Chapter Twenty-Six
Initial Firstfruits Offerings
26:1 “When you come into the land that the LORD your God is giving you for an inheritance and have taken possession of it and live in it, 2 you shall take some of the first of all the fruit of the ground, which you harvest from your land that the LORD your God is giving you, and you shall put it in a basket, and you shall go to the place that the LORD your God will choose, to make his name to dwell there. 3 And you shall go to the priest who is in office at that time and say to him, ‘I declare today to the LORD your God that I have come into the land that the LORD swore to our fathers to give us.’ 4 Then the priest shall take the basket from your hand and set it down before the altar of the LORD your God.
When the people of Israel have settled in the Promised Land the farmers are to take and place in a basket some of their first produce (firstfruits) of each initial crop of everything that was grown and harvested in the land. They are to bring the baskets to the place where YHWH has chosen (being the location of the Tabernacle at that time). The farmer is to proclaim to the priest in charge, “With this gift I acknowledge to the LORD your God that I have entered the land he swore to our ancestors he would give us.” (Deuteronomy 26:3b, NLT) The priest is then to take the baskets and place the offerings before the bronze altar.
26:5 “And you shall make response before the LORD your God, ‘A wandering Aramean was my father. And he went down into Egypt and sojourned there, few in number, and there he became a nation, great, mighty, and populous. 6 And the Egyptians treated us harshly and humiliated us and laid on us hard labor. 7 Then we cried to the LORD, the God of our fathers, and the LORD heard our voice and saw our affliction, our toil, and our oppression. 8 And the LORD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, with great deeds of terror, with signs and wonders. 9 And he brought us into this place and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey. 10 And behold, now I bring the first of the fruit of the ground, which you, O LORD, have given me.’ And you shall set it down before the LORD your God and worship before the LORD your God. 11 And you shall rejoice in all the good that the LORD your God has given to you and to your house, you, and the Levite, and the sojourner who is among you.
Once the offering is placed before YHWH, they were to continue their proclamation with a brief review of their history and how God responded to their cry for help and brought them to the Promised Land. In response, they were to bring the first of the produce harvested as an offering and worship. They were to then rejoice because of all the good things God has given them. The celebration was also to include their entire house, plus any Levites living near them and any visitor traveling among them.
While this process is like the regular and ongoing offerings of firstfruits (see Exodus 23:19; 34:26; Leviticus 2:12; 19:23-25), this sequence is most often interpreted as applying only to the initial offerings (each farmer after each crop) given after entering the land. However, many of the elements found in these passages (the recitals, etc.), have been included in the Mishnah Tractate Bikkurim relating to all firstfruits offerings in general.
It is interesting to note that the term ‘Aram’ (Hebrew ‘ǎrǎm·miy’)[1] can refer to anyone who is either a Syrian or Aramean. The use of the word here may refer to the ancestors of Israel that came out of the region known as Paddan-aram (see Genesis 25:20; 28:2-7; 31:18; 33:18; 35:9; 35:26; 46:15; 48:7). Therefore, the phrase, “wandering Aramean,” could be a reference to any of Israel’s patriarchs, namely, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, or any of the twelve sons. It is more often interpreted as being a reference to Jacob (also known as Israel). We need to remember that the reference to being a father (Hebrew word ‘ā·ḇi’),[2] is much like the word ‘bēn’,[3] which can refer to any son in a person’s lineage, it could also be a reference to any previous father, even one many generations ago.[4]
Recital After Giving Tithes
26:12 “When you have finished paying all the tithe of your produce in the third year, which is the year of tithing, giving it to the Levite, the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow, so that they may eat within your towns and be filled, 13 then you shall say before the LORD your God, ‘I have removed the sacred portion out of my house, and moreover, I have given it to the Levite, the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow, according to all your commandment that you have commanded me. I have not transgressed any of your commandments, nor have I forgotten them. 14 I have not eaten of the tithe while I was mourning, or removed any of it while I was unclean, or offered any of it to the dead. I have obeyed the voice of the LORD my God. I have done according to all that you have commanded me. 15 Look down from your holy habitation, from heaven, and bless your people Israel and the ground that you have given us, as you swore to our fathers, a land flowing with milk and honey.’
After following the procedure of offering their tithes as outlined in Deuteronomy 14:22-29, they are to proclaim to God what they have done.
Since the location where this proclamation is to take place is not specifically mentioned, most believe it is to be offered in the same location as the tithes are stored in their individual towns (see Deuteronomy 14:28-29). Others believe it was to be done at, “the place that the LORD your God will choose,” (see verse two) before leaving during one of the three pilgrimage festivals, as suggested by Josephus in his “The Antiquities of the Jews” (4.242):
But when anyone hath done this, and hath brought the tithe of all that he has, together with those firstfruits that are for the Levites, and for the festivals, and when he is about to go home, let him stand before the holy house, and return thanks to God, that he hath delivered them from the injurious treatment they had in Egypt, and hath given them a good land, and a large, and lets them enjoy the fruits thereof; and when he hath openly testified that he hath fully paid the tithes [and other dues] according to the laws of Moses.[5]
The recital is a request for further blessings from God. Here the blessings are not for themselves but for the people of Israel collectively and a blessing of prosperity for their land.
Keep These Commandments
26:16 “This day the LORD your God commands you to do these statutes and rules. You shall therefore be careful to do them with all your heart and with all your soul. 17 You have declared today that the LORD is your God, and that you will walk in his ways, and keep his statutes and his commandments and his rules, and will obey his voice. 18 And the LORD has declared today that you are a people for his treasured possession, as he has promised you, and that you are to keep all his commandments, 19 and that he will set you in praise and in fame and in honor high above all nations that he has made, and that you shall be a people holy to the LORD your God, as he promised.”
Now that the presentation of the rules and regulations is over, Moses summarizes the mutual commitments. He tells the people that they are to be careful to observe the commands, not just with actions, but with all their hearts and souls (truly desiring to serve and obey God). In response to their obedience, God declares them to be His people, a treasured possession, to be praised and honored above all other nations, being a people holy to YHWH, as He promised.
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[1] Strong’s Hebrew 761.
[2] Strong’s Hebrew 1.
[3] Strong’s Hebrew 1121.
[4] See Considerations under Genesis 10:32.
[5] Josephus, F., & Whiston, W. (1987). The works of Josephus: complete and unabridged (p. 119). Peabody: Hendrickson.