Leviticus 23:10
in Leviticus 23“Speak to the Israelites and say, ‘When you enter the land that I am giving you and you reap its harvest, you are to bring to the priest a sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye are come into the land which I give unto you, and shall reap the harvest thereof, then ye shall bring the sheaf of the first-fruits of your harvest unto the priest:
KJV
Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye be come into the land which I give unto you, and shall reap the harvest thereof, then ye shall bring a sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest unto the priest:
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This verse in Leviticus 23
Commentary
5 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
These verses contain a distinct command regarding the religious services immediately connected with the grain harvest, given by anticipation against the time when the people were to possess the promised land. Lev 23:10 Sheaf - The original word, “omer”, means either a sheaf Deu 24:19; Rth 2:7, or a measure Exo 16:16. Our version is probably right in this place. The offering which was waved Lev 7:30 was most likely a small sheaf of barley, the grain which is first ripe. The first fruits of the wheat harvest were offered seven weeks later in the loaves of Pentecost.
This site's exposition
When you enter the land that I am giving you
on Leviticus 23:10-11
This law dates the sheaf only as "the day after the Sabbath". The Sadducees read the weekly Sabbath, putting the sheaf on a first day. The Pharisees read the first day of Unleavened Bread, fixing it to the sixteenth.
The record, by era
The Reformation1 voice
The word Omer means both. But in this passage the expression "handful" is most appropriate, since it represented in a lively manner the beginning of the harvest; inasmuch as it was not lawful to taste even of parched grain before the offering of the firstfruits.
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
The offering of the wave-sheaf sanctified the whole harvest (Ro 11:16). At the same time, this feast had a typical character, and pre-intimated the resurrection of Christ (1Co 15:20), who rose from the dead on the very day the first-fruits were offered.
How the passage was read
On Leviticus 23:1-44On Leviticus 23:1-44
The year Israel keeps
This chapter is the calendar of the whole Jewish year, and every feast in it is still on the calendar today. In order: the weekly Sabbath; Passover and Unleavened Bread in spring (now kept as the seder meal and a week without leavened bread); Firstfruits (the first sheaf of barley waved before God); Weeks, in Hebrew Shavuot, fifty days later (Christians know the Greek name: Pentecost); then in autumn the Day of Trumpets (now Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish new year, announced by the ram's-horn trumpet called a shofar), the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur, the great fast), and Tabernacles, in Hebrew Sukkot, when families still build and eat in leafy backyard booths for a week, remembering the wilderness.
So when the New Testament says Jesus or Paul went up for “the feast,” it means one of these appointments: the same calendar, kept for over three thousand years.
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
ON THE MORROW AFTER ‘HA’SHABBATH’ THE PRIEST SHALL WAVE IT. “That is, the morrow after the first day of the Festival of Passover.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Sources: The Feasts of the LORD (this site's study of all seven) · Mishnah Rosh Hashanah 1:1 (the four new years)
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 5 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
24 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| דַּבֵּ֞ר | daber | speak | H1696 → | 1141 times |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| בְּנֵ֤י | benei | [the] people of | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| יִשְׂרָאֵל֙ | yisrael | Israel | H3478 → | 2507 times |
| וְאָמַרְתָּ֣ | veamarta | and you will say | H559 → | 5305 times |
| אֲלֵהֶ֔ם | ʾalehem | to them | H413 → | 5510 times |
| כִּֽי־ | ki- | if | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| תָבֹ֣אוּ | tavou | you will go | H935 → | 2568 times |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | into | H413 → | 5510 times |
| הָאָ֗רֶץ | haaretz | the land | H776 → | 2504 times |
