Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye be come into the land which I give unto you, and shall reap the harvest thereof, then ye shall bring a sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest unto the priest:
A sheaf of the first-fruits - a sheaf х `omer (H6016)], an omer of the first-fruits of the barley harvest. The barley being sooner ripe than the other grains, the reaping of it formed the commencement of the general harvest season; because previous to that, no Israelite could begin his harvest nor eat of the new grain. The offering described in this passage was made on the sixteenth of the first month (Abib or Nisan), the day following the first passover Sabbath, which was on the fifteenth (corresponding to the beginning of our April), and the second day of the festival, the sixteenth of the month (Josephus, 'Antiquities,' book 3:, ch. 10:, sec. 5); but it was reaped after sunset on the previous evening, by persons deputed to go with sickles and obtain samples from different fields. These being laid together in a sheaf or loose bundle, were brought to the court of the temple, where the grain was winnowed, parched, and bruised in a mortar. Josephus mentions that it was х qaaliy (H7039)] (Leviticus 23:14) parched or dried before the fire, because the grain might not be generally ripe.