Deuteronomy 26:11
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.
And thou shalt rejoice in every good thing,.... In all the blessings of goodness and mercies of life, which God in his kind providence had favoured them with:
which the LORD thy God hath given unto thee, and unto thine house; to them and their families, by which they were comfortably provided for:
thou and the Levite, and the stranger that is among you; by which it seems that not only a basket of firstfruits was brought and presented to the Lord, which is the perquisite of the priest, but there were others also brought, or bought with their money at Jerusalem, and a sort of a kept, which the Levite, and stranger or proselyte, of along with the owner; see Deuteronomy 12:11; though Jarchi understands it of the Levite and stranger being obliged to bring the firstfruits: the Levite, he says, is bound to the firstfruits of the plants in the midst of his cities, though he had no part in the division of the land; and the same writer says, the stranger brings the firstfruits, but does not proclaim, because he cannot say, "which he sware to our fathers", Deuteronomy 26:3; but it is said {f}, if his mother was an Israelitess he might proclaim; yea, Maimonides {g} says, on account of what is said of Abraham, Genesis 17:5; who is the father of the whole world; see Romans 4:10; because mention is made of rejoicing; hence it is concluded, as Jarchi says, that the proclamation of the firstfruits was only made in the time of joy, from Pentecost unto the feast that a man gathers in his increase, and his fruits, and his wine, and his oil; though from that feast and onward he may bring, but not proclaim; to the same purpose, says the Misnah {h}, from Pentecost to the feast of tabernacles a man may bring the firstfruits, and proclaim; and even from the feast of tabernacles to the dedication of the temple, he may bring, but not proclaim; the reason given in Siphri {i} is, because proclamation is only to be performed in time of joy--and the joy of the year is finished at the end of the feast of tabernacles, as in
{f} Misn. Biccurim, c. 1. sect. 4.
{g} Maimon. Hilchot Biccurim, c. 4. sect. 3.
{h} Ut supra, (
{f}) sect. 6.
{i} Apud Maimon. Hilchot Biccurim, c. 4. sect. 6.