Deuteronomy26
New King James Version
1“And it shall be, when you come into the land which the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance, and you possess it and dwell in it,
2that you shall take some of the first of all the produce of the ground, which you shall bring from your land that the Lord your God is giving you, and put it in a basket and go to the place where the Lord your God chooses to make His name abide.
3And you shall go to the one who is priest in those days, and say to him, ‘I declare today to the Lord your God that I have come to the country which the Lord swore to our fathers to give us.’
4“Then the priest shall take the basket out of your hand and set it down before the altar of the Lord your God.
5And you shall answer and say before the Lord your God: ‘My father was a Syrian, about to perish, and he went down to Egypt and dwelt there, few in number; and there he became a nation, great, mighty, and populous.
6But the Egyptians mistreated us, afflicted us, and laid hard bondage on us.
7Then we cried out to the Lord God of our fathers, and the Lord heard our voice and looked on our affliction and our labor and our oppression.
8So the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and with an outstretched arm, with great terror and with signs and wonders.
9He has brought us to this place and has given us this land, “a land flowing with milk and honey”;
10and now, behold, I have brought the firstfruits of the land which you, O Lord, have given me.’ “Then you shall set it before the Lord your God, and worship before the Lord your God.
11So you shall rejoice in every good thing which the Lord your God has given to you and your house, you and the Levite and the stranger who is among you.
12“When you have finished laying aside all the tithe of your increase in the third year—the year of tithing—and have given it to the Levite, the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, so that they may eat within your gates and be filled,
13then you shall say before the Lord your God: ‘I have removed the holy tithe from my house, and also have given them to the Levite, the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, according to all Your commandments which You have commanded me; I have not transgressed Your commandments, nor have I forgotten them.
14I have not eaten any of it when in mourning, nor have I removed any of it for an unclean use, nor given any of it for the dead. I have obeyed the voice of the Lord my God, and have done according to all that You have commanded me.
15Look down from Your holy habitation, from heaven, and bless Your people Israel and the land which You have given us, just as You swore to our fathers, “a land flowing with milk and honey.” ’
16“This day the Lord your God commands you to observe these statutes and judgments; therefore you shall be careful to observe them with all your heart and with all your soul.
17Today you have proclaimed the Lord to be your God, and that you will walk in His ways and keep His statutes, His commandments, and His judgments, and that you will obey His voice.
18Also today the Lord has proclaimed you to be His special people, just as He promised you, that you should keep all His commandments,
19and that He will set you high above all nations which He has made, in praise, in name, and in honor, and that you may be a holy people to the Lord your God, just as He has spoken.”
Study Guide
Public-domain commentary and original-language notes for Deuteronomy 26.
Chapter Summary
In this chapter: Confession in offering the first-fruits. (1–11). The prayer after disposal of the third year's tithe. (12–15). The covenant between God and the people. (16–19).
vv1-11
When God has made good his promises to us, he expects we should own it to the honour of his faithfulness. And our creature comforts are doubly sweet, when we see them flowing from the fountain of the promise. The person who offered his first-fruits, must remember and own the mean origin of that nation, of which he was a member. A Syrian ready to perish was my father. Jacob is here called a Syrian. Their nation in its infancy sojourned in Egypt as strangers, they served there as slaves. They were a poor, despised, oppressed people in Egypt; and though become rich and great, had no reason to be proud, secure, or forgetful of God. He must thankfully acknowledge God's great goodness to Israel. The comfort we have in our own enjoyments, should lead us to be thankful for our share in public peace and plenty; and with present mercies we should bless the Lord for the former mercies we remember, and the further mercies we expect and hope for. He must offer his basket of first-fruits. Whatever good thing God gives us, it is his will that we make the most comfortable use we can of it, tracing the streams to the Fountain of all consolation.
vv12-15
How should the earth yield its increase, or, if it does, what comfort can we take in it, unless therewith our God gives us his blessing? All this represented the covenant relation between a reconciled God and every true believer, and the privileges and duties belonging to it. We must be watchful, and show that according to the covenant of grace in Christ Jesus, the Lord is our God, and we are his people, waiting in his appointed way for the performance of his gracious promises.
vv16-19
Moses here enforces the precepts. They are God's laws, therefore thou shalt do them, to that end were they given thee; do them, and dispute them not; do them, and draw not back; do them, not carelessly and hypocritically, but with thy heart and soul, thy whole heart and thy whole soul. We forswear ourselves, and break the most sacred engagement, if, when we have taken the Lord to be our God, we do not make conscience of obeying his commands. We are elected to obedience, 1Pe 1:2; chosen that we should be holy, Eph 1:4; purified a peculiar people, that we might not only do good works, but be zealous in them, Tit 2:14. Holiness is true honour, and the only way to everlasting honour.
Key Words
כִּי: (by implication) very widely used as a relative conjunction or adverb (as below); often largely modified by other particles annexed
בּוֹא: to go or come (in a wide variety of applications)
אֶרֶץ: the earth (at large, or partitively a land)
אֱלֹהִים: gods in the ordinary sense; but specifically used (in the plural thus, especially with the article) of the supreme God; occasionally applied by way of deference to magistrates; and sometimes as a superlative
נָתַן: to give, used with greatest latitude of application (put, make, etc.)
נַחֲלָה: properly, something inherited, i.e. (abstractly) occupancy, or (concretely) an heirloom; generally an estate, patrimony or portion
יָרַשׁ: to occupy (by driving out previous tenants, and possessing in their place); by implication, to seize, to rob, to inherit; also to expel, to impoverish, to ruin
יָשַׁב: properly, to sit down (specifically as judge. in ambush, in quiet); by implication, to dwell, to remain; causatively, to settle, to marry
לָקַח: to take (in the widest variety of applications)
רֵאשִׁית: the first, in place, time, order or rank (specifically, a firstfruit)
Cross References
Deuteronomy 26Verbal echo of Jacob as a Syrian fleeing/sojourning in Syria, demonstrating Israel's humble beginnings.
Supported by Matthew Henry, Matthew Poole, JFB
Defines the third-year tithe given to the Levite, stranger, fatherless, and widow.
Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB
The foundational covenant promise that Israel would be a peculiar treasure and holy nation.
Supported by Matthew Henry, John Calvin
New Testament parallel of Christ purifying for Himself a 'peculiar people' zealous of good works.
Supported by Matthew Henry
The command to bring the first of the firstfruits to the house of the Lord.
Supported by JFB
The place chosen by God to put His name, where offerings are brought and rejoiced over.
Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB
The historical account of Jacob going down to Egypt to sojourn with a few.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Parallels the prohibition against eating sacred things during mourning, which defiles the offering.
Supported by JFB
Echoes the prayer 'look down from thy holy habitation' in heaven to bless His people.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Instruction to recite the history of Egyptian bondage and deliverance to successive generations.
Supported by John Calvin
Records the affliction and hard bondage laid upon Israel by the Egyptians.
Supported by Matthew Poole
God's promise to deliver Israel into a land flowing with milk and honey.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Priestly laws concerning mourning, clarifying why food for the dead causes uncleanness.
Supported by JFB
Applies the covenant status of a 'chosen generation, royal priesthood, holy nation' to believers.
Supported by Matthew Henry
David's confession that all things come from God, giving Him only what is His own.
Supported by Matthew Henry