Deuteronomy 26

to Ceres, p. 733.) Ndw, if the basket here mentioned was made of these, or any other metal, the Jews say, the priest was to restore it to the owner, when he had emptied it: but if it was a wicker basket, or such-like, the priest had it together with the first-fruits. (See Wagenseil upon Mischna Sota, cap. 7. sect. 3.) And shalt go vnto the place which the Lord thy God shall choose to place his name there.] The man himself was to go, as the Jews say, with the basket upon his shoulder: and a great company were wont to go together, who met at the chief city of their province. The time of going was at the feast of Pentecost,’ (Exod. xxiii.16.) not before, but at any time after, till the feast of dedication, which was in our November: after which they were not accepted. Of the manner of going up with a bullock before them, whose horns were gilt, and head crowned with an olive garland, with music, and singing in the way the first verse of Psalm exxii. &c. see Wagenseil," in the place abovementioned; and Selden, lib. iii. de Synedriis, cap. 13. n. 3. with Dr. Lightfoot in his Temple Service. - And here I cannot but think fit to note, that the heathen, in all probability, from hence derived the custom of carrying their first-fruits, as a tithe every year, unto the island Delos, where Apollo was supposed to have his special residence. And this not only from the islands thereabouts, and the neighbouring countries, but from all parts of the world; as the Jews we find every where sent, from* the countries where they dealt, a sum of money every year, in* stead of first-fruits and tithes, unto Jerusalem; which privilege the Romans allowed them, after they had conquered them, as Josephus tells us, lib. vii. de Bello Jud; cap. 13. That heathen custom, now mentioned, is expressed’by Callimachus, in his hymn upon Delos, in those remarkable words, ver. 278, 279, &c. y A\d rot afiffturttg §£caro$opo« allv aTrapxal UifXTTOvraC waaat Si x°poi>g avayovat irokt]t g A(T£ 7rpoc r\oir)V, at S" fWfpov, at r ava \iiaat\v KXiipovg larfjaavro, teal 6i tcaSvinpSt fiopiitig. The sense of which is this: TJiat first-fruits were sent for tithes every year from all countries, not only from the east, and west, and south, but from the north also. And they were sent with such joy, as the Jews expressed on this occasion; for all cities, he saith, did x°P°ve avdyuv. And so we read in several authors, that there were Stwpiat, as they called them, solemn embassies sent from several people, by chosen persons, unto Delos, to celebrate there the feast of Apollo with music and dancing, &c. Particularly the Athenians, Peloponncsians, and Messenians, &c. of whom sec Ezek. Spanhcmius, in his Observations on Callimachus^ p. 487. And, which is most strange, the Hyperboreans, a very northerly people, sent frugum primitias to this island, as Pliny, and I know not how many other authors, testify. Only what he calls the first-fruits of their corn, and suchlike things, they call the first-fruits of their holy things: as the same excellent person observes there, (p. 490. 492, &c.) Which was done to testify their honour to this god, and for the maintenance of his priests and other ministers, who attended upon him there. For Delos, of itself, was but a barren isle, the soil being dry and stony, and called there* fore by Callimachus, ver. 208. dv<n)poTog. There arc other footsteps of this among the heathen j the mystica vannus iacchi, mentioned by Virgil in his Georgics, being nothing else (according to Servius), but vas vimineum, a wicker basket, in which their first-fruits were carried. (See the same Spanheim, p.495.) Canaan, is notwithstanding called a Syrian, because he lived twenty years with his uncle Laban, who was a Syrian, (Gen. xxv. 20.) and consequently Jacob’s mother was so, as were bothhis wives, and alibis children, who were born there, except Benjamin. But he is more particularly here called a Syrian, to put them in mind of his poverty, when he went first into that country, and there lived as a servant, under a hard master; which is expressed in these words, ready tQ perish, that is, very poor, and reduced to great straits, being forced to flee from the fury of his brother Esau, and to travel on foot to Padan-Aram, (which was comprehended anciently under the name of Syria, Gen. xxxii. 