Deuteronomy 16:9

Seven weeks shalt thou number unto thee Hence the name of the Feast, Weeks, Shabu-ôth, Deuteronomy 16:10; Deuteronomy 16:16, also in J, Exodus 34:22. H, Leviticus 23:16, prescribes fifty daysfrom the sabbath after the presentation before the Altar of the first sheaf of the harvest; hence the Hellenistic name Pentecost, -the fiftieth" (day) or the day after the conclusion of the seven weeks. The name given by E, Exodus 23:16, Harvest, implies that the harvest was by that time concluded. In the warmest parts of Palestine barley ripens in April, wheat later; but in colder districts the harvest is not finished for at least seven weeks more. The present writer has seen wheat reaped in Ḥauran as late as the second half of June.

from the time thou beginnest, etc.] Lit. from the start of the sickle(only here and Deuteronomy 23:25) on the standing corn, a variable date; so H, Leviticus 23:15 f., Lev_23: 50 days from the sabbath after the presentation of the first sheaf. It is significant that while D's date starts from Maṣṣoth, he says nothing to date Weeks from the Passover: another indication that when the original code of D was drawn up the Passover and Maṣṣoth were not yet amalgamated. See introd. to Deuteronomy 16:1.