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The Torah · Old Testament

Deuteronomy 26

A harvest basket and a remembered journey

General context

Once settled in the land, the worshipper is to bring a basket of firstfruits to the place the Lord chooses. The priest sets it before the altar, and the worshipper recites a family and national story: a vulnerable ancestor went to Egypt with a few people, they became numerous, Egypt oppressed them, they cried out, and the Lord brought them into the land. The basket becomes an acknowledgment of what the Lord has given. Rejoicing includes the household, Levite and resident stranger. A second declaration concerns the third-year tithe: its sacred portion has been given to the Levite, stranger, orphan and widow without the prohibited uses, followed by a request for blessing. The closing words join Israel's acknowledgment of the Lord with his acknowledgment of Israel as his own people.

Cited passages: Deuteronomy 26:1, Deuteronomy 26:2, Deuteronomy 26:3, Deuteronomy 26:4, Deuteronomy 26:5, Deuteronomy 26:6, Deuteronomy 26:7, Deuteronomy 26:8, Deuteronomy 26:9, Deuteronomy 26:10, Deuteronomy 26:11, Deuteronomy 26:12, Deuteronomy 26:13, Deuteronomy 26:14, Deuteronomy 26:15, Deuteronomy 26:16, Deuteronomy 26:17, Deuteronomy 26:18, Deuteronomy 26:19

Deuteronomy 26 (KJV)

1And it shall be, when thou art come in unto the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee for an inheritance, and possessest it, and dwellest therein;

2That thou shalt take of the first of all the fruit of the earth, which thou shalt bring of thy land that the Lord thy God giveth thee, and shalt put it in a basket, and shalt go unto the place which the Lord thy God shall choose to place his name there.

3And thou shalt go unto the priest that shall be in those days, and say unto him, I profess this day unto the Lord thy God, that I am come unto the country which the Lord sware unto our fathers for to give us.

4And the priest shall take the basket out of thine hand, and set it down before the altar of the Lord thy God.

5And thou shalt speak and say before the Lord thy God, A Syrian ready to perish was my father, and he went down into Egypt, and sojourned there with a few, and became there a nation, great, mighty, and populous:

6And the Egyptians evil entreated us, and afflicted us, and laid upon us hard bondage:

7And when we cried unto the Lord God of our fathers, the Lord heard our voice, and looked on our affliction, and our labour, and our oppression:

8And the Lord brought us forth out of Egypt with a mighty hand, and with an outstretched arm, and with great terribleness, and with signs, and with wonders:

9And he hath brought us into this place, and hath given us this land, even a land that floweth with milk and honey.

10And now, behold, I have brought the firstfruits of the land, which thou, O Lord, hast given me. And thou shalt set it before the Lord thy God, and worship before the Lord thy God:

11And thou shalt rejoice in every good thing which the Lord thy God hath given unto thee, and unto thine house, thou, and the Levite, and the stranger that is among you.

12When thou hast made an end of tithing all the tithes of thine increase the third year, which is the year of tithing, and hast given it unto the Levite, the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, that they may eat within thy gates, and be filled;

13Then thou shalt say before the Lord thy God, I have brought away the hallowed things out of mine house, and also have given them unto the Levite, and unto the stranger, to the fatherless, and to the widow, according to all thy commandments which thou hast commanded me: I have not transgressed thy commandments, neither have I forgotten them:

14I have not eaten thereof in my mourning, neither have I taken away ought thereof for any unclean use, nor given ought thereof for the dead: but I have hearkened to the voice of the Lord my God, and have done according to all that thou hast commanded me.

15Look down from thy holy habitation, from heaven, and bless thy people Israel, and the land which thou hast given us, as thou swarest unto our fathers, a land that floweth with milk and honey.

16This day the Lord thy God hath commanded thee to do these statutes and judgments: thou shalt therefore keep and do them with all thine heart, and with all thy soul.

17Thou hast avouched the Lord this day to be thy God, and to walk in his ways, and to keep his statutes, and his commandments, and his judgments, and to hearken unto his voice:

18And the Lord hath avouched thee this day to be his peculiar people, as he hath promised thee, and that thou shouldest keep all his commandments;

19And to make thee high above all nations which he hath made, in praise, and in name, and in honour; and that thou mayest be an holy people unto the Lord thy God, as he hath spoken.

This page shows the King James Version. In the app, reading opens in the Berean Standard Bible unless you have chosen another translation. The reader includes five translations: the Berean Standard Bible (BSB), the King James Version (KJV), the World English Bible (WEB), the Bible in Basic English (BBE), and the American Standard Version (ASV). Search covers three of them: Berean Standard, King James, and World English. Basic English and American Standard readers search the King James words.

Historical context

The chapter prescribes words for future worshippers; it does not report that someone has already arrived with this basket. The chosen place and the recited ancestor are unnamed here. In verse 5 the KJV and ASV describe a Syrian ready to perish, while the BBE describes a wandering Aramaean. The third-year statement is made after the recipients have received food within the towns. It denies eating the sacred portion in mourning, improper handling connected with uncleanness, and giving it for the dead, without describing a particular funeral practice. The KJV's peculiar people in verse 18 corresponds to the ASV's people for his own possession and the BBE's special people.

Cited passages: Deuteronomy 26:1, Deuteronomy 26:2, Deuteronomy 26:3, Deuteronomy 26:4, Deuteronomy 26:5, Deuteronomy 26:12, Deuteronomy 26:13, Deuteronomy 26:14, Deuteronomy 26:15, Deuteronomy 26:16, Deuteronomy 26:17, Deuteronomy 26:18

Literary context

The first declaration changes scale from an ancestor and a small company to an oppressed nation and then to the basket in the speaker's hands. The harvest is understood through that remembered journey. The two declarations pair giving with speech: the firstfruits are brought before the story is recited, and the tithe is distributed before the claim of obedience is made. The final repeated this day brings the recited past and the future harvest instructions into the present covenant address.

Cited passages: Deuteronomy 26:3, Deuteronomy 26:4, Deuteronomy 26:5, Deuteronomy 26:6, Deuteronomy 26:7, Deuteronomy 26:8, Deuteronomy 26:9, Deuteronomy 26:10, Deuteronomy 26:12, Deuteronomy 26:13, Deuteronomy 26:14, Deuteronomy 26:15, Deuteronomy 26:16, Deuteronomy 26:17, Deuteronomy 26:18

Key moments

  1. The basket before the altar (Deuteronomy 26:4). The priest receives the firstfruits and places them before the Lord's altar.
  2. From a few to a nation (Deuteronomy 26:5). The prescribed declaration begins with an ancestor's vulnerable journey into Egypt.
  3. Rejoicing includes the stranger (Deuteronomy 26:11). The household's celebration includes the Levite and the stranger living among them.
  4. Food has reached its recipients (Deuteronomy 26:12). The third-year tithe supplies the Levite, stranger, orphan and widow within the towns.

For reflection

The basket is accompanied by a story of dependence, hardship and help. What would you include if you named the people and circumstances behind something you now enjoy?

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