Deuteronomy 26:1

_AND IT SHALL BE, WHEN THOU ART COME IN UNTO THE LAND WHICH THE LORD THY GOD GIVETH THEE FOR AN INHERITANCE, AND POSSESSEST IT, AND DWELLEST THEREIN;_ No JFB commentary on this verse....

1._And it shall be when thou art come. _The Israelites are commanded to offer their first-fruits, for the same reason that they were to pay the tribute for every soul; viz., that they might confess that they themselves, and all that they had, belonged to God. This was the only distinction, that the tribute was a symbol of their emancipation, that they might acknowledge themselves to be free, as having been redeemed by the special mercy of God; but by the firstfruits they testified that the land was tributary to God, and that they were masters of it by no other title than as tenants at will, so that the direct sovereignty and property of it remained with God alone. This, then, was the object of the first-fruits, that they might renew every year the recollection of their adoption; because the land of Canaan was given to them as their peculiar inheritance, in which they were to worship God...

1-11 When God has made good his promises to us, he expects we should own it to the honour of his faithfulness. And our creature comforts are doubly sweet, when we see them flowing from the fountain of the promise. The person who offered his first-fruits, must remember and own the mean origin of that nation, of which he was a member. A Syrian ready to perish was my father. Jacob is here called a Syrian. Their nation in its infancy sojourned in Egypt as strangers, they served there as slaves. They were a poor, despised, oppressed people in Egypt; and though become rich and great, had no reason to be proud, secure, or forgetful of God. He must thankfully acknowledge God's great goodness to Israel. The comfort we have in our own enjoyments, should lead us to be thankful for our share in public peace and plenty; and with present mercies we should bless the Lord for the former mercies we reme...

CHAPTER XXVI _First-fruits must be offered to God_, 1, 2. _The form of confession to be used on the occasion_, 3-11. _The third year's tithe to be given to the Levites and the poor_, 12, _and the form of confession to be used on this occasion_, 13-15. _The Israelites are to take Jehovah for their God, and to keep_ _his testimonies_, 16, 17. _And Jehovah is to take them for his people, and make them high_ _above all the nations of the earth_, 18, 19. NOTES ON CHAP. XXVI...

Two liturgical enactments having a clear and close reference to the whole of the preceding legislation, form a most appropriate and significant conclusion to it, namely, (1) the formal acknowledgment in deed and symbol of God’s faithfulness, by presentment of a basket filled with firstfruits, and in word by recitation of the solemn formula prescribed in Deuteronomy 26:3, Deuteronomy 26:5; and (2) the solemn declaration and profession on the part of each Israelite on the occasion of the third tithe Deuteronomy 26:12....

EXPOSITION THANKSGIVING AND PRAYER AT THE PRESENTATION OF FIRSTFRUITS AND TITHES. As Moses began his exposition of the laws and rights instituted for Israel by a reference to the sanctuary as the place which the Lord should choose, and the place where religious service was to be rendered (Deuteronomy 12:1.), so here he follows up his address by a reference to the same. Of the gifts which had to be presented at the sanctuary there were two specially connected with the social and domestic life of the people, viz. the firstfruits and the second tithe. To these, by a natural transition from the preceding discourse—occupied as that is with injunctions regarding their social and domestic relations—Mos

AND IT SHALL BE, WHEN THOU [ART] COME IN UNTO THE LAND,.... The land of Canaan, which they were now on the borders of, and just entering into: WHICH THE LORD THY GOD GIVETH THEE [FOR] AN INHERITANCE; which is often mentioned, to observe that it was not through their merits, but his gift, that they should enjoy the land; and the rather here to enforce the following law concerning the basket of firstfruits: AND POSSESSEST IT, AND DWELLEST THEREIN; not only had entered into it, but got the possession of it, and settled there. This shows as Jarchi observes, that they were not bound to the firstfruits till they had subdued the land and divided it; not as soon as they were in it....

22. FIRSTFRUITS AND PRAYER CHAPTER 26 _ 1. The basket of first-fruits, confession and rejoicing (Deuteronomy 26:1)_ 2. Obedience yielded and prayer (Deuteronomy 26:12) 3. Jehovah acknowledges His people (Deuteronomy 26:16) The possession of the land is anticipated and a most beautiful ceremony is appointed for confession and worship in the place the Lord chose to place His Name there. The first of all the fruit of the land was to be gathered and put in a basket. This basket was presented unto the priest with the following words: “I profess this day unto the LORD thy God, that I am come unto the country which the LORD sware unto our fathers for to give us

A preliminary offering of first-fruits (Deuteronomy 18:4) is to be presented annually in a basket (Deuteronomy 28:5; Deuteronomy 28:17) at the Temple, a hymn or liturgy, acknowledging Yahweh's goodness, to be recited at the same time. 1. = Deuteronomy 17:14_ a_. Deuteronomy 26:2. Render, some of the first-fruits of the ground. This seems to have constituted a small sacrificial meal, anticipatory of that supplied by the rest of the first-fruits....

LAND. Heb _'erez_. Canaan....