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Tuesday, November 19th, 2024
the Week of Proper 28 / Ordinary 33
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First-Fruits
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
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fûrst´froots ( ראשׁית , rē'shı̄th , בּכּוּרים , bikkūrı̄m ; ἀπαρχή , aparchḗ ̌ . Septuagint translates rē'shı̄th by aparchē , but for bikkūrı̄m it uses the word prōtogennē̇mata compare Philo 22 33): In acknowledgment of the fact that the land and all its products were the gift of Yahweh to Israel, and in thankfulness for His bounty, all the first-fruits were offered to Him. These were offered in their natural state (e.g. cereals, tree fruits, grapes), or after preparation (e.g. musk, oil, flour, dough), after which the Israelite was at liberty to use the rest (Exodus 23:19; Numbers 15:20; Numbers 18:12; Deuteronomy 26:2; Nehemiah 10:35 , Nehemiah 10:37 ). No absolute distinction can be made between rē'shı̄th and bikkūrı̄m , but rē'shı̄th seems generally to mean what is prepared by human labor, and bikkūrı̄m the direct product of Nature. The phrase "the first of the first-fruits" (Exodus 23:19; Exodus 34:26; Ezekiel 44:30 ), Hebrew rē'shı̄th bikkūrē , Greek aparchaı́ tō̇n prōtogennēmátōn , is not quite clear. It may mean the first-ripe or the choicest of the first-fruits. The rē'shı̄th offerings were individual, except that a rē'shı̄th of dough was to be offered as a heave offering (Numbers 15:17-21 ). The priest waved a rē'shı̄th of corn before the Lord on the morrow after the Sabbath in the week of unleavened bread (Leviticus 23:9-11 ). These offerings all fell to the priest (Numbers 18:12 ). Bikkūrı̄m refers specially to things sown (Exodus 23:16; Leviticus 2:14 ). At the Feast of Weeks, seven weeks after the offering of the sheaf, bikkūrı̄m of corn in the ear, parched with fire and bruised, were brought to the House of the Lord as a meal offering (Exodus 34:22-26; Leviticus 2:14-16 ). The bikkūrı̄m also fell to the priest, except a portion which was burned as a memorial (Leviticus 2:8-10 , Leviticus 2:16 ). The beautiful ceremony of the offering of the rē'shı̄th in the House of God is described in Deuteronomy 26:1-11 , and is enlarged upon in the Talmud (Bikkūrı̄m 3 2). According to the Talmud (Terūmōth 4 3) a sixtieth part of the first-fruits in a prepared form was the minimum that could be offered; the more generous brought a fortieth part, and even a thirtieth. The fruits of newly planted trees were not to be gathered during the first three years; the fruits of the fourth year were consecrated to Yahweh, and from the fifth year the fruits belonged to the owner of the trees (Leviticus 19:23-25 ). According to Mishna, ‛Orlāh i.10, even the shells of nuts and pomegranates could not be used during the first three years as coloring matter or for the lighting of fires. It is held by some scholars that the institution of the tithe (see TITHE ) is a later development from the first-fruits.
Figurative: In the Old Testament, in Jeremiah 2:3 , Israel is called "the rē'shı̄th of his increase." In the New Testament aparchē is applied figuratively to the first convert or converts in a particular place (Romans 16:5; 1 Corinthians 16:15 ); to the Christians of that age (James 1:18; 2 Thessalonians 2:13 , WHm), and to the 144,000 in heaven (Revelation 14:4 ); to Christ, as the first who rose from the dead (1 Corinthians 15:20 , 1 Corinthians 15:23 ); also to the blessings which we receive now through the Spirit, the earnest of greater blessings to come (Romans 8:23 ).
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Bibliography Information
Orr, James, M.A., D.D. General Editor. Entry for 'First-Fruits'. International Standard Bible Encyclopedia. https://www.studylight.org/encyclopedias/eng/isb/f/first-fruits.html. 1915.
