BIBLE DICTIONARY + WORD STUDY
How to read this: there is rarely one magic “true meaning” hidden behind an English word. A lexicon records a word’s semantic range. The intended meaning is narrowed by grammar, sentence, author, historical usage and context.
HEBREW / ARAMAIC · H1061
bik.kur — firstfruit
1) first-fruits 1a) the first of the crops and fruit that ripened, was gathered, and offered to God according to the ritual of Pentecost 1b) the bread made of the new grain offered at Pentecost 1c) the day of the first-fruits (Pentecost)
14 tagged verse occurrences · see every occurrence →GREEK · G205
akrothinion — fine spoils
ἀκροθίνιον, -ου, τό (ἄκρος, θίς, a heap), prop., the top of a heap, hence, in pl., 1. first-fruits (Xen.; MM, VGT, see word). 2. In war, the choicest spoils (cf. Hdt., viii, 121 f.): Heb.7:4. † (AS)
1 tagged verse occurrence · see every occurrence →GREEK · G6404
aparchomai — to dedicate
1. Dep. 2. to make a beginning , especially in sacrifice, τρίχας ἀπάρχεσθαι to begin the sacrifice with the hair, i. e. by cutting off the hair from the forehead and throwing it into the fire, (Iliad by Homer): to begin the sacrificial rites, (Odyssey by Homer) 3. with genitive to cut off part of a thing, to offer it, to offer part of a thing, (Herdotus Historicus) 4. to offer the firstlings or first-fruits , (Herdotus Historicus) 5. metaphorically to take as the first-fruits, as the choice or best , (Theocritus Poeta Bucolicus) 6. ἀπάρχω Act., to be the first, be leader, dance , [variant datesAnthology Palantina (ML)
0 tagged verse occurrences · see every occurrence →The first-fruits of the ground were offered unto God just as the first-born of man and animals. The law required, (1.) That on the morrow after the Passover Sabbath a sheaf of new corn should be waved by the priest before the altar (Lev. 23:5, 6, 10, 12; 2:12). (2.) That at the feast of Pentecost two loaves of leavened bread, made from the new flour, were to be waved in like manner (Lev. 23:15, 17; Num. 28:26). (3.) The feast of Tabernacles was an acknowledgement that the fruits of the harvest were from the Lord (Ex. 23:16; 34:22). (4.) Every individual, besides, was required to consecrate to God a portion of the first-fruits of the land (Ex. 22:29; 23:19; 34:26; Num. 15:20, 21). (5.) The law enjoined that no fruit was to be gathered from newly-planted fruit-trees for the first three years, and that the first-fruits of the fourth year were to be consecrated to the Lord (Lev. 19:23-25). Jeremiah (2:3) alludes to the ordinance of “first-fruits,” and hence he must have been acquainted with the books of Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers, where the laws regarding it are recorded.
Source: Easton’s Bible Dictionary (1897). Historical dictionary wording reflects the scholarship and language of its era.
