The Offering of the Firstfruits (Deuteronomy 26:1-11).
The offering of the firstfruits was to take place at the Feast of Sevens when the harvest had hopefully been gathered in. Here Israel were commanded to gather their firstfruits once they were in the land and bring them to Yahweh at the place that He will choose, declaring their gratitude to Him as they acknowledged what He had done for them, and placing their tribute before Him.
Analysis in the words of Moses:
a And it shall be, when you are come in to the land which Yahweh your God gives you for an inheritance, and possess it, and dwell in it, 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 (Deuteronomy 26:1-2).
b And you shall come to the priest who will be in those days, and say to him, “I declare this day to Yahweh your God, that I am come to the land which Yahweh swore to our fathers to give us” (Deuteronomy 26:3).
c And the priest shall take the basket out of your hand, and set it down before the altar of Yahweh your God (Deuteronomy 26:4).
d And you shall answer and say before Yahweh your God, “A wandering Aramaean (or ‘an Aramaean 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” (Deuteronomy 26:5).
d “And the Egyptians dealt ill with us, and afflicted us, and laid on us hard bondage, 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, and Yahweh 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” (Deuteronomy 26:6-9).
c “And He has brought us into this place (maqom), and has given us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey” (Deuteronomy 26:9).
b “And now, behold, I have brought the first of the fruit of the ground, which you, O Yahweh, have given me.” And you shall set it down before Yahweh your God, and worship before Yahweh your God (Deuteronomy 26:10).
a 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 resident alien who is in the midst of you' (Deuteronomy 26:11).
Note that in ‘a' when they come in to the land which ‘Yahweh their God' gives them for an inheritance, to possess it, and dwell in it, that they must take of the first of all the fruit of the ground, which they must bring in from your land that Yahweh their God ‘gives them', and put it in a basket, and go to the place which Yahweh their God shall choose, to cause his name to dwell there, and in the parallel they are to rejoice in all the good that ‘Yahweh their God' has ‘given them'. In ‘b' they must come to the priest who will be in those days, and say to him, “I declare this day to Yahweh your God, that I am come to the land which Yahweh swore to our fathers to give us” and in the parallel declare that “I have brought the first of the fruit of the ground, which you, O Yahweh, have given me” and set it down before ‘Yahweh your God' and pay Him homage and worship Him (note here the reversal of ‘Yahweh your God' and Yahweh' in the second part). In ‘c' the priest will take the basket out of their hand, and set it down before the altar of Yahweh their God and in the parallel they will point to it and declare “And He has brought us into this place (maqom), and has given us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey” as indicated by the basket of firstfruits.
In ‘d' they declare And you shall answer and say before Yahweh your God, “A wandering Aramaean (or ‘an Aramaean 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”, while in the parallel they declare “and the Egyptians dealt ill with us, and afflicted us, and laid on us hard bondage, 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, and Yahweh 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”. Note that both statements commence with a picture of lowliness, refer to Egypt, and multiply nouns ‘great, mighty, and populous' compared with ‘our affliction, and our toil, and our oppression' and ‘with great terribleness, and with signs, and with wonders'.
‘ And it shall be, when you are come in to the land which Yahweh your God gives you for an inheritance, and possess it, and dwell in it,'
This was to take place when they have come into the land, and possess it and dwell in it. As ever the basis for what they are doing would be that Yahweh had brought them safely into the land, which He had given them as an inheritance to possess and dwell in (compare Deuteronomy 12:1; Deuteronomy 25:19. See also Deuteronomy 15:4; Deuteronomy 17:14; Deuteronomy 19:2; Deuteronomy 19:14; Deuteronomy 21:1). They were to enjoy that land to the full. And as can be seen His aim was that there be no poor (Deuteronomy 15:4), that no innocent blood be spilled there (Deuteronomy 19:2; Deuteronomy 21:1), and that no ancient landmarks be removed (Deuteronomy 19:14). Their future would thus consist in personal security, security of life, and security of property for all, a land of blessing indeed.
‘ 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, and you shall come to the priest who will be in those days, and say to him, “I declare this day to Yahweh your God, that I am come to the land which Yahweh swore to our fathers to give us.” '
Thus when the time of growth arrives their first move must be to gather from ‘the first of all the fruit of the ground', and bring it in from the land that Yahweh has given them and go to the place which Yahweh their God has chosen. Note the repetition of the fact that it is the land that Yahweh has given them. This is what the firstfruit is declaring, gratitude to their Overlord for that land. And in order to express that gratitude they were going to the place which He had chosen and caused His name to dwell there, and where, from an earthly point of view (see Deuteronomy 26:15), He now dwelt in His glory. They were going in order to declare their loyalty and pay tribute.
