Exodus 23:19

The first of the firstfruits of thy land thou shalt bring into the house of the LORD thy God. Thou shalt not seethe a kid in his mother's milk.

The first of the first-fruits of thy land thou shalt bring into the house of the Lord thy God (see the notes at Exodus 23:15; Numbers 18:12; Deuteronomy 26:2) х ree'shiyt (H7225) bikuwriym (H1061)] - not the highest, the best, and most excellent, as the word frequently signifies, but the beginning, the earliest, the very first of all the fruits which the earth yielded-the first-fruits of every species, animal as well as vegetable, although it is land-produce that is principally meant here. [The Septuagint has: tas aparchas toon prootogenieematoon tees gees-`the first of the products of the land.']

Josephus describes the manner of offering the first-fruits of their barley, the grain which was earliest ripe ('Antiquities,' b. 3:, ch. 10:, sec. 5). 'they take an handful of the ears and dry them, then beat them small, and purge the barley from the bran; they then bring one-tenth deal to the altar to God, and, casting one handful of it upon the fire, they leave the rest a perquisite to the priest. And after this it is that they publicly or privately reap their harvest'

The objection of Davidson ('Introduction'), that the mention of the first-fruits being brought into the house of the Lord affords a proof of the tabernacle having been in existence, ere these commands were issued or this record was made, is quite futile, since the entire context refers to national festivals, which, though mentioned by anticipation, were not to be celebrated until the settlement in Canaan.

Thou shalt not seethe a kid in his mother's milk. This precept has been frequently represented as an excess of legislative refinement on the part of Moses, whose leading object was to lead the people to avoid even the appearance of unfeeling barbarity. If it was designed merely to discourage an act of thoughtless cruelty, it would rank in the same class with other humane regulations which are embodied in the Mosaic code (see Leviticus 22:28; Deuteronomy 22:16; Deuteronomy 25:4). Michaelis considers it as bearing only on a point of domestic economy-namely, to teach the rude people the right way of cooking their food not with milk or amid butter, but with olive-oil, as more savoury; and other writers have assigned other reasons. Calmet (Taylor's 'Fragments'), suggests a different translation of the clause. Thou shalt not cook a kid while it is on its mother's milk' - i:e., during the period necessary for its own nutrition, as well as for the ease of the dam; because it is well known that the females of all creatures, after parturition, are oppressed with their milk.

But the repetition of this interdict (Exodus 34:26) immediately after the direction about offering the first-fruits in harvest, shows (though Deuteronomy 14:21 does not appear to support this view) that the prohibition had a specific reference to a pagan custom; and accordingly there is reason to believe that it was designed to prevent an imitation of the superstitious rites of idolaters, who at the end of the harvest seethed a kid in its mother's milk, and sprinkled the broth as a magical charm on their gardens and fields, to render them more productive the following season (Maimon., 'More Nevoch,' 3:, 48; Cudworth, Discourse on the Lord's Supper').

Spencer ('De Legibus Hebraeorum,' 2:, 8) has shown that this pagan practice was observed with the same view among the ancient Zabii. The practice is still prevalent among the Aruba. Dr. Thomson ('The Land and the Book,' vol. 1:,p. 135) says-`They select a young kid, fat and tender, dress it carefully, and then stew it in milk, generally mixed with onions and hot spices, such as they relish. They call it Lebu immu - "kid in its mother's milk." It is a gross and unwholesome dish, calculated to kindle up animal and ferocious passions; and on this account, as well as its barbarity, Moses may have forbidden it. Besides, it is even yet associated with immoderate feasting, and originally was connected with idolatrous sacrifices. After seeing the dish actually prepared, and hearing the very name given to it which Moses employs, we have the whole mystery explained. It is a dish cooked in blood; and the reason assigned (Genesis 9:4) for the original prohibition continues in full force to this day.'