INTRODUCTION TO DEUTERONOMY 26 This chapter treats of the basket of firstfruits to be brought and presented to the Lord, and the confession to be made along with it, Deuteronomy 26:1; and of the declaration to be made on the third year, the year of tithing, and the prayer annexed to it, Deuteronomy... [ Continue Reading ]
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... [ Continue Reading ]
THAT THOU SHALT TAKE OF THE FIRST OF ALL THE FRUIT OF THE EARTH,.... This oblation of firstfruits was different front the sheaf of the firstfruits brought at barley harvest in the time of the passover, and from the two wave loaves of wheaten flour, at wheat harvest, at Pentecost; and from the cake o... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THOU SHALT GO UNTO THE PRIEST THAT SHALL BE IN THOSE DAYS,.... Whose course and turn it would be to minister before the Lord; though, according to the Targum of Jonathan, it was the high priest they were to apply to on this occasion; and so Aben Ezra observes, that this law is obligatory all the... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THE PRIEST SHALL TAKE THE BASKET OUT OF THINE HAND,.... To wave it, as Jarchi says, putting his hand under the hand of the owner, and so waving it; and this being waved to and fro towards the several corners of the earth, was an acknowledgment of the Lord being the proprietor of it: AND SET IT... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THOU SHALT SPEAK AND SAY BEFORE THE LORD THY GOD,.... Speak with a loud voice, lifting up the voice, as Jarchi interprets it; or "answer" e, to the question the priest will ask, saying, what is this thou hast brought? as Aben Ezra remarks; and this being said in the tabernacle, and before the pr... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THE EGYPTIANS EVIL ENTREATED US,.... Ordered their male children to be killed by the midwives, and by another edict to be drowned by the people: AND AFFLICTED US; by setting taskmasters over them, who put heavy burdens upon them: AND LAID UPON US HARD BONDAGE; in mortar and brick, and all mann... [ Continue Reading ]
AND WHEN WE CRIED UNTO THE LORD OUR GOD,.... As they did by reason of their hard bondage, Exodus 2:23; AND THE LORD HEARD OUR VOICE, AND LOOKED UPON OUR AFFLICTION, AND OUR LABOUR, AND OUR OPPRESSION; with a look of pity and compassion, heard their cries, answered their petitions, and sent them a d... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THE LORD BROUGHT US FORTH OUT OF EGYPT,.... After some time: WITH A MIGHTY HAND AND WITH AN OUTSTRETCHED ARM; by his almighty power, of which full proof was given by what he then did, Deuteronomy 5:15; AND WITH GREAT TERRIBLENESS: to Pharaoh and his people, through the plagues that were inflic... [ Continue Reading ]
AND HE HATH BROUGHT US UNTO THIS PLACE,.... After forty years travel through the wilderness: AND HATH GIVEN US THIS LAND, [EVEN] A LAND THAT FLOWETH WITH MILK AND HONEY; an usual description of the land of Canaan, because of the great fertility of it, and the abundance of good things in it; see Exo... [ Continue Reading ]
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... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THOU SHALT REJOICE IN EVERY GOOD [THING],.... In all the blessings of goodness and mercies of life, which God in his kind providence had favoured them with: WHICH THE LORD THY GOD HATH GIVEN UNTO THEE, AND UNTO THINE HOUSE; to them and their families, by which they were comfortably provided for... [ Continue Reading ]
WHEN THOU HAST MADE AN END OF TITHING ALL THE TITHES OF THINE INCREASE,.... Which, according to Maimonides k, is to be understood of the feast, in which all tithes are finished, which is the feast of the passover: THE THIRD YEAR, [WHICH IS] THE YEAR OF TITHING; that is, the third from every seventh... [ Continue Reading ]
THEN THOU SHALT SAY BEFORE THE LORD THY GOD,.... Make the following declaration as in his presence; for this was not made in the tabernacle or temple at, Jerusalem, since the tithe was to be eaten with the poor in the gates of the owner, as in Deuteronomy 26:12: I HAVE BROUGHT AWAY THE HALLOWED THI... [ Continue Reading ]
I HAVE NOT EATEN THEREOF IN MY MOURNING,.... When in grief and sorrow on account of any afflictive circumstance, for these were to be eaten with joy, Deuteronomy 16:11; and especially of the loss of relations by death, when holy things were not to be eaten by such persons; see Leviticus 10:19; and p... [ Continue Reading ]
LOOK DOWN FROM THY HOLY HABITATION, FROM HEAVEN,.... This is a prayer of the person that makes the above declaration annexed to it, desiring that God would vouchsafe to look with an eye of love, complacency, and delight, upon him and upon all his people, from heaven his holy habitation, though they... [ Continue Reading ]
THIS DAY THE LORD THY GOD HATH COMMANDED THEE TO DO THESE STATUTES AND JUDGMENTS,.... These are the words of Moses, as Aben Ezra rightly observes, and refer not only to the laws last mentioned, but to all others which he had repeated, or the Lord by him had ordered to be observed, recorded in this b... [ Continue Reading ]
THOU HAST AVOUCHED THE LORD THIS DAY TO BE THY GOD,.... Said, affirmed, protested, and in the most solemn manner declared, that the Lord was their God, and him only; and that they would have no other God, nor worship, serve, or obey any other. The Lord is the God of all mankind, as he is the Creator... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THE LORD HATH AVOUCHED THEE THIS DAY TO BE HIS PECULIAR PEOPLE,.... Affirmed and declared them to be his special people, above all people on the face of the earth, and that they were looked upon and considered by him as his jewels, his peculiar treasure: AS HE HATH PROMISED THEE; on condition o... [ Continue Reading ]
TO MAKE THEE HIGH ABOVE ALL NATIONS,.... None of them having the Lord to be their God and King in such sense as Israel, nor they his people in such a peculiar sense as they were; nor having such laws and statutes as he had given to them; these things gave them a superiority over all other nations:... [ Continue Reading ]