest shall take the basket out of thy hand, and set it down before the altar of Jehovah thy God.
5 And thou shalt answer and say before Jehovah thy God, A Syrian ready to perish was my father; and he went down into Egypt, and sojourned there, few in number; and he became there a nation, great, mighty, and populous.
6 And the Egyptians dealt ill with us, and afflicted us, and laid upon us hard bondage:
7 and we cried unto Jehovah, the God of our fathers, and Jehovah heard our voice, and saw our affliction, and our toil, and our oppression;
8 and Jehovah brought us forth out of Egypt with a mighty hand, and with an outstretched arm, and with great terribleness, and with signs, and with wonders;
9 and he hath brought us into this place, and hath given us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey.
10 And now, behold, I have brought the first of the fruit of the ground, which thou, O Jehovah, hast given me. And thou shalt set it down before Jehovah thy God, and worship before Jehovah thy God:
11 and thou shalt rejoice in all the good which Jehovah thy God hath given unto thee, and unto thy house, thou, and the Levite, and the sojourner that is in the midst of thee.
2 that thou hast taken of the first of all the fruits of the ground which thou dost bring in out of thy land which Jehovah thy God is giving to thee, and hast put `it' in a basket, and gone unto the place which Jehovah thy God doth choose to cause His name to tabernacle there.
3 `And thou hast come in unto the priest who is in those days, and hast said unto him, I have declared to-day to Jehovah thy God, that I have come in unto the land which Jehovah hath sworn to our fathers to give to us;
4 and the priest hath taken the basket out of thy hand, and placed it before the altar of Jehovah thy God.
5 `And thou hast answered and said before Jehovah thy God, A perishing Aramaean `is' my father! and he goeth down to Egypt, and sojourneth there with few men, and becometh there a nation, great, mighty, and numerous;
6 and the Egyptians do us evil, and afflict us, and put on us hard service;
7 and we cry unto Jehovah, God of our fathers, and Jehovah heareth our voice, and seeth our affliction, and our labour, and our oppression;
8 and Jehovah bringeth us out from Egypt, by a strong hand, and by a stretched-out arm, and by great fear, and by signs, and by wonders,
9 and he bringeth us in unto this place, and giveth to us this land -- a land flowing with milk and honey.
10 `And now, lo, I have brought in the first of the fruits of the ground which thou hast given to me, O Jehovah; -- and thou hast placed it before Jehovah thy God, and bowed thyself before Jehovah thy God,
11 and rejoiced in all the good which Jehovah thy God hath given to thee, and to thy house, thou, and the Levite, and the sojourner who `is' in thy midst.
2 that thou shalt take of the first of all the fruit of the ground, which thou shalt bring of thy land which Jehovah thy God giveth thee, and shalt put it in a basket, and shalt go unto the place that Jehovah thy God will choose to cause his name to dwell there;
3 and thou shalt come unto the priest that shall be in those days, and say unto him, I profess this day unto Jehovah thy God, that I am come unto the land that Jehovah swore unto our fathers to give us.
4 And the priest shall take the basket out of thy hand, and set it down before the altar of Jehovah thy God.
5 And thou shalt speak and say before Jehovah thy God, A perishing Aramean was my father, and he went down to Egypt with a few, and sojourned there, and became there a nation, great, mighty, and populous.
6 And the Egyptians evil-entreated us, and afflicted us, and laid upon us hard bondage;
7 and we cried to Jehovah, the God of our fathers, and Jehovah heard our voice, and looked on our affliction, and our labour, and our oppression;
8 and Jehovah brought us forth out of Egypt with a powerful hand, and with a stretched-out arm, and with great terribleness, and with signs, and with wonders;
9 and he hath brought us into this place, and hath given us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey!
10 And now, behold, I have brought the first of the fruits of the land, which thou, Jehovah, hast given me. And thou shalt set it down before Jehovah thy God, and worship before Jehovah thy God.
11 And thou shalt rejoice in all the good that Jehovah thy God hath given to thee, and to thy house, thou, and the Levite, and the stranger that is in thy midst.
