Deuteronomy 28:5 - Ellicott's Commentary On The Whole Bible

Thy basket — (Only here and in Deuteronomy 28:17, and Deuteronomy 26:2; Deuteronomy 26:4) — i.e., the portion which is brought out for the present occasion. Thy store, that which is left, and put away for future use. But this view rests upon the LXX. translation of the word for “store.” All the Targums, and all the Jewish commentators I have been able to consult, and the lexicons also, take a different view. The word is identical in form with that used for “kneading troughs” in Exodus 8:3; Exodus 12:34. And so the contrast is taken to be, either (1) between firstfruits in their natural condition (Deuteronomy 26:2) and the dough offered when already prepared for food, as in the wave-loaves (Leviticus 23:17); or (2) between the basket in which the corn is carried and the receptacle for the meal or dough, or (as Rashi takes it) between the vessel for things moist and the vessel for things dry. But the view taken by the LXX. is as old as any, and the contrast indicated by “basket” and “store” is simpler and more comprehensive than that which is drawn from a reference to the details of the law. The Authorised Version is, therefore, distinctly to be preferred, in my opinion. There are other technical reasons, which cannot be given here.