Deuteronomy 26:1

Offering First Fruits

1 "Then it shall be, when you enter the land which the LORD your God gives you as an inheritance, and you possess it and live in it,

Deuteronomy 26:1 Meaning and Commentary

Deuteronomy 26:1

And it shall be, when thou [art] come in unto the land
The land of Canaan, which they were now on the borders of, and just entering into:

which the Lord thy God giveth thee [for] an inheritance;
which is often mentioned, to observe that it was not through their merits, but his gift, that they should enjoy the land; and the rather here to enforce the following law concerning the basket of firstfruits:

and possessest it, and dwellest therein;
not only had entered into it, but got the possession of it, and settled there. This shows as Jarchi observes, that they were not bound to the firstfruits till they had subdued the land and divided it; not as soon as they were in it.

Deuteronomy 26:1 In-Context

1 "Then it shall be, when you enter the land which the LORD your God gives you as an inheritance, and you possess it and live in it,

2 that you shall take some of the first of all the produce of the ground which you bring in from your land that the LORD your God gives you, and you shall put it in a basket and go to the place where the LORD your God chooses to establish His name.

3 "You shall go to the priest who is in office at that time and say to him, 'I declare this day to the LORD my God that I have entered the land which the LORD swore to our fathers to give us.'

4 "Then the priest shall take the basket from your hand and set it down before the altar of the LORD your God.

5 "You shall answer and say before the LORD your God, 'My father was a wandering Aramean, and he went down to Egypt and sojourned there, few in number; but there he became a great, mighty and populous nation.