10.) where he was so cruelly used by his uncle Laban, (xxxi. 7. 39 — 41.) that Onkelos takes these words, which wo translate ready to perish, in an active sense, for him that destroys another. For by the Syrian here he understands Laban, (who is so called, as I noted before, Gen. xxviii. 5.) as if the meaning were, the Syrian (that is, Laban) sought to de~ stroy my father. For, as he used him barbarously when he was with him, so he followed after him, when he went away, with a mind to ruin him. And thus Manassch ben Israel understands it, and many others mentioned by Fesselius, which is tho sense also of the Vulgar Latin, Syrus persequebatur patrem meum. And he went down into Egypt.) Though he brought him from Laban with great substance, yet as he was still but a sojourner in the land of Canaan, so he was forced by famine to go down into Egypt for sustenance. And sojourned there with a few.] They were but seventy persons, and lived there as strangers. All which they were now bound to commemorate, for their humiliation before God (which I observed before out of Maimonidcs), which might move them the more to exalt and magnify the mercy of God to them, who hfcd made them (as it follows) a mighty nation. For this confession consists of these two parts; their own unworthincss, and God’s great goodness. And became there a nation, great, mighty, and populous.] Sec Exod. i. 7* first-fruits, so they were to make another profession, which here follows, every third year: " When the course of all manner of tithing (as Mr. Mede there expresses it) was come about." Before the Lord.’] This sounds as if they were to make this profession before the most holy place at the sanctuary. Which seems to confute the common exposition of the Jewish doctors, that this tithe of the third year was not to be spent there* but at home, within their own gates. But it may be supposed, that every man was privately to make this solemn profession, as in the presence of God, who knew the truth of what he said. Or rather, that the next time he went up to worship at God’s house, he was bound to make this declaration before the Divine Majesty. Which is the most likely interpretation, because these words, before the Lord, are always so used in these books. And unless they had been obliged to this, their covetous and cruel disposition might have inclined them to defraud the poor, which by this means was prevented. For though men might have satisfied themselves in omitting this profession, if it had been left merely to their own private consciences, yet when they were bound to come and make it publicly at God’s own house, as they could not avoid it, so few would be found so impudently profane, as solemnly to tell a lie to God himself. I have brought away the hallowed things.] Things separated by the Divine commandment from their own private nse, for the use of the poor. Out of my home.] From the rest of the fruits of the earth which they had gathered.. And also I have given them unto the Levite, and unto the stranger, to the fatherless, and to the widow.] That is, unto the refreshment of the poor. So the Jerusalem Targum paraphrases ver. 2. which is worth the mentioning: " In the third year, which is the year of tithing for the poor, ye shall give the first tithes to the Levites, and then the tithes of the poor to the strangers, fatherless, and widows, that they may eat in their cities, and be filled." According to all thy commandments which thou hast commanded me.] According to the direction beforementioned, xiv. 29. I have not transgressed thy commandments, neither have I forgotten them.] Neither done contrary to God’s precepts, nor forgotten to perform them; cither by keeping these tithes to themselves, or by bestowing them otherwise than God appointed.

