Matthew Henry on Deuteronomy 26:1-11
Here is, I. A good work ordered to be done, and that is the presenting of a basket of their first-fruits to God every year, Deu 26:1, Deu 26:2. Besides the sheaf of first-fruits, which was offered for the whole land, on the morrow after the passover (Lev 23:10), every man was to bring for himself a basket of first-fruits at the feast of pentecost, when the harvest was ended, which is therefore called the feast of first-fruits (Exo 34:22), and is said to be kept with a tribute of free-will-offering, Deu 16:10. But the Jews say, "The first-fruits, if not brought then, might be brought any time after, between that and winter." When a man went into the field or vineyard at the time when the frui…
Read the whole note in the consoleJamieson-Fausset-Brown on Deuteronomy 26:5
thou shalt say . . . A Syrian ready to perish was my father--rather, "a wandering Syrian." The ancestors of the Hebrews were nomad shepherds, either Syrians by birth as Abraham, or by long residence as Jacob. When they were established as a nation in the possession of the promised land, they were indebted to God's unmerited goodness for their distinguished privileges, and in token of gratitude they brought this basket of first-fruits.
John Gill on Deuteronomy 26:10
And now, behold, I have brought the firstfruits of the land,
which thou, O Lord, hast given me,.... Directing his speech not to the priest, but to the Lord himself; owning that the part of the land he had, and the fruits he enjoyed, were the gifts of God to him, and therefore, as in gratitude bound, brought him the firstfruits:
and thou shalt set it before the Lord thy God; these are the words of Moses, or of the law, directing the man what further he had to do; and this, as Jarchi thinks, shows that he took it after the priest waved it, and laid hold on it with his hand while he was reading (his confession), turning and waving:
and worship before the Lord thy God; bow before him in a rev…
Read the whole note in the consoleJohn Calvin
