Deuteronomy 26
26
Presentation of the First Fruits
1 When#tn Heb “and it will come to pass that.” you enter the land that the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance, and you occupy it and live in it, 2 you must take the first of all the ground’s produce you harvest from the land the Lord your God is giving you, place it in a basket, and go to the place where he#tn Heb “the Lord your God.” The pronoun has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons to avoid redundancy. chooses to locate his name.#sn The place where he chooses to locate his name. This is a circumlocution for the central sanctuary, first the tabernacle and later the Jerusalem temple. See Deut 12:1-14 and especially the note on the word “you” in v. 14. 3 You must go to the priest in office at that time and say to him, “I declare today to the Lord your#tc For the MT reading “your God,” certain LXX mss have “my God,” a contextually superior rendition followed by some English versions (e.g., NAB, NASB, TEV). Perhaps the text reflects dittography of the kaf (כ) at the end of the word with the following preposition כִּי (ki). God that I have come into the land that the Lord#tc The Syriac adds “your God” to complete the usual formula. promised#tn Heb “swore on oath.” to our ancestors#tn Heb “fathers” (also in vv. 7, 15). to give us.” 4 The priest will then take the basket from you#tn Heb “your hand.” and set it before the altar of the Lord your God. 5 Then you must affirm before the Lord your God, “A wandering#tn Though the Hebrew term אָבַד (’avad) generally means “to perish” or the like (HALOT 2-3 s.v.; BDB 1-2 s.v.; cf. KJV “a Syrian ready to perish”), a meaning “to go astray” or “to be lost” is also attested. The ambivalence in the Hebrew text is reflected in the versions where LXX Vaticanus reads ἀπέβαλεν (apebalen, “lose”) for a possibly metathesized reading found in Alexandrinus, Ambrosianus, ἀπέλαβεν (apelaben, “receive”); others attest κατέλειπεν (kateleipen, “leave, abandon”). “Wandering” seems to suit best the contrast with the sedentary life Israel would enjoy in Canaan (v. 9) and is the meaning followed by many English versions. Aramean#sn A wandering Aramean. This is a reference to Jacob whose mother Rebekah was an Aramean (Gen 24:10; 25:20, 26) and who himself lived in Aram for at least twenty years (Gen 31:41-42). was my ancestor,#tn Heb “father.” and he went down to Egypt and lived there as a foreigner with a household few in number,#tn Heb “sojourned there few in number.” The words “with a household” have been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons and for clarity. but there he became a great, powerful, and numerous people. 6 But the Egyptians mistreated and oppressed us, forcing us to do burdensome labor. 7 So we cried out to the Lord, the God of our ancestors, and he#tn Heb “the Lord.” See note on “he” in 26:2. heard us and saw our humiliation, toil, and oppression. 8 Therefore the Lord brought us out of Egypt with tremendous strength and power,#tn Heb “by a powerful hand and an extended arm.” These are anthropomorphisms designed to convey God’s tremendously great power in rescuing Israel from their Egyptian bondage. They are preserved literally in many English versions (cf. KJV, NAB, NIV, NRSV). as well as with great awe-inspiring signs and wonders. 9 Then he brought us to this place and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey. 10 So now, look! I have brought the first of the ground’s produce that you, Lord, have given me.” Then you must set it down before the Lord your God and worship before him.#tn Heb “the Lord your God.” See note on “he” in 26:2. 11 You will celebrate all the good things that the Lord your God has given you and your family,#tn Or “household” (so NASB, NIV, NLT); Heb “house” (so KJV, NRSV). along with the Levites and the resident foreigners among you.
Presentation of the Third-year Tithe
12 When you finish tithing all#tn Heb includes “the tithes of.” This has not been included in the translation to avoid redundancy. your income in the third year (the year of tithing), you must give it to the Levites, the resident foreigners, the orphans, and the widows#tn The terms “Levite, resident foreigner, orphan, and widow” are collective singulars in the Hebrew text (also in v. 13). so that they may eat to their satisfaction in your villages.#tn Heb “gates.” 13 Then you shall say before the Lord your God, “I have removed the sacred offering#tn Heb “the sacred thing.” The term הַקֹּדֶשׁ (haqqodesh) likely refers to an offering normally set apart for the Lord but, as a third-year tithe, given on this occasion to people in need. Sometimes this is translated as “the sacred portion” (cf. NASB, NIV, NRSV), but that could sound to a modern reader as if a part of the house were being removed and given away. from my house and given it to the Levites, the resident foreigners, the orphans, and the widows just as you have commanded me.#tn Heb “according to all your commandment that you commanded me.” This has been simplified in the translation for stylistic reasons. I have not violated or forgotten your commandments. 14 I have not eaten anything when I was in mourning, or removed any of it while ceremonially unclean, or offered any of it to the dead;#sn These practices suggest overtones of pagan ritual, all of which the confessor denies having undertaken. In Canaan they were connected with fertility practices associated with harvest time. See E. H. Merrill, Deuteronomy (NAC), 335-36. I have obeyed you#tn Heb “the Lord my God.” See note on “he” in 26:2. and have done everything you have commanded me. 15 Look down from your holy dwelling place in heaven and bless your people Israel and the land you have given us, just as you promised our ancestors – a land flowing with milk and honey.”