Deuteronomy 26:1

; joLND it shall be, when thou art come into the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee for an inheritance, and ppssessest it, and dwellest therein. When they had a settled possession of the several inheritances, which fell to their share in the land of Canaan. •

Deuteronomy 26:2

That thou shalt take of the first of all the fruit of the earth. This is not meant merely of the first first-fruits they should have after they were settled in Canaan, but of the first-fruits they should have every year; which being the most desirable (as Conradus Pellicanus here observes) of all other, and coveted by every one, majori aviditate, with a greater appetite than ordinary, nature itself directed men to offer them to God, the giver of all good things. And these were distinct from that mentioned Lev. xxiii. 10. being of all the fruits of the earth. The principal of which being seven, the Jews commonly say, these only were to be carried to God; viz. wheat, barley, grapes, figs, pomegranates, olives, and dates. Some of the doctors say, the first-fruits of all kind of things whatsoever were due; and a question being raised, whether a stranger was bound to pay them or not, some of them say, no; because they could not use the protestation mentioned ver. 3. But the more common opinion is, that they might both bring firstfruits and use the protestation, because Abraham was also the father of strangers, (Gen. xvii. 5.) And it may be, saith It. Bcchai, that is pointed at ver. 11. of this chapter; where it is said, " Thou, and the Levite, and the stranger thatjs among you.". Winch thou shalt bring of thy land, which the Lord thy God giveth thee.] In order to which, they say, every owner of land, when he went into his ground, and found any figs, or bunch of grapes, or a pomegranate more forvyard than the rest,* he was to tie a rush about it, and write upon it, these are first-fruits. So “Wagcnscil; and many others, have observed out of the title Biccurim, cap. 3. And shalt put it in a basket.] The quantity of each, they say, was to be at least a sixtieth part. And they might be all put into the same basket, provided they wero not mingled, but preserved distinct; barley being laid at the bottom, and then wheat, and next olives, and above them dates, “and then pomegranates; and last of all, figs and grapes, being hung on the outside; and leaves of palm, or other trees, put between every kind of first-fruits. R.Bcchai saith, that the rich brought these fruits in baskets of gold and silver, that is, covered with gold or silver (as Maimonides speaks); and wc read of the like golden baskets carried by virgins, in the feast of Bacchus at Athens. (See Ezck. Spanhemius on Callimachus’shymn

Deuteronomy 26:3

And thou shalt go unto the priest that shall be in those days. Who was then in attendance at the sanctuary, and particularly appointed to wait for their coming. When they entered the gates of the city, they sung the secondverse of Psalm exxii. " Our feet shall stand in thy gates, O Jerusalem:” and then they went to the mountain of the temple, and sung the whole hundred and fiftieth Psalm: and as soon as they entered the court of Israel, the Levites began to sing, Psal. xxx. 1. " I will extol thee, O Lord my God/’ &c. And say unto him,’] The following confession in this verse was made by them with the baskets on their shoulders, to stir them up to humility, as Maimonides interprets it. His words are these: “While they were compelled to carry their baskets on their shoulders, and in that manner to proclaim the Divine benefits, it signified that it was a considerable part of God’s worship and service, for a man to be mindful of his afflictions andiribulations, when God had given him ease and rest from them. This the law takes care of, in several places; as when it saith, < Thou shalt remember that thou wast a servant,’ &c. with this intention, that he who lived in riches and pleasure, might be secured from the vices which spring from thence, such as pride, haughtiness, apostacy, and the like. According to what is said in this book, viii. 12.’ Lest thou eat, and art full/ &c. and xxxii. 15. f Jesurun waxed fat, and kicked/ &c. To prevent which, God commanded the first-fruits to be thus offered every year to his Divine Majesty.” (More Ncvochim, par. iii. cap. 39.) I profess this day unto the Lord thy God, that lam come into the country which the Lord sware unto our fathers for to give us.~] This is a thankful acknowledgment of God’s faithfulness to his promise, whereby they were put in mind to be faithful unto him, of whom they held this good land, by his gracious and free gift, and held it by this tenure, of paying to him this yearly rent.

Deuteronomy 26:4

And the priest shall take the basket out of thy hand, and set it before the altar of the Lord thy God. After the foregoing words were said, the basket was taken down from their shoulders, and every one holding his basket by the handle, or the rim of it, the priest put his hands under it r and waved it about, according to the prescription in the law, while the men recited the following words, ver. 5, 0, &c. This waving was a manifest token that it was offered, to the Lord of the world, as an acknowledgment that he was in a peculiar manner their Lord and Sovereign, of whom they held this land..

Deuteronomy 26:5

And thou shalt speak and say before the Lord thy God. Audibly pronounce in the presence of God.. A Syrian ready to perish was my father J] Their father- Jacob was hot a Syrian by birth, for he was born in the. land of Canaan- But one and the sameperson may be said to be of divers countries (as Bochartus hath observed), with regard either tp the place of his nativity, or of his education, or of his life and conversation* which occasionedthree countries to be ascribed to our blessed Saviour, viz.. Bethlehem, Nazareth, and Capernaum. (Seeiis Phaleglib. ii, cap, 5.) Thus Jacob,, who was bom and. bred in;

Deuteronomy 26:6

And the Egyptians evil-entreated us, and afflicted us, and laid upon us hard bondage. The goodness of God unto them in making them so numerous, was the occasion of sorer affliction, than either they or their fathers had endured. (See Exod. i. 9, 10, &c.) The remembrance of this was exceeding useful, to stir up their gratitude to God, not only for their deliverance from the Egyptian slavery, but bringing them into a country of their own, most plentifully stored with all manner of good things.

