Deuteronomy 26:5

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Deuteronomy 26:1-11

Here is, I. A good work ordered to be done, and that is the presenting of a basket of their first-fruits to God every year, Deut. 26:1, 2. Besides the sheaf of first-fruits, which was offered for the whole land, on the morrow after the passover (Lev. 23:10), every man was to bring for himself a basket of first-fruits at the feast of pentecost, when the harvest was ended, which is therefore called the feast of first-fruits (Exod. 34:22), and is said to be kept with a tribute of... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Deuteronomy 26:5

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" F5 וענית "et respondebis", Montanus, Vatablus; "et respondens dices", Munster. , 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 priest of the Lord, and as in the presence of the Lord, is represented as said before him, which is as follows:... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Deuteronomy 26:5

A Syrian ready to perish was my father - This passage has been variously understood, both by the ancient versions and by modern commentators. The Vulgate renders it thus: Syrus persequebatur patrem meum , "A Syrian persecuted my father." The Septuagint thus: Συριαν απεβαλεν ὁ πατηρ μου , "My father abandoned Syria." The Targum thus: אבא ית לאובדא בעא ארמאה לבן Laban arammaah bea leobada yath abba , "Laban the Syrian endeavored to destroy my father." The Syriac: "My father was led... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Deuteronomy 26:1-11

EXPOSITION THANKSGIVING AND PRAYER AT THE PRESENTATION OF FIRSTFRUITS AND TITHES . As Moses began his exposition of the laws and rights instituted for Israel by a reference to the sanctuary as the place which the Lord should choose, and the place where religious service was to be rendered ( Deuteronomy 12:1-32 .), so here he follows up his address by a reference to the same. Of the gifts which had to be presented at the sanctuary there were two specially... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Deuteronomy 26:1-11

Joy in the use of temporal mercies; or, sanctification of our possessions to God warrants a holy joy in the use of them. The order of thought is this: 1. In due time Israel would be in possession of the land which the Lord promised to give them. 2. Of this comfortable possession the gathering of the fruits thereof would be the proof and sign. 3. In accordance with a well-understood law, the firstfruits were to be offered to God (see reference). 4. In thus offering the... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Deuteronomy 26:1-11

The presentation of the first fruits. This interesting ceremony: 1. Reminded the individual that the land and its fruits were God's. 2. Required from him a devout acknowledgment of the fact, with a gift in which the acknowledgment was suitably embodied. 3. Threw him back on the recollection of God's former mercies to his nation. 4. Secured a confession and rehearsal of these from his own lips. It served: 1. To create and deepen religious feeling. 2. To quicken... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Deuteronomy 26:1-11

Commemorations of national deliverance. An instinct in man impels him to dwell with pleasure on his national beginnings and growth; and, in cases where that beginning sprang out from a specific event, that event has been the subject of public commemoration year by year. Of this Rome is a conspicuous instance. But the Jews were designed to be eminently a religious people; hence this commemoration was to be a simple act of piety—the presentation of firstfruits. I. MAN IS THE ... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Deuteronomy 26:1-11

The dedication of the firstfruits. A beautiful religious service is here associated with the dedication of the firstfruits. It was to be an act of worship. There was to be the appearance before the priest, the acknowledgment of God's great bounty to the forefathers as well as to the worshipper himself, the presentation of the firstfruits as a return of God's gifts to him, the setting of the basket before God, and the rejoicing in the Divine presence. All this is surely typical. I. ... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Deuteronomy 26:5

A Syrian ready to perish was my father. The reference is to Jacob, the stem-father of the twelve tribes, tie is here called a Syrian, or Aramaean, because of his long residence in Mesopotamia (Genesis 29-31.), whence Abraham had originally come ( Genesis 11:31 ), and because there the family of which he was the head was founded. The translation "ready to perish" fairly represents the Hebrew; the verb אָבַד means not merely to stray or wander, but also to lose one's self, to perish, to... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Deuteronomy 26:5

A Syrian ready to perish was my father - The reference is shown by the context to be to Jacob, as the ancestor in whom particularly the family of Abraham began to develop into a nation (compare Isaiah 43:22, Isaiah 43:28, etc.). Jacob is called a Syrian (literally, Aramaean), not only because of his own long residence in Syria with Laban Gen. 29–31, as our Lord was called a Nazarene because of his residence at Nazareth Matthew 2:23, but because he there married and had his children (compare... read more

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