The Heb. first-fruits belong to the latter class ; tiiey are tribute, not the staple of a sacramental meal. The history is not in all points clear, partly owing to the shifting sense of the terminology. It is essential, if confusion is to be avoided, to keep the regulations of the codes distinct, and take them in their chronological order.
(a) In the oldest legislation (JE) the first-fruits of the harvest are required ( Ex 23" 34^^). Twice the curious phrase occurs, ' the first of the first- fruits ' (t:"i!33 nxxi Ex 23" 34-^"', so in Ezk ii^). This is taken by some to mean tlie first-ripe, by others the choicest, of the first-fruits. But prob- ably 'of the first-fruits' is added to explain 'the first,' the first, that is, the first-fruits. It seems [irobable that in Ex '22-"-' first-fruits are referred to in the words ^i;9l) vpx^? (lit. ' t!iy fulness and thy tear,' paraplirased in RV as ' the abundance of thy fruits and of thy liquors'), on account of the mention of the firstborn in the parallel clause. If so, the first-fruits can hardly be confined to cereals, but will include wine and oil (' thy liquors'). The LXX gives d^apx'^i aXu^os /cai \-qpou ('first-fruits of thy threshing-lloor and wine- press'). A feast was connected with the offering, ' the feast of harvest, the first-fruits of tiiy labour ' (Ex 23"'), 'the feast of weeks, even of the first- fruits of wheat harvest' (Ex 34-='). The amount to he offered is not stated ; it seems to have been left to the discretion of tlie ott'erer. It is inter- esting to observe that a man brought Elislia as a gift ' bread of the first-fruits, twenty loaves of barley, and fresh ears of corn ' (2 K 4^^).
(6) In Deuteronomy (D) the Isr. is ordered to bring of his first-fruits in a basket to the central sanctuary and present it to the priest, with a pro- fession of gratitude to God for deliverance from Egyp. bondage and the possession of the fruitful land of Palestine. A feast then follows, in which the Levite and the stranger are to share the offerer's hospitality (Dt 'iti'""). According to 18* the priest is to receive the first-fruits of corn, wine, and oil, and the first of the fleece. The two regulations seem to be in conflict, and it has been supposed that 18* is a later addition. Possibly there is no discrepancy. The basket of first-fruits
FIRST-FRUITS
FISH
11
may be only a portion, and this may be the first- fruits meant in 18^, the rest being kept for tlie feast, or it may be tlie wliole and tlie feast not made of tlie first-fruits at all. (See Driver, Deut. p. 290. He decides for the latter alternative.) It IS not clear what was the relation of the first- fruits to the Tithe. Several scholars regard them as really identical, but this ia not certain. See Tithe.
(c) As Dt 18* claims the first - fruits for the Levitical priests, so Ezekiel, whose legislation forms the transition to the Priestly Code, claims for the priests (i.e. the sons of Zadok) ' the first of all the first-fruits of everything,' and, in addi- tion, the first of tlie dough (44™).
(d) In the small code known as the Law of Holiness (H) it is enjoined that on the day after the Sabbath a sheaf of the first-fruits of the har- veiit should be brought to the priest, who should wave it before the Lord. A burnt-oll'ering and a meal-ofi'ering are to accompany this ceremony, and, till it is accomplished, no bread, parclied corn, or fresh ears must be eaten (Lv 23'"'''*). Seven weeks later two wave loaves of two-tenths of an ephah of fine flour and leavened are to be offered as first-fruits (Lv 23". The additional regulations in 23"''-" are for the most part a later insertion interpolated from Nu 28"'^).
(e) In the Priestly Code (P) the reshlth and the bilckurim seem to be distinguished. In Nu 18'* the best of the corn, wine, and oil, that is, the reshith, belongs to the priest. In the next verse the bi/ckiirim of all that is in their land also belong to tlie priest. Probably, the bikkurim should be iuter]iieted as the first ripe raw fruits, while the reshitli will be the prepared oil and wine and corn. (So WelUiausen, Nowack, and liV.) Accordingly, we find in Neh 10^ that the bikkurim of the gi'ound and of the fruit trees were brought into the house of the Lord, while the rcsAiYA of dough, heave- ollerings, fruit, wine, and oil were brought into the store-rooms of the temple (10" 12-"). The distinc- tion is observed in LXX and by Philo and Josephus. In Nu 15-"- ■-' it is enacted that the first of the dough also shall be given as a heave-oli'ering. According to Lv 2''' leaven and honey might be included in the first-fruits, though they could not be part of any offering made by fire. The meal-offering of lirst-fruits consisted of parched corn in the ear with oil and frankincense. Part of the corn and oil with all the frankincense was to be burnt (Lv 2"'i'). An interesting law, which rests on the same principle as tlie law of first-fruits, is that of Lv 19-^-^, which ordains that the fruit of a tree shall not be used for the first three years after it is planted ('three years shall they be as imcircumcised unto you'), and shall be consecrated to God in the fourth year. In the fifth year it may be eaten.