Deuteronomy 26:1

Offering Firstfruits and Tithes

1 When you enter the land that the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance, and you take possession of it and settle in it, ¹

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 When you enter the land that the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance, and you take possession of it and settle in it,

2 you are to take some of the firstfruits of all your produce from the soil of the land that the LORD your God is giving you and put them in a basket. Then go to the place the LORD your God will choose as a dwelling for His Name,

3 to the priest who is serving at that time, and say to him, “I declare today to the LORD your God that I have entered the land that the LORD swore to our fathers to give us.”

4 Then the priest shall take the basket from your hands and place it before the altar of the LORD your God,

5 and you are to declare before the LORD your God, “My father was a wandering Aramean, and he went down to Egypt few in number and lived there and became a great nation, mighty and numerous.

Cross References

• 1. (Leviticus 27:30–34; Deuteronomy 14:22–29; Nehemiah 13:10–14)