3. Firstfruits (23:9-14)

This festival is intended as a perpetual occasion for Israel to remember that God gave her as an inheritance a land “flowing with milk and honey” (cf. Dt 26:1-11). At the beginning of the annual harvest, a sheaf of the first grain gathered is to be brought to the priest, who elevates the sheaf before the Lord (v.11). The priest’s elevating the sheaf toward God symbolized the dedication of the harvest to the Lord and reception of it again from God. On the same day a peace offering is to be made to God (see notes on 3:1-17).