2 that you shall take of the first of all the fruit of the ground, which you shall bring in from your land that Yahweh your God gives you; and you shall put it in a basket, and shall go to the place which Yahweh your God shall choose, to cause his name to dwell there.
3 You shall come to the priest who shall be in those days, and tell him, I profess this day to Yahweh your God, that I am come to the land which Yahweh swore to our fathers to give us.
4 The priest shall take the basket out of your hand, and set it down before the altar of Yahweh your God.
5 You shall answer and say before Yahweh your God, A Syrian ready to perish was my father; and he went down into Egypt, and sojourned there, few in number; and he became there a nation, great, mighty, and populous.
6 The Egyptians dealt ill with us, and afflicted us, and laid on us hard bondage:
7 and we cried to Yahweh, the God of our fathers, and Yahweh heard our voice, and saw our affliction, and our toil, and our oppression;
8 and Yahweh brought us forth out of Egypt with a mighty hand, and with an outstretched arm, and with great terror, and with signs, and with wonders;
9 and he has brought us into this place, and has given us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey.
10 Now, behold, I have brought the first of the fruit of the ground, which you, Yahweh, have given me. You shall set it down before Yahweh your God, and worship before Yahweh your God:
11 and you shall rejoice in all the good which Yahweh your God has given to you, and to your house, you, and the Levite, and the foreigner who is in the midst of you.
2 You are to take a part of the first-fruits of the earth, which you get from the land which the Lord your God is giving you, and put it in a basket, and go to the place marked out by the Lord your God, as the resting-place of his name.
3 And you are to come to him who is priest at that time, and say to him, I give witness today before the Lord your God, that I have come into the land which the Lord made an oath to our fathers to give us.
4 Then the priest will take the basket from your hand and put it down in front of the altar of the Lord your God.
5 And these are the words which you will say before the Lord your God: My father was a wandering Aramaean, and he went down with a small number of people into Egypt; there he became a great and strong nation:
6 And the Egyptians were cruel to us, crushing us under a hard yoke:
7 And our cry went up to the Lord, the God of our fathers, and the Lord's ear was open to the voice of our cry, and his eyes took note of our grief and the crushing weight of our work:
8 And the Lord took us out of Egypt with a strong hand and a stretched-out arm, with works of power and signs and wonders:
9 And he has been our guide to this place, and has given us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey.
10 So now, I have come here with the first of the fruits of the earth which you, O Lord, have given me. Then you will put it down before the Lord your God and give him worship:
11 And you will have joy in every good thing which the Lord your God has given to you and to your family; and the Levite, and the man from a strange land who is with you, will take part in your joy.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Keil & Delitzsch Commentary » Commentary on Deuteronomy 26
Commentary on Deuteronomy 26 Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
To the exposition of the commandments and rights of Israel Moses adds, in closing, another ordinance respecting those gifts, which were most intimately connected with social and domestic life, viz., the first-fruits and second tithes, for the purpose of giving the proper consecration to the attitude of the nation towards its Lord and God.
Deuteronomy 26:1-4
Of the first of the fruit of the ground, which was presented from the land received from the Lord, the Israelites was to take a portion ( מראשׁית with מן partitive), and bring it in a basket to the place of the sanctuary, and give it to the priest who should be there, with the words, “I have made known to-day to the Lord thy God, that I have come into the land which the Lord swore to our fathers to give us ,” upon which the priest should take the basket and put it down before the altar of Jehovah (Deuteronomy 26:1-4). From the partitive מראשׁית we cannot infer, as Schultz supposes, that the first-fruits were not to be all delivered at the sanctuary, any more than this can be inferred from Exodus 23:19 (see the explanation of this passage). All that is implied is, that, for the purpose described afterwards, it was not necessary to put all the offerings of first-fruits into a basket and set them down before the altar. טנא (Deuteronomy 26:2, Deuteronomy 26:4, and Deuteronomy 28:5, Deuteronomy 28:17) is a basket of wicker-work, and not, as Knobel maintains, the Deuteronomist's word for צנצנת rof (Exodus 16:33. “ The priest ” is not the high priest, but the priest who had to attend to the altar-service and receive the sacrificial gifts. - The words, “I have to-day made known to the Lord thy God,” refer to the practical confession which was made by the presentation of the first-fruits. The fruit was the tangible proof that they were in possession of the land, and the presentation of the first of this fruit the practical confession that they were indebted to the Lord for the land. This confession the offerer was also to embody in a prayer of thanksgiving, after the basket had been received by the priest, in which he confessed that he and his people owed their existence and welfare to the grace of God, manifested in the miraculous redemption of Israel out of the oppression of Egypt and their guidance into Canaan.