Deuteronomy 26:7

And when we cried unto the Lord God of our fathers, the Lord Jieard our voice, and looked upon our affliction, §x>. Haying acknowledged their low, and poor, and distressed condition, now they proceed to an acknowledgment of.God’s wonderful goodness; which.appeared the more in relieving them when they were utterly helpless. (See Exod. ii. 23—25. iii. 7, 8.)

Deuteronomy 26:8

And the Lord brought us forth out of Egypt, with a mighty hand, and with a stretched-out arm, and a great terribleness, &c. See iv. 34. and vii. 19. This is so vehemently inculcated upon them (as Maimonides speaks in the place forcnamed), that they should remember the day they came out of Egypt all the days of their life, xxu 3. Exod. x. 2, Which it became them especially to remember at this time, that fixcy might demonstrate the truth of prophecy both concerning punishments and rewards.

Deuteronomy 26:9

And hath brought ns into this place, and given us this land, even a land flowing with milk and honey.) As they remember the terrible plagues upon Egypt in the foregoing verse, so they commemorate the singular blessings bestowed upon them in this.

Deuteronomy 26:10

And now, behold, I have brought the first-fruits of the land, which thou, O Lord, hast given me. Thus they concluded this solemn rite, as they began it, (ver. 3.) with an acknowledgment that they held this land of God as the supreme Lord, and that by his free gift. And thou shalt set it before the Lord thy God.] Having said these words, they left the basket by the altar, as the Jews say, where it had been placed, (ver. 4.) and then the priest set it before the sanctuary, where God dwelt by his special presence there. And worship before the Lord thy God.] They made a profound reverence towards the holy place, by bowing their bodies as low as they could, and so went out of the temple: so the Hebrew word imports. And this outward act of worship, no doubt, was accompanied, in all good men, with humble thanks to God for his benefits, and prayer for the continuance of them.

Deuteronomy 26:11

And thou shalt rejoice in every thing which the Lord thy God hath given unto thee, and unto thy house; thou, and the Levite, and the stranger that is among you. They were to make a feast at the time of offering these firstfruits; and there to entertain the Levites, and the strangers, as well as their own family. These feasts were made out of the provision mentioned, xii. 6, 7. xvi. 10 — 12. Besides which, the bullock, which went before them when they carried up the first-fruits from their several cities, was offered for a peace-offering, when they came to the sanctuary; as Mr. Seldcn observes in the place abovcmcntioncd,(lib.iii. de Synedr. cap. 13. p. 203.) Ver. 12/ When thou hast made an end of tithing all the tithes of thine increase.] For there was a second tithe to be paid after the first to the Levites, as was observed above, xii. 6. and is plainly spoken of, xiv. 22, 23, &c. Which the Jews call the consummation or finishing of tithing, as I observed there, ver. 29. And so these words may be translated, When thou hast finished all the tithes of thine increase. The third year, which is the year of tithing.] Every third year, the second tithe beforementioned was to be employed to a peculiar use, (see xix. 28, 29.) as it follows here in the next words. (So the Jews expound it, whose sense our Mr. Medc expresses in a few w r ords.) For two years to-’ gethcr they paid the Levites’ tithe, and the festival tithe; but in the third year they paid the Levites’ tithe, and the poor man’s tithe; that is, what was wont in other years to be spent in feasting, w r as wholly spent every third year upon the poor. (Book i. Discourse xxxii. p. 228.) But there arc some that think they were bound every third year to pay this poor man’s tithe, besides that to the Levites’ and the festival tithe: about which 1 shall not here dispute. And hast given it to the Levite, the stranger, thefatlierless, and the widow, that they vxay eat within thy gates, and be filled.] According to the commandment, xiv. 29. (Sec there.)

