John Calvin Commentary Leviticus 23:10

"Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye are come into the land which I give unto you, and shall reap the harvest thereof, then ye shall bring the sheaf of the first-fruits of your harvest unto the priest:" — Leviticus 23:10 (ASV)

When you come to the land. Moses now lays down rules concerning the second day of the festival, which was dedicated to the offering of the first-fruits. The ceremony is described: they were to deliver a handful into the hand of the priest, though some think that the measure signified was the tenth part of an Ephah. The word Omer³⁴⁵ means both. However, in this passage, the expression “handful” is most appropriate, since it vividly represented the beginning of the harvest, as it was not lawful to taste even parched grain before the offering of the first-fruits. The priest lifted it up before the altar, but with a waving motion. For this is how the Hebrews distinguish between the two modes:³⁴⁶ תרומה, therumah, which was lifted up, and תנופה, thenuphah, which is mentioned here, and which was waved towards the four points of the compass, after which a sacrifice and libation were made.

We know that pagan nations³⁴⁷ thus invented gods and goddesses presiding over the fruits, so that the earth was considered the great and common mother of gods and men. Into this error the Jews would have immediately fallen, or would have gorged themselves without thinking about God, unless they had been reminded by this ceremony that the Father of their sustenance was in heaven, and that the earth was His minister for providing their food. For since the whole harvest was consecrated in the single handful, it was as if they had shown that whatever the earth produced belonged entirely to God. Thus, the admirable goodness of God was conspicuous: in claiming what was His own, He did not in any way diminish the food of the people. Afterwards, they received, as if from His hand, whatever each individual had stored at home, just as if it had come out of His sanctuary.

Paul’s statement is well known: For if the first-fruit be holy, the lump is also holy (Romans 11:16), in which he alludes to this ancient ceremony of the Law.

The phrase which they translate “unto your acceptance,”³⁴⁸ is from the same word that interpreters elsewhere render “good pleasure