Deuteronomy 26:5-9
אבי אבד ארמּי , “ a lost (perishing) Aramaean was my father ” (not the Aramaean, Laban , wanted to destroy my father, Jacob , as the Chald ., Arab ., Luther , and others render it). אבד signifies not only going astray, wandering, but perishing, in danger of perishing, as in Job 29:13; Proverbs 31:6, etc. Jacob is referred to, for it was he who went down to Egypt in few men. He is mentioned as the tribe-father of the nation, because the nation was directly descended from his sons, and also derived its name of Israel from him. Jacob is called in Aramaean, not only because of his long sojourn in Aramaea (Gen 29-31), but also because he got his wives and children there (cf. Hosea 12:13); and the relatives of the patriarchs had accompanied Abraham from Chaldaea to Mesopotamia (Aram; see Genesis 11:30). מעט בּמתי , consisting of few men ( בּ , the so-called beth essent ., as in Deuteronomy 10:22; Exodus 6:3, etc.; vid., Ewald , §299, q .). Compare Genesis 34:30, where Jacob himself describes his family as “few in number.” On the number in the family that migrated into Egypt, reckoned at seventy souls, see the explanation at Genesis 46:27. On the multiplication in Egypt into a great and strong people, see Exodus 1:7, Exodus 1:9; and on the oppression endured there, Exodus 1:11-22, and Exodus 2:23. - The guidance out of Egypt amidst great signs (Deuteronomy 26:8), as in Deuteronomy 4:34.
Deuteronomy 26:10
“ So shalt thou set it down (the basket with the first-fruits) before Jehovah .” These words are not to be understood, as Clericus , Knobel , and others suppose, in direct opposition to Deuteronomy 26:4 and Deuteronomy 26:5, as implying that the offerer had held the basket in his hand during the prayer, but simply as a remark which closes the instructions.
Deuteronomy 26:11
Rejoicing in all the good, etc., points to the joy connected with the sacrificial meal, which followed the act of worship (as in Deuteronomy 12:12). The presentation of the first-fruits took place, no doubt, on their pilgrimages to the sanctuary at the three yearly festivals (ch. 16); but it is quite without ground that Riehm restricts these words to the sacrificial meals to be prepared from the tithes, as if they had been the only sacrificial meals (see at Deuteronomy 18:3).
The delivery of the tithes, like the presentation of the first-fruits, was also to be sanctified by prayer before the Lord. It is true that only a prayer after taking the second tithe in the third year is commanded here; but that is simply because this tithe was appropriated everywhere throughout the land to festal meals for the poor and destitute (Deuteronomy 14:28), when prayer before the Lord would not follow per analogiam from the previous injunction concerning the presentation of first-fruits, as it would in the case of the tithes with which sacrificial meals were prepared at the sanctuary (Deuteronomy 14:22.). לעשׂר is the infinitive Hiphil for להעשׂר , as in Nehemiah 10:39 (on this form, vid., Ges. §53, 3 Anm. 2 and 7, and Ew. §131, b . and 244, b .). “Saying before the Lord” does not denote prayer in the sanctuary (at the tabernacle), but, as in Genesis 27:7, simply prayer before God the omnipresent One, who is enthroned in heaven (Deuteronomy 26:15), and blesses His people from above from His holy habitation. The declaration of having fulfilled the commandments of God refers primarily to the directions concerning the tithes, and was such a rendering of an account as springs from the consciousness that a man very easily transgresses the commandments of God, and has nothing in common with the blindness of pharisaic self-righteousness “ I have cleaned out the holy out of my house: ” the holy is that which is sanctified to God, that which belongs to the Lord and His servants, as in Leviticus 21:22. בּער signifies not only to remove, but to clean out, wipe out. That which was sanctified to God appeared as a debt, which was to be wiped out of a man's house ( Schultz ).
