Catholic Commentary on Deuteronomy 26

"My father was a wandering Aramean, and he went down into Egypt with a few people and lived there and became a great nation, powerful and numerous." (Deuteronomy 26:5)

The Firstfruits and the Covenant Declaration

When Israel enters the land and brings the firstfruits to the central sanctuary, the worshipper makes a declaration before the priest that he has come to the land the LORD swore to the ancestors to give. He places the basket before the altar and declares: My father was a wandering Aramean, and he went down into Egypt with a few people and lived there and became a great nation, powerful and numerous. But the Egyptians mistreated us and made us suffer, subjecting us to harsh labour. Then we cried out to the LORD, the God of our ancestors, and the LORD heard our voice and saw our misery, toil, and oppression. So the LORD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, with great terror and with signs and wonders. He brought us to this place and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey.

This creedal formula is one of the oldest liturgical texts in the Bible, a compressed narrative of salvation history that has been called Israel's historical creed. The Catechism identifies it as the model of all liturgical anamnesis: the community's act of remembering the divine acts that constituted its existence, offered with the firstfruits as a sign that all belongs to the God who gave everything (CCC 1363). The worshipper then declares the tithe has been given according to the law and asks for God's blessing on Israel and the ground.

Living the Word

Brothers and sisters, my father was a wandering Aramean. Begin your prayer today with your own version of this creed: name where you came from, what happened there, how God heard your cry and brought you out and led you here. The offering of the firstfruits is inseparable from the telling of the story. Tell the story. Then bring the offering.

Prayer

Lord God, you brought us out of every Egypt with a mighty hand and outstretched arm, with great acts of justice and mercy. We bring the firstfruits of everything you have given us, declaring that it all comes from you. Look down from your holy dwelling and bless us as you promised. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

26
Offering Firstfruits and Tithes
(Leviticus 27:30–34; Deuteronomy 14:22–29; Nehemiah 13:10–14)
1 When you enter the land that the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance, and you take possession of it and settle in it, 2 you are to take some of the firstfruits of all your produce from the soil of the land that the LORD your God is giving you and put them in a basket. Then go to the place the LORD your God will choose as a dwelling for His Name, 3 to the priest who is serving at that time, and say to him, “I declare today to the LORD your God that I have entered the land that the LORD swore to our fathers to give us.”
 
4 Then the priest shall take the basket from your hands and place it before the altar of the LORD your God, 5 and you are to declare before the LORD your God, “My father was a wandering Aramean, and he went down to Egypt few in number and lived there and became a great nation, mighty and numerous. 6 But the Egyptians mistreated us and afflicted us, putting us to hard labor. 7 So we called out to the LORD, the God of our fathers; and the LORD heard our voice and saw our affliction, toil, and oppression. 8 Then the LORD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, with great terror, signs, and wonders. 9 And He brought us to this place and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey. 10 And now, behold, I have brought the firstfruits of the land that You, O LORD, have given me.”
 
Then you are to place the basket before the LORD your God and bow down before Him. 11 So you shall rejoice—you, the Levite, and the foreigner dwelling among you—in all the good things the LORD your God has given to you and your household.
 
12 When you have finished laying aside a tenth of all your produce in the third year, the year of the tithe, you are to give it to the Levite, the foreigner, the fatherless, and the widow, that they may eat and be filled within your gates.
 
13 Then you shall declare in the presence of the LORD your God, “I have removed from my house the sacred portion and have given it to the Levite, the foreigner, the fatherless, and the widow, according to all the commandments You have given me. I have not transgressed or forgotten Your commandments. 14 I have not eaten any of the sacred portion while in mourning, or removed any of it while unclean, or offered any of it for the dead. I have obeyed the LORD my God; I have done everything You commanded me. 15 Look down from Your holy habitation, from heaven, and bless Your people Israel and the land You have given us as You swore to our fathers—a land flowing with milk and honey.”
Obey the LORD’s Commands
 
16 The LORD your God commands you this day to follow these statutes and ordinances. You must be careful to follow them with all your heart and with all your soul.
 
17 Today you have proclaimed that the LORD is your God and that you will walk in His ways, keep His statutes and commandments and ordinances, and listen to His voice.
 
18 And today the LORD has proclaimed that you are His people and treasured possession as He promised, that you are to keep all His commandments, 19 that He will set you high in praise and name and honor above all the nations He has made, and that you will be a holy people to the LORD your God, as He has promised.

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