Deuteronomy 26:13

Tlien thou shalt say. As they were every year to make the foregoing profession when they brought their

Deuteronomy 26:14

I have not eaten thereof in my mourning. After the general profession, mentioned in the verse foregoing, that they had brought all hallowed things out of their houses, and employed them as God directed, they were to make three particular professions, which are mentioned in this verse. And, it is probable, they have respect to some idolatrous customs which were in those days: the first of them is, that they had not eaten thereof in mourning, or in lamentation. For so the Hebrew word oni signifies, very bitter grief, and sore mourning. Such the Egyptians made in harvest-time, when they offered the first-fruits of the earth, and kept the feast of Isis with doleful lamentations. So Diodorus Siculus, and other authors, tell us, particularly Julius Firmicus, who severely reproves their folly, or madness rather, saying, Cur plangitis fruges terra:, &c. " Why do you bewail the fruits of the “earth? Why weep you at the UPON DEUTERONOMY. growth of your seed? &c. You should rather give thanks for these things to the most high God, whose bounty is not to be lamented; but bewail rather your own error,” &c. If there was such a custom in the world, when Moses lived, it may very well be thought that he taught the Israelites to disclaim such senseless and impious practices. And as the Egyptians, by this mourning, acknowledged Isis, that is,- the earth, to be the giver of all these £Ood things; so he required God’s people to bring in their harvest with the greatest joy and thanks unto the Most High: for there was no joy so great as that of harvest and vintage; directly opposite to the heathen, who kept the feast of Bacchus also with lamentations. (See our learned Dr. Spencer, lib. ii. de Ritual. Hebr. Leg. cap. 24. sect. 1.) Nor taken aught thereof for any unclean use,] As. some of the old idolaters were wont to do; who separated some part of the first-fruits for magical purposes, and sometimes for carnal and filthy. So Julius Firmicus informs us, who immediately after the mention of their lamentations, when they gathered the fruits of the earth, asks this question, “Quid addis incestum et adulterium V 9 Which shews that there were unclean rites which accompanied their offerings; and that they made them minister unto Venus. See the same learned author in the same place, sect. 3. Nor given aught thereof for the dead.] If this be the right translation of the last words, for the dead, St. Austin hath given us a likely reason of this clause, which was, to profess they had not imitated the gentiles, who were wont to setineat and drink upon the graves of the dead, as he tells us, Serm. 15. de Sanctis. But it doth not appear that they set any part of their tithe, or first-fruits upon them, nor that they did it only in harvest-time; but rather common bread and wine, which at all times they set upon their graves when they were interred: and therefore it may be translated to the dead, (as the same excellent’ person observes, sect. 3.) And so it is a profession, they had not offered any of the fruits of the earth to heroes’ (after the manner of the gentiles), particularly to Osiris. For that they honoured them with their first-fruits, appears by a passage in Porphyry, lib. iv. 3rspl y A-iroxnQ> sect. 22. where he mentions three laws made by Triptolemus, an ancient lawgiver among the Athenians: one of which is this, Qtovg Kapiroig dyaX* Xuv, To worship the gods with the fruits of the earth. Which Draco thus expounds, as he shews in the conclusion of that book; Qeov$ rtfiyv koi rjpioas tyx^pfovc *v KOivtp tirojiivovQ vofioig irarplaiQ l$lq. Kara Sivctfiiv <rvv £v0tj/«£ feat d-trap- X<hg Kapirtov, &c. To honour the gods, and the lieroes of their country publicly, according to the laws of the nation; and privately, as much as they were able, with speaking well of them, and with thefirst-fruits,and the annual offerings. (See Meursius, in his Themis Attica, lib. i. cap. 1.) But however we take this, the giving any part of tithe, either for the dead, or to the dead, shews thero was such a superstitious custom: unto which this clause having a manifest respect, wc have reason to think the two former have so likewise. But I have hearkened to the voice of the Lord my God, and done according to all that thou hast commanded mel\ Performed all that God required, and done nothing coutrary to it. AH these words from ver. 13. to this place, were to be spoken with a low and humble voice, because they are a sort of commendation of themselves, and of their own integrity; which is not to be proclaimed aloud. But