| אֲשֶׁ֤ר | ʾasher | which | H834 → | 5497 times |
| אֲנִי֙ | ʾani | I | H589 → | 874 times |
| נֹתֵ֣ן | noten | [am] about to give | H5414 → | 2011 times |
| לָכֶ֔ם | lakhem | to <the> you | ||
| וּקְצַרְתֶּ֖ם | uketzartem | and you will harvest | H7114 → | 49 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| קְצִירָ֑הּ | ketzirah | harvest its | H7105 → | 54 times |
| וַהֲבֵאתֶ֥ם | vahavetem | and you will bring | H935 → | 2568 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| עֹ֛מֶר | ʾomer | <the> sheaf of | H6016 → | 14 times |
| רֵאשִׁ֥ית | reshit | <the> first [fruit] of | H7225 → | |
| קְצִירְכֶ֖ם | ketzirekhem | harvest your | H7105 → | 54 times |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| הַכֹּהֵֽן׃ | hakohen | the priest | H3548 → | 750 times |
דַּבֵּ֞רspeak
daberH1696 →1141 times
אֶל־to
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
בְּנֵ֤י[the] people of
beneiH1121 →4930 times
יִשְׂרָאֵל֙Israel
yisraelH3478 →2507 times
וְאָמַרְתָּ֣and you will say
veamartaH559 →5305 times
אֲלֵהֶ֔םto them
ʾalehemH413 →5510 times
כִּֽי־if
ki-H3588 →4482 times
תָבֹ֣אוּyou will go
tavouH935 →2568 times
אֶל־into
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
הָאָ֗רֶץthe land
haaretzH776 →2504 times
אֲשֶׁ֤רwhich
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
אֲנִי֙I
ʾaniH589 →874 times
נֹתֵ֣ן[am] about to give
notenH5414 →2011 times
לָכֶ֔םto <the> you
lakhem
וּקְצַרְתֶּ֖םand you will harvest
uketzartemH7114 →49 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
קְצִירָ֑הּharvest its
ketzirahH7105 →54 times
וַהֲבֵאתֶ֥םand you will bring
vahavetemH935 →2568 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
עֹ֛מֶר<the> sheaf of
ʾomerH6016 →14 times
רֵאשִׁ֥ית<the> first [fruit] of
reshitH7225 →
קְצִירְכֶ֖םharvest your
ketzirekhemH7105 →54 times
אֶל־to
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
הַכֹּהֵֽן׃the priest
hakohenH3548 →750 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Exodus 23:19Bring the best of the firstfruits of your soil to the house of the LORD your God. You must not cook a young goat in its mother’s milk.
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 14:21
You are not to eat any carcass; you may give it to the foreigner residing within your gates, and he may eat it, or you may sell it to a foreigner. For you are…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Exodus 34:26
Bring the best of the firstfruits of your soil to the house of the LORD your God. You must not cook a young goat in its mother’s milk.”
- Deuteronomy 26:10
And now, behold, I have brought the firstfruits of the land that You, O LORD, have given me.” Then you are to place the basket before the LORD your God and bow down before…
- Deuteronomy 14:21
Through
Deuteronomy 16:9You are to count off seven weeks from the time you first put the sickle to the standing grain.
it leads to
- Exodus 34:22
And you are to celebrate the Feast of Weeks with the firstfruits of the wheat harvest, and the Feast of Ingathering at the turn of the year.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Exodus 23:16
You are also to keep the Feast of Harvest with the firstfruits of the produce from what you sow in the field. And keep the Feast of Ingathering at the end of the year,…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Acts 2:1
When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place.
- Exodus 34:22
Through
Exodus 34:26Bring the best of the firstfruits of your soil to the house of the LORD your God. You must not cook a young goat in its mother’s milk.”
it leads to
- Exodus 23:19
Bring the best of the firstfruits of your soil to the house of the LORD your God. You must not cook a young goat in its mother’s milk.
- Exodus 23:19
Through
Numbers 28:26On the day of firstfruits, when you present an offering of new grain to the LORD during the Feast of Weeks, you are to hold a sacred assembly; you must not do any regular…
it leads to
- 1 Corinthians 15:20
But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- 1 Corinthians 15:20
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies22
On this chapter
About Leviticus
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Alfred Edersheim, The Temple: Its Ministry and Services; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Calvin, Commentaries; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: The Pentateuch.