Deuteronomy 26:1

Giving the Firstfruits

1 "When you enter the land the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance, and you take possession of 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 "When you enter the land the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance, and you take possession of it and live in it,

2 you must take some of the first of all the soil's produce that you harvest from the land the Lord your God is giving you and put [it] in a container. Then go to the place where the Lord your God chooses to have His name dwell.

3 When you come before the priest who is serving at that time, you must say to him, 'Today I acknowledge to the Lord your God that I have entered the land the Lord swore to our fathers to give us.'

4 "Then the priest will take the container from your hand and place it before the altar of the Lord your God.

5 You are to respond by saying in the presence of the Lord your God: My father was a wandering Aramean. He went down to Egypt with a few people and lived there. There he became a great, powerful, and populous nation.