Deuteronomy 26:11

11 Then you, together with the Levites and the aliens who reside among you, shall celebrate with all the bounty that the Lord your God has given to you and to your house.

Deuteronomy 26:11 Meaning and Commentary

Deuteronomy 26:11

And thou shalt rejoice in every good [thing]
In all the blessings of goodness and mercies of life, which God in his kind providence had favoured them with:

which the Lord thy God hath given unto thee, and unto thine house;
to them and their families, by which they were comfortably provided for:

thou and the Levite, and the stranger that [is] among you;
by which it seems that not only a basket of firstfruits was brought and presented to the Lord, which is the perquisite of the priest, but there were others also brought, or bought with their money at Jerusalem, and a sort of a kept, which the Levite, and stranger or proselyte, of along with the owner; see ( Deuteronomy 12:11 Deuteronomy 12:12 ) ( Deuteronomy 16:10 Deuteronomy 16:11 ) ; though Jarchi understands it of the Levite and stranger being obliged to bring the firstfruits: the Levite, he says, is bound to the firstfruits of the plants in the midst of his cities, though he had no part in the division of the land; and the same writer says, the stranger brings the firstfruits, but does not proclaim, because he cannot say, "which he sware to our fathers", ( Deuteronomy 26:3 ) ; but it is said F6, if his mother was an Israelitess he might proclaim; yea, Maimonides F7 says, on account of what is said of Abraham, ( Genesis 17:5 ) ; who is the father of the whole world; see ( Romans 4:10 Romans 4:13 ) ; because mention is made of rejoicing; hence it is concluded, as Jarchi says, that the proclamation of the firstfruits was only made in the time of joy, from Pentecost unto the feast that a man gathers in his increase, and his fruits, and his wine, and his oil; though from that feast and onward he may bring, but not proclaim; to the same purpose, says the Misnah F8, from Pentecost to the feast of tabernacles a man may bring the firstfruits, and proclaim; and even from the feast of tabernacles to the dedication of the temple, he may bring, but not proclaim; the reason given in Siphri F9 is, because proclamation is only to be performed in time of joy--and the joy of the year is finished at the end of the feast of tabernacles, as in ( Leviticus 23:40 ) .


FOOTNOTES:

F6 Misn. Biccurim, c. 1. sect. 4.
F7 Maimon. Hilchot Biccurim, c. 4. sect. 3.
F8 Ut supra, (F6) sect. 6.
F9 Apud Maimon. Hilchot Biccurim, c. 4. sect. 6.

Deuteronomy 26:11 In-Context

9 and he brought us into this place and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey.
10 So now I bring the first of the fruit of the ground that you, O Lord, have given me." You shall set it down before the Lord your God and bow down before the Lord your God.
11 Then you, together with the Levites and the aliens who reside among you, shall celebrate with all the bounty that the Lord your God has given to you and to your house.
12 When you have finished paying all the tithe of your produce in the third year (which is the year of the tithe), giving it to the Levites, the aliens, the orphans, and the widows, so that they may eat their fill within your towns,
13 then you shall say before the Lord your God: "I have removed the sacred portion from the house, and I have given it to the Levites, the resident aliens, the orphans, and the widows, in accordance with your entire commandment that you commanded me; I have neither transgressed nor forgotten any of your commandments:
New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.