Deuteronomy 26:10

And now, behold, I have brought the firstfruits of the land, which thou, O LORD, hast given me. And thou shalt set it before the LORD thy God, and worship before the LORD thy God:

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Benson Commentary

Deuteronomy 26:10-11. Thou shalt set it — The basket of first-fruits; before the Lord — That is, before the sanctuary, where God was more especially present. This shows that the person offering this oblation was to hold the basket in his hand while he made the foregoing acknowledgment. And worship before the Lord — Bowing his body, as the original word imports, toward the holy place, which external sign of inward worship, in all truly pious men, was accompanied with gratitude of heart to God for his benefits, and with prayer for their continuance. And thou shalt rejoice — Thou shalt hereby be enabled to take comfort in all thy enjoyments, when thou hast sanctified them by giving God his portion. It is the will of God that we should be cheerful, not only in our attendance upon his holy ordinances, but in our enjoyment of the gifts of his providence. Whatever good thing God gives us, we should make the most comfortable use of it we can, still tracing the streams to the fountain of all consolation.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

26:1-11 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.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

A Syrian ready to perish was my father - The reference is shown by the context to be to Jacob, as the ancestor in whom particularly the family of Abraham began to develop into a nation (compare Isaiah 43:22, Isaiah 43:28, etc.). Jacob is called a Syrian (literally, Aramaean), not only because of his own long residence in Syria with Laban Genesis 29-31, as our Lord was called a Nazarene because of his residence at Nazareth Matthew 2:23, but because he there married and had his children (compare Hosea 12:12); and might be said accordingly to belong to that more than to any other land.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

5. thou shalt say … A Syrian ready to perish was my father—rather, "a wandering Syrian." The ancestors of the Hebrews were nomad shepherds, either Syrians by birth as Abraham, or by long residence as Jacob. When they were established as a nation in the possession of the promised land, they were indebted to God's unmerited goodness for their distinguished privileges, and in token of gratitude they brought this basket of first-fruits.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

Thou shalt set, to wit, mediately, by the priest, who was to set it there, Deu 26:4. Set it, i.e. the basket of first-fruits, Deu 26:2.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

And now, behold, I have brought the firstfruits of the land,

which thou, O Lord, hast given me,.... Directing his speech not to the priest, but to the Lord himself; owning that the part of the land he had, and the fruits he enjoyed, were the gifts of God to him, and therefore, as in gratitude bound, brought him the firstfruits:

and thou shalt set it before the Lord thy God; these are the words of Moses, or of the law, directing the man what further he had to do; and this, as Jarchi thinks, shows that he took it after the priest waved it, and laid hold on it with his hand while he was reading (his confession), turning and waving:

and worship before the Lord thy God; bow before him in a reverend and humble manner, sensible of his obligations to him, and dependence on him.

Geneva Study Bible

And now, behold, I have {f} brought the firstfruits of the land, which thou, O LORD, hast given me. And thou shalt set it before the LORD thy God, and worship before the LORD thy God:

(f) In token of a thankful heart, and mindful of this benefit.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

10. I have brought the first, etc.] Heb. reshîth, as in Deuteronomy 26:2. Not the local Baalim but He who has guided them thither shall have this tribute.

And thou shalt set it down] But the priest has already done this, Deuteronomy 26:4. If Deuteronomy 26:3 f. are original we must read the clause to mean ‘thus (with the rites prescribed in 4–10 a) shalt thou set it down, etc.’ (Dillm., Dri.). But see on 3 f.

worship] Lit. prostrate thyself. Brooke and McLean retain this clause in their text of the LXX although it is omitted by B and some other authorities.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 10. - Thou shalt set it, etc.; either a general concluding remark, taking up the statement of ver. 4, or the offerer may have resumed hold of the basket, and after holding it in his hand while offering prayer, would solemnly deposit it before the altar. Deuteronomy 26:10

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

"So shalt thou set it down (the basket with the first-fruits) before Jehovah." These words are not to be understood, as Clericus, Knobel, and others suppose, in direct opposition to Deuteronomy 26:4 and Deuteronomy 26:5, as implying that the offerer had held the basket in his hand during the prayer, but simply as a remark which closes the instructions.