17 Out of your dwellings shall ye bring two wave-loaves, of two tenths of fine flour; with leaven shall they be baken; [as] first-fruits to Jehovah.
Speak unto the children of Israel and say unto them, When ye come into the land that I give unto you, and ye reap the harvest thereof, then ye shall bring a sheaf of the first-fruits of your harvest unto the priest.
And on the day of the first-fruits, when ye present a new oblation to Jehovah, after your weeks, ye shall have a holy convocation: no manner of servile work shall ye do.
-- The first of the first-fruits of thy land shalt thou bring into the house of Jehovah thy God. Thou shalt not boil a kid in its mother's milk.
-- And thou shalt observe the feast of weeks, of the first-fruits of wheat-harvest, and the feast of ingathering at the turn of the year.
(But now Christ is raised from among [the] dead, first-fruits of those fallen asleep.
These are they who have not been defiled with women, for they are virgins: these are they who follow the Lamb wheresoever it goes. These have been bought from men [as] first-fruits to God and to the Lamb:
-- Thou shalt not delay the fulness of thy [threshing-floor] and the outflow of thy [winepress]. The firstborn of thy sons shalt thou give unto me.
And not only [that], but even *we* ourselves, who have the first-fruits of the Spirit, we also ourselves groan in ourselves, awaiting adoption, [that is] the redemption of our body.
Honour Jehovah with thy substance, and with the first-fruits of all thine increase; so shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy vats shall overflow with new wine.
And it shall be when thou comest into the land that Jehovah thy God giveth thee for an inheritance, and possessest it, and dwellest therein, that thou shalt take of the first of all the fruit of the ground, which thou shalt bring of thy land which Jehovah thy God giveth thee, and shalt put it in a basket, and shalt go unto the place that Jehovah thy God will choose to cause his name to dwell there;
then it shall be, when ye eat of the bread of the land, that ye shall offer a heave-offering to Jehovah; the first of your dough shall ye offer, a cake, for a heave-offering; as the heave-offering of the threshing-floor, so shall ye offer this. Of the first of your dough ye shall give to Jehovah a heave-offering throughout your generations.
As to the offering of the first-fruits, ye shall present them to Jehovah; but they shall not be offered upon the altar for a sweet odour.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Leviticus 23
Commentary on Leviticus 23 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 23
Hitherto the levitical law had been chiefly conversant about holy persons, holy things, and holy places; in this chapter we have the institution of holy times, many of which had been mentioned occasionally before, but here they are all put together, only the new moons are not mentioned. All the rest of the feasts of the Lord are,
Lev 23:1-3
Here is,
Lev 23:4-14
Here again the feasts are called the feasts of the Lord, because he appointed them. Jeroboam's feast, which he devised of his own heart (1 Ki. 12:33), was an affront to God, and a reproach upon the people. These feasts were to be proclaimed in their seasons (v. 4), and the seasons God chose for them were in March, May and September (according to our present computation), not in winter, because travelling would then be uncomfortable, when the days were short, and the ways foul; not in the middle of summer, because then in those countries they were gathering in their harvest and vintage, and could be ill spared from their country business. Thus graciously does God consult our comfort in his appointments, obliging us thereby religiously to regard his glory in our observance of them, and not to complain of them as a burden. The solemnities appointed them were,
Lev 23:15-22
Here is the institution of the feast of pentecost, or weeks, as it is called (Deu. 16:9), because it was observed fifty days, or seven weeks, after the passover. It is also called the feast of harvest, Ex. 23:16. For as the presenting of the sheaf of first-fruits was an introduction to the harvest, and gave them liberty to put in the sickle, so they solemnized the finishing of their corn-harvest at this feast.
To the institution of the feast of pentecost is annexed a repetition of that law which we had before (ch. 19:9), by which they were required to leave the gleanings of their fields, and the corn that grew on the ends of the butts, for the poor, v. 22. Probably it comes in here as a thing which the priests must take occasion to remind the people of, when they brought their first-fruits, intimating to them that to obey even in this small matter was better than sacrifice, and that, unless they were obedient, their offerings should not be accepted. It also taught them that the joy of harvest should express itself in charity to the poor, who must have their due out of what we have, as well as God his. Those that are truly sensible of the mercy they receive from God will without grudging show mercy to the poor.
Lev 23:23-32
Here is,
Lev 23:33-44
We have here,