Deuteronomium 18:4

4 De eerstelingen van uw koren, van uw most en van uw olie, en de eerstelingen van de beschering uwer schapen zult gij hem geven;

Deuteronomium 18:4 Meaning and Commentary

Deuteronomy 18:4

The firstfruit also of thy corn, and of thy wine, and of thy
oil
This is the "terumah", or heave offering, the offering of the firstfruits; what the measure or quantity was is not declared, but is fixed by the Jews; (See Gill on Exodus 22:29),

and the first of the fleece of thy sheep shall thou give him:
concerning which in the Misnah ^F18 it is said, the first of the fleece is used in the land and without the land, of which they give the weight of five shekels in Judea, which are ten shekels in Galilee; and they give white wool, and not defiled, enough to make of it a little garment. He that buys a fleece of the sheep of a Gentile, he is free from the first of the fleece; but if he buys it of his neighbour, if he leaves any of it, the seller is bound, if none the buyer is bound; if there are two sorts, russet and white, and he sells the russet but not the white, the males but not the females, everyone gives for himself. It may be observed in this account, that as much wool was to be given as would make a small garment; enough, says one of the commentators {s}, to make a little garment to minister in; and the least garment fit for a priest to minister in is a girdle. Jarchi's paraphrase of it is,

``when thou shearest thy flock every year, give the first of it to the priest; it does not determine the quantity, but our Rabbins fix it to the sixtieth part;''

with which agrees the observation of another writer ^F20, that there is no quantity fixed for the first of the fleece from the law, but from the words of the Scribes it must not be less than the sixtieth part. There is no obligation to the first of the fleece until five sheep are shorn, and the fleece of everyone of the five must not be less than twelve shekels' weight; but if there is one fleece of them less than twelve shekels, though the five fleeces are more than sixty shekels, lo, this is free; so that, as Maimonides ^F21 says, the first of the fleece is not less than the weight of a shekel.

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FOOTNOTES:

F18 Cholin, c. 11. sect. 1, 2.
F19 Bartenora in ib.
F20 Ibid.
F21 In Misn. ib.

Deuteronomium 18:4 In-Context

2 Daarom zal hij geen erfdeel hebben in het midden zijner broederen; de HEERE is zijn Erfdeel, gelijk als Hij tot hem gesproken heeft.

3 Dit nu zal het recht der priesters zijn van het volk, van hen, die een offerande offeren, hetzij een os, of klein vee: dat hij den priester zal geven den schouder, en beide kinnebakken, en de pens.

4 De eerstelingen van uw koren, van uw most en van uw olie, en de eerstelingen van de beschering uwer schapen zult gij hem geven;

5 Want de HEERE, uw God, heeft hem uit al uw stammen verkoren, dat hij sta, om te dienen in den Naam des HEEREN, hij en zijn zonen, te allen dage.

6 Voorts wanneer een Leviet zal komen uit een uwer poorten, uit gans Israel, alwaar hij woont, en hij komt naar alle begeerte zijner ziel, tot de plaats, die de HEERE zal hebben verkoren;