“ I have not eaten thereof in my sorrow .” אני , from און , tribulation, distress, signifies here in all probability mourning, and judging from what follows, mourning for the dead, equivalent to “in a mourning condition,” i.e., in a state of legal (Levitical) uncleanness; so that בּאני really corresponded to the בּטמא which follows, except that טמא includes every kind of legal uncleanness. “ I have removed nothing thereof as unclean ,” i.e., while in the state of an unclean person. Not only not eaten of any, but not removed any of it from the house, carried it away in an unclean state, in which they were forbidden to touch the holy gifts (Leviticus 22:3). “ And not given (any) of it on account of the dead .” This most probably refers to the custom of sending provisions into a house of mourning, to prepare meals for the mourners (2 Samuel 3:25; Jeremiah 16:7; Hosea 9:4; Tobit 4:17). A house of mourning, with its inhabitants, was regarded as unclean; consequently nothing could be carried into it of that which was sanctified. There is no good ground for thinking of idolatrous customs, or of any special superstition attached to the bread of mourning; nor is there any ground for understanding the words as referring to the later Jewish custom of putting provisions into the grave along with the corpse, to which the Septuagint rendering, οὐκ ἔδωκα ἀπ αὐτῶν τῷ τεθνηκότι , points. (On Deuteronomy 26:15, see Isaiah 63:15.)
At the close of his discourse, Moses sums up the whole in the earnest admonition that Israel would give the Lord its God occasion to fulfil the promised glorification of His people, by keeping His commandments with all their heart and soul.
Deuteronomy 26:16-17
On this day the Lord commanded Israel to keep these laws and rights with all the heart and all the soul (cf. Deuteronomy 6:5; Deuteronomy 10:12.). There are two important points contained in this (Deuteronomy 26:17.). The acceptance of the laws laid before them on the part of the Israelites involved a practical declaration that the nation would accept Jehovah as its God, and walk in His way (Deuteronomy 26:17); and the giving of the law on the part of the Lord was a practical confirmation of His promise that Israel should be His people of possession, which He would glorify above all nations (Deuteronomy 26:18, Deuteronomy 26:19). “ Thou hast let the Lord say to-day to be thy God ,” i.e., hast given Him occasion to say to thee that He will be thy God, manifest Himself to thee as thy God. “ And to walk in His ways, and to keep His laws ,” etc., for “and that thou wouldst walk in His ways, and keep His laws.” The acceptance of Jehovah as its God involved eo ipso a willingness to walk in His ways.
Deuteronomy 26:18-19
At the same time, Jehovah had caused the people to be told that they were His treasured people of possession, as He had said in Exodus 19:5-6; and that if they kept all His commandments, He would set them highest above all nations whom He had created, “for praise, and for a name, and for glory,” i.e., make them an object of praise, and renown, and glorification of God, the Lord and Creator of Israel, among all nations (vid., Jeremiah 33:9 and Jeremiah 13:11; Jeremiah 3:19-20). “ And that it should become a holy people unto the Lord ,” as He had already said in Exodus 19:6. The sanctification of Israel was the design and end of its divine election, and would be accomplished in the glory to which the people of God were to be exalted (see the commentary on Exodus 19:5-6). The Hiphil האמיר , which is only found here, has no other meaning than this, “to cause a person to say,” or “ give him occasion to say;” and this is perfectly appropriate here, whereas the other meaning suggested, “to exalt,” has no tenable support either in the paraphrastic rendering of these verses in the ancient versions, or in the Hithpael in Psalms 94:4, and moreover is altogether unsuitable in Deuteronomy 26:17.