Narrative Interlude
16 Today the Lord your God is commanding you to keep these statutes and ordinances, something you must do with all your heart and soul.#tn Or “mind and being”; cf. NCV “with your whole being”; TEV “obey them faithfully with all your heart.” 17 Today you have declared the Lord to be your God, and that you will walk in his ways, keep his statutes, commandments, and ordinances, and obey him. 18 And today the Lord has declared you to be his special people (as he already promised you) so you may keep all his commandments. 19 Then#tn Heb “so that.” Verses 18-19 are one sentence in the Hebrew text, but the translation divides it into three sentences for stylistic reasons. The first clause in verse 19 gives a result of the preceding clause. When Israel keeps God’s law, God will bless them with fame and honor (cf. NAB “he will then raise you high in praise and renown and glory”; NLT “And if you do, he will make you greater than any other nation”). he will elevate you above all the nations he has made and you will receive praise, fame, and honor.#tn Heb “for praise and for a name and for glory.” You will#tn Heb “and to be.” A new sentence was started here for stylistic reasons. be a people holy to the Lord your God, as he has said.
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Deuteronomy 26
26
1Also when thou shalt come into the lande which the Lord thy God giueth thee for inheritance, and shalt possesse it, and dwell therein, 2Then shalt thou take of the first of all the fruite of the earth, and bring it out of the lande that the Lord thy God giueth thee, and put it in a basket, and goe vnto the place, which the Lord thy God shall chose to place his Name there. 3And thou shalt come vnto the Priest, that shall be in those dayes, and say vnto him, I acknowledge this day vnto the Lord thy God, that I am come vnto the countrey which the Lord sware vnto our fathers for to giue vs. 4Then the Priest shall take the basket out of thine hand, and set it downe before the altar of the Lord thy God. 5And thou shalt answere and say before the Lord thy God, A Syrian was my father, who being ready to perish for hunger, went downe into Egypt, and soiourned there with a small company, and grew there vnto a nation great, mightie and full of people. 6And the Egyptians vexed vs, and troubled vs, and laded vs with cruell bondage. 7But when we cried vnto the Lord God of our fathers, the Lord heard our voyce, and looked on our aduersitie, and on our labour, and on our oppression. 8And the Lord brought vs out of Egypt in a mightie hande, and a stretched out arme, with great terriblenesse, both in signes and wonders. 9And he hath brought vs into this place, and hath giuen vs this land, euen a lande that floweth with milke and hony. 10And now, lo, I haue brought ye first fruites of the land which thou, O Lord, hast giuen me, and thou shalt set it before the Lord thy God, and worship before the Lord thy God: 11And thou shalt reioyce in all the good things which the Lord thy God hath giuen vnto thee and to thine houshold, thou and the Leuite, and the stranger that is among you. 12When thou hast made an end of tithing all the tythes of thine increase, the thirde yeere, which is the yeere of tithing, and hast giuen it vnto the Leuite, to the stranger, to the fatherlesse, and to the widowe, that they may eate within thy gates, and be satisfied, 13Then thou shalt say before the Lord thy God, I haue brought the halowed thing out of mine house, and also haue giuen it vnto the Leuites and to the strangers, to the fatherlesse, and to the widow, according to all thy comandements which thou hast commanded me: I haue transgressed none of thy comandements, nor forgotten them. 14I haue not eaten therof in my mourning, nor suffred ought to perish through vncleannes, nor giuen ought thereof for the dead, but haue hearkened vnto the voyce of the Lord my God: I haue done after al that thou hast comaded me. 15Looke downe from thine holy habitation, euen from heauen, and blesse thy people Israel, and the lande which thou hast giuen vs (as thou swarest vnto our fathers) the land that floweth with milke and hony. 16This day the Lord thy God doeth command thee to do these ordinances, and lawes: keepe them therefore, and do them with al thine heart, and with all thy soule. 17Thou hast set vp the Lord this day to be thy God, and to walke in his wayes, and to keepe his ordinances, and his commandements, and his lawes, and to hearken vnto his voyce. 18And the Lord hath set thee vp this day, to be a precious people vnto him (as hee hath promised thee) and that thou shouldest keepe all his commandements, 19And to make thee high aboue al nations (which he hath made) in praise, and in name, and in glory, and that thou shouldest be an holy people vnto the Lord thy God, as he hath said.
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