Deuteronomy 26 Commentary

George Leo Haydock Catholic Bible Commentary (10 verse expositions)

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18

“And it shall be, when thou art come in unto the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee for an inheritance, and possessest it, and dwellest therein;”

It. The land where Moses was speaking, which had been already conquered, was no less under the obligation of paying the first-fruits, &c., than Chanaan, and the parts of Syria which were promised to the Israelites. (Haydock) — All the products of the earth seem to have been liable to be offered, (Matthew xxiii. 23,) in proportion as they ripened, at the feasts of the Passover and of Pentecost, (Calmet) and of tabernacles. (Menochius) — Yet we find no mention here of the therumah, or offering, of which the Rabbins speak so much, as distinct at least from the first-fruits, which were heaved both by the priest and the offerer towards heaven and earth, on the right and left hand. Each (Calmet) landholder, (Haydock) and even the king himself, was bound to bring his own basket to the temple, and to recite the words here prescribed. The wheat and barley were first winnowed, and the grapes and olives made into wine and oil. Before the offering was made to the Lord, no one was allowed to taste any of the produce, Leviticus xxiii. 10., and Numbers xviii. 12, &c. Whether legumes were to be tithed, seems a matter of dispute. (Calmet)

Deuteronomy 26:5Lemma: “The Syrian”

“And thou shalt speak and say before the LORD thy God, A Syrian ready to perish was my father, and he went down into Egypt, and sojourned there with a few, and became there a nation, great, mighty, and populous:”

The Syrian. Laban. See Genesis xxvii. (Challoner) — Hebrew, “My father was a Syrian, poor, (or ready to perish) and he went down,” &c. The ancestors of Jacob had, in effect, come from beyond the Euphrates, and he had dwelt in Mesopotamia for twenty years. But the translation of the Septuagint seems preferable, “My father abandoned (apebalen) Syria.” (Calmet)

Deuteronomy 26:11Lemma: “Feast”

“And thou shalt rejoice in every good thing which the LORD thy God hath given unto thee, and unto thine house, thou, and the Levite, and the stranger that is among you.”

Feast. The Jews could not yet be required with propriety to raise themselves to delights purely spiritual, chap. xii. 7. Strabo (x.) observes, that the Greeks and barbarians accompanied their sacrifices with feasting and music, which served to take off their thoughts from earthly concerns, and gave them a sort of foretaste of the divinity. (Calmet)

Deuteronomy 26:12Lemma: “Third”

“When thou hast made an end of tithing all the tithes of thine increase the third year, which is the year of tithing, and hast given it unto the Levite, the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, that they may eat within thy gates, and be filled;”

Third. It has been remarked (chap. xiv. 28., and Leviticus xxvii. 30,) that the Jews gave two tithes every year, the second was for feasts at Jerusalem, or on the third year, at home, if there was not also a third tithe due on that year. (Haydock)

Deuteronomy 26:13Lemma: “Taken”

“Then thou shalt say before the LORD thy God, I have brought away the hallowed things out of mine house, and also have given them unto the Levite, and unto the stranger, to the fatherless, and to the widow, according to all thy commandments which thou hast commanded me: I have not transgressed thy commandments, neither have I forgotten them:”

Taken. Hebrew, “burnt.” (Calmet) — I have brought all that was due, (Tirinus) so that no more can be found in my house than what the fire would have spared, if it had been thrown into it.

Deuteronomy 26:14Lemma: “Mourning”

“I have not eaten thereof in my mourning, neither have I taken away ought thereof for any unclean use, nor given ought thereof for the dead: but I have hearkened to the voice of the LORD my God, and have done according to all that thou hast commanded me.”

Mourning. It was then unlawful to taste what was set apart for the Lord, and even to touch a thing, at that time, would render it unclean, Osee ix. 4. Others explain it thus: I have not eaten, how much soever I was distressed; or, I eat it with a cheerful heart. But these interpretations seem unnatural. Spencer (Rit. ii. 24,) thinks rather that the Jews thus disclaim having given any worship to Isis, whom the Egyptians invoked after the harvest, with mournful cries. (Diod. Sic. i.) About the same season of the year, lamentations were also made for the death of Adonis, (Marcel. xxii.) and for that of Osiris. (Firminus.) — The Phœnicians mourned in like manner for the desolate appearance of the earth, after the fruits were collected. The Egyptians thought that Isis had discovered fruits and corn, and therefore offered the first-fruits to her. But the Jews are here taught to refer all such favours to God alone, and they testify that they have taken no part in the superstitious rites of other nations, nor spent any thing in funerals. Hebrew, “upon the dead;” Osiris, &c., here styled uncleanness, by way of contempt. (Calmet)