They will come to the priest (the appointed Priest at the Sanctuary, at this time Eliezer) who will be in office in those days (which yet lie ahead while Moses is speaking), with a basket of produce carefully selected from the firstfruits, and make their first covenant declaration. ‘I declare this day to Yahweh your God that I am come to the land which Yahweh swore to our fathers to give us'. Note what the heart of their confession is, that Yahweh swore to their fathers to give them the land (Deuteronomy 1:8; Deuteronomy 6:10; Deuteronomy 6:18; Deuteronomy 6:23; Deuteronomy 7:13; Deuteronomy 8:1; Deuteronomy 9:5; Deuteronomy 10:11; Deuteronomy 11:9; Deuteronomy 11:21), and that that is why they have come there in obedience to His will, because they have now received it at His hands, as the firstfruits that they have brought amply demonstrate. They are presenting their credentials and evidence of faithful service to their Overlord's representative, as any tribute bearer would do.
What a contrast is this noble and humble declaration to that which was forbidden in Deuteronomy 9:4 which was a boast of innocence. Here they do not declare their innocence, they rather recognise that they are there because of Yahweh's gracious oath to the patriarchs their fathers.
The basket would be of wicker-work (compare Deuteronomy 28:5; Deuteronomy 28:17). For the law of the firstfruit see Deuteronomy 18:4; Exodus 23:16; Exodus 23:19; Exodus 34:22; Exodus 34:26; Leviticus 23:17; Numbers 18:12-13; Numbers 28:26.
Apart from the description here which is very much abbreviated we do not know how this ceremony was first kept. But in later times every family head would bring his basket of firstfruits, and it would be brought with the above words to the priest, who would wave it before Yahweh at the altar before setting it down. The second declaration would then be made by the worshipper who would then, on speaking the words in verse 10, himself present the basket ‘before Yahweh'.
‘ And the priest shall take the basket out of your hand, and set it down before the altar of Yahweh your God.'
As each family head comes with their basket of firstfruits and makes the declaration in Deuteronomy 26:3, the priest will then accept their basket of firstfruits, and ‘set it down before the altar of Yahweh', as tribute to Him as their Great Overlord.
The people will then make, before the Overlord's representative, their second, longer covenant declaration given in Deuteronomy 26:5 onwards, in which they express their gratitude for what the Great King has done for them. It commences with a brief history of the past emphasising their previous lowliness, celebrates Yahweh's deliverance and how He has brought them to this land, a land flowing with milk and honey, and then offers the firstfruit of the ground which He has given them, at which point they pay Him homage. It is a typical covenant response.
‘ And you shall answer and say before Yahweh your God, “A wandering Aramaean (or ‘an Aramaean 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.” '
This is to be the people's covenant declaration, as no doubt formulated by Moses for their use. They are to begin by declaring their background. Their father was ‘an Aramaean (Arami)'. That is, he had come originally from Aram. Both Abraham, and then Jacob on his return to Canaan, had come from Aram to the north of Canaan (Genesis 11:31; Genesis 25:20; Genesis 28:5; Genesis 28:7; Genesis 31:20; Genesis 31:24; compare Hosea 12:12), and Jacob's whole family, from whom the children of Israel were theoretically descended, had been born in Aram. The description was probably intended to signify humility. The ‘wandering Aramaeans' might well have been despised in Egypt.
“Wandering/ready to perish” (either is possible, for the word has connotations of wandering hopelessly).' This may signify that as a result of the famine Jacob had been ready to perish, but more probably in this context emphasises the fact that he had no settled home but had wandered from place to place because they had no land of their own. See Psalms 105:12-25.
But either way he had gone with his households to Egypt to reside there because of his need, also on a temporary basis (Exodus 1:1-5). They had at first been ‘few in number' (compare Genesis 34:30). They were probably a few thousand made up of ‘seventy' close family members with their households (Genesis 46:8-27). As Abraham's household included 318 fighting men (Genesis 14:14) it may well be that the households of the twelve patriarchs contained a great deal more. Remember how they had decimated Shechem (Genesis 34).
But while dwelling in Egypt they had become a mighty and populous nation because Yahweh had been with them (Exodus 1:20). Note the emphasis on what Yahweh had done. They were wanderers and they were few, but from the few He had produced this multitude (compare Deuteronomy 1:10; Psalms 105:12-25).
In mind in these words is their change in circumstances. They had been humble, but they had become great. They had been wanderers, but now they had Yahweh's land. They had been few and weak, but now they were a mighty and populous nation.
“ And the Egyptians dealt ill with us, and afflicted us, and laid on us hard bondage, 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, and Yahweh 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,”
Their potted history, provided to their Overlord's representative as an act of submission, continues. Egypt had dealt ill with them, afflicting them and laying on them hard bondage. The result had been that they had cried to Yahweh (Exodus 2:23; Exodus 3:9) the God of their fathers (Exodus 3:6; Exodus 3:13-16). And He had seen their threefold afflictions (Exodus 3:7; Exodus 4:31), their ‘affliction and toil and oppression'. Note the threefold emphasis indicating the completeness of their troubles. They had been afflicted, they had toiled, they had been oppressed. Life had been very difficult.
But their mighty Deliverer, the God of their fathers, had intervened. He had delivered them and brought them forth out of Egypt with fivefold power, ‘with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, and with great terribleness, and with signs and with wonders'. The fivefoldness stresses that the deliverance was greater than the affliction and made with covenant power. Five is the number of covenant. It incorporated great strength and power, awesomeness, and miraculous manifestations, all drawing out the mightiness of their Deliverer. (Exactly what any Overlord would want to hear).
The whole declaration reads like an ancient and carefully worded submission, based on the early Exodus history, stressing the humbleness of the submitter (a wandering Aramaean would have been seen as the lowest of the low) and the glory of the Deliverer, and even the sceptical agree that it is indeed very ancient. In view of its tone it is probable that Moses prepared it in readiness for the occasion, for he knew the etiquette for approaching great overlords, but it may be that something like it was already in use in their current ceremonies. However, later generations would not be likely to have thought in terms of their father Jacob as ‘an Aramaean'. But we should note that it is not a creed. This is not the place for a creed. It is rather a declaration of what they are, in humble terms, and what their great Overlord has done for them. Sinai would not fit in here. The emphasis is on their previous weak and humble state and their mighty deliverance, not on the niceties of the covenant. It is an act of submission.
“ And he has brought us into this place (maqom), and has given us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey.”
Note the contrast with Deuteronomy 26:6, ‘he (Jacob) went down into Egypt --- and the Egyptians dealt ill with us, and afflicted us, and laid on us hard bondage.' Now they gratefully declare that ‘Yahweh has brought them into this place' and has given them this land, ‘a land flowing with milk and honey', a land which contains all that a man could desire. So while Jacob had taken them into affliction and bondage and hard toil, Yahweh has brought them to a land flowing with milk and honey.
(To have brought any more detail into this statement would have been to wreck its stark impact. It precisely describes what is in mind as they at that stage look at their present condition and compare it with the past. This is not a statement of faith so much as a declaration of loyalty and gratitude).
Thus to the priest, the Overlord's representative, they have now fully explained why they have come, in typical covenant fashion. It is in order to express how great has been their Overlord's supreme goodness to them, which they want Him to know that they appreciate fully.
“Place” (maqom) has been regularly used of the place which Yahweh would choose. Here the same word is applied to the whole land. That too was chosen by Yahweh.
“ And now, behold, I have brought the first of the fruit of the ground, which you, O Yahweh, have given me.” And you shall set it down before Yahweh your God, and worship before Yahweh your God.'
Then finally they get to the point of why they have now come. It is to pay tribute of the firstfruit of their ground which He had given them (to as it were pay their rent). At this point they then take up their basket of firstfruit, which the priest had previously waved before Yahweh and set down and which symbolises all their firstfruits, and ceremonially again set it down ‘before Yahweh', (often spoken of in terms of ‘at the door of the tent of meeting'), and pay homage to Him in adoration and worship. Their submission is complete.
Others see the reference to setting down as simply a reminder of what had been done in Deuteronomy 26:4-5.
This whole depiction of the ceremony is clearly abbreviated, and we can imagine the busyness of the actual scene when it took place. Many would be flooding in from all parts of the land with their baskets, each of which had to be ceremonially presented twice, once to the priest for him to wave before Yahweh, and then as the offering of the worshipper, possibly by a simple laying of a hand on it to identify himself with his gift, to be followed by his act of submission.
The second setting down would be a further stage in the ceremony coming later than Deuteronomy 26:4. The setting down by the priest was a setting down before the altar by the priest as a preliminary gesture, certainly later after waving it before Yahweh (on the grounds that the firstfruits were the priests and had to be so dedicated), accompanied by the first brief statement, (the basket would be heavy). It would then be followed by the longer statement with the speaker picking up or laying his hand on his basket as he speaks the words of verse 10 and offers it with those words, setting it down again ‘before Yahweh'.
Note the change from plural to singular. Each individual family head first recited the history in terms of the whole nation and then makes his family's personal offering.
‘ 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 resident alien who is in the midst of you.'
To this Moses adds that they must then rejoice in all the good that Yahweh has given to them; to the family head and to the whole family, and, they must remember, to the Levite and resident alien that dwell among them. It is to be a time of rejoicing (compare Deuteronomy 12:7; Deuteronomy 12:12; Deuteronomy 12:18). This rejoicing would include their feasting before Yahweh.