Deuteronomy 26 - Introduction

Presentation of Firstfruits

When settled in the land Israel shall take of the first of the fruit in a basket to the One Altar (Deuteronomy 26:1 f.); and coming to the priest shall declare to God their arrival in the land He sware to give them and the priest shall set the basket before the Altar (Deuteronomy 26:3 f.). In prayer Israel shall solemnly recall their history from their nomad Aramean origins, their descent to Egypt, their growth there and bitter bondage, their deliverance and guidance to this fertile land (Deuteronomy 26:5-9); and setting the firstfruits before God they shall worship and rejoice in the good He has given, along with their households, Levites and gçrîm(Deuteronomy 26:10 f.). Deuteronomy 26:1 f. show evidence of expansion (see on Deuteronomy 26:2). Deuteronomy 26:3 f. raise a more serious question. To the going tothe sanctuary (Deuteronomy 26:2, as in Deuteronomy 12:5; Deuteronomy 14:25) they add a coming to the priest, and assign to him a part of the procedure which Deuteronomy 26:10 assigns to the worshippers; also they partly anticipate the worshippers" profession to God in Deuteronomy 26:5 ff. [148] It is possible that, like Deuteronomy 21:5 (q.v.), they are a later insertion from a time when the rights of the priests were more emphasised and elaborated. But whatever answer be given to this textual question, other problems remain: the relation of this firstor reshîth(a) to the reshîthassigned by Deuteronomy 18:4 to the priests (cp. H, Leviticus 23:20 which assigns to the priests the bread of the bikkûrîmor firstfruits); and (b) to the tithes, Deuteronomy 14:22 ff.

[148] This point is not so clear as the others. The older commentators take the worshippers profession in Deuteronomy 26:3 as a natural introduction to that in 5 ff. So also Cullen, p. 81.

(a) Is all the reshîthintended here for the priests (Dillm., Dri., W. R. Smith, Rel. Sem. 220 f.), or is some or all of it to be consumed by the worshippers at the ritual meal which formed part of such pilgrimage-feasts (Deuteronomy 12:7; Deuteronomy 12:18; Deuteronomy 14:23; Deuteronomy 14:26)? In favour of the former hypothesis are these: (1) Deuteronomy 26:10 f. say that the reshîthis to be set down before God and do not even hint that the worshippers shall partake of it; (2) Deuteronomy 18:4 assigns the reshîth(of corn, wine, oil, fleece) to the priests. In that case the meal of the worshippers would be that of the pilgrimage-feast at which the reshîthwas presented; some think the Feast of Weeks (Dri., Berth., etc.), but by its date the wine and oil were not ready.

(b) What was the relation of the reshîthto the tithes, presented at the sanctuary two years out of every three? The reasons for identifying them (Steuern., Nowack, Heb. Arch. ii. 126) are insufficient; those for distinguishing them are stronger but also not conclusive: (1) If they were the same it is difficult to see why D should use two different terms for them without explanation; and even the LXX translators distinguish the two, tithesδεκάτη, reshîthἀπαρχή. (2) The titheswere to be consumed by the worshippers; if they were too large to be carried to the sanctuary they might be converted into money, to be spent there on foods for the worshippers (Deuteronomy 14:23-27), the priest no doubt getting his share; but (as we have seen) the reshîthfell wholly to the priests (Deuteronomy 18:4). Ambiguity, however, rises from the direction in Deuteronomy 26:2, that it is part of the reshîthwhich is to be put into a basket and laid before God; for this renders it possible to argue that this was just part of the tithes. In the obscurity which rests upon the earlier history of the tithes in Israel (see Add. Note to Deuteronomy 14:22 ff.) the question cannot be dogmatically answered. It is possible that the reshîthis rather to be identified with the terumah, contribution(EVV. -heave-offering") of the hand, Deuteronomy 12:6; Deuteronomy 12:11; Deuteronomy 12:17 (Berth.).