Leviticus 23:9-21

The Feast of Firstfruits

9 And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

10 "Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, ¹When you come into the land that I give you and reap its harvest, you shall bring the sheaf of ²the firstfruits of your harvest to the priest,

11 and he shall ³wave the sheaf before the LORD, so that you may be accepted. On the day after the Sabbath the priest shall wave it.

12 And on the day when you ⁴wave the sheaf, you shall offer a ⁵male lamb a year old without blemish as a burnt offering to the LORD.

13 ⁶And the grain offering with it shall be two tenths of an ephah^[a] of fine flour mixed with oil, a food offering to the LORD with a pleasing aroma, ⁷and the drink offering with it shall be of wine, a fourth of a hin.^[b]

14 And you shall eat neither bread nor grain ⁸parched or ⁹fresh until this same day, until you have brought the offering of your God: it is a statute forever throughout your generations in all your dwellings

The Feast of Weeks

15 ¹⁰"You shall count seven full weeks from the day after the Sabbath, from the day that you brought the sheaf of the ¹¹wave offering.

16 You shall count ¹²fifty days to the day after the seventh Sabbath. Then you shall present a grain offering of ¹³new grain to the LORD.

17 You shall bring from your dwelling places two loaves of bread to be waved, made of two tenths of an ephah. They shall be of fine flour, and they shall be baked with leaven, as ¹⁴firstfruits to the LORD.

18 And you shall present with the bread seven lambs a year old without blemish, and one bull from the herd and two rams. They shall be a burnt offering to the LORD, with their grain offering and their drink offerings, a food offering with a pleasing aroma to the LORD.

19 And you shall offer one ¹⁵male goat for a sin offering, and two male lambs a year old as a sacrifice of ¹⁶peace offerings

20 And the priest shall ¹⁷wave them with the bread of the firstfruits as a wave offering before the LORD, with the two lambs. ¹⁸They shall be holy to the LORD for the priest.

21 And you shall make proclamation on the same day. You shall hold a holy convocation. You shall not do any ordinary work. It is a statute forever in all your dwelling places throughout your generations

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Leviticus 23:9-21 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO LEVITICUS 23

In this chapter an account is given of the several holy days, times, and seasons, appointed by God, under the general names of feasts and holy convocations; and first of the sabbath, Le 23:1-4; then of the passover and feast of unleavened bread, Le 23:5-8; to which is annexed the sheaf of the firstfruits, Le 23:9-14; after that of the feast of weeks or pentecost, Le 23:15-22; and of the feast of trumpets, Le 23:23-25; and of the day of atonement, Le 23:26-32; and of the feast of tabernacles, Le 23:33-44.

Taken from John Gill's Exposition of the Bible

Cross References 18

1. Exodus 23:19; Exodus 34:26; Numbers 15:18, 19; Numbers 28:26; Deuteronomy 26:1, 2
2. ver. 17
3. ver. 15, 20; Exodus 29:24
4. [See ver. 11 above]
5. Leviticus 1:10
6. Leviticus 2:14-16
7. Exodus 29:40
8. [Leviticus 2:14]
9. [Leviticus 2:14]
10. Exodus 34:22; Deuteronomy 16:9
11. [See ver. 11 above]
12. Acts 2:1(Gk.)
13. Numbers 28:26
14. See ver. 10
15. Leviticus 4:23, 28; Numbers 28:30
16. See Leviticus 3:1
17. [See ver. 11 above]
18. Numbers 18:12; Deuteronomy 18:4

Footnotes 2

[a]. An ephah was about 3/5 bushel or 22 liters
[b]. A hin was about 4 quarts or 3.5 liters

The English Standard Version is published with the permission of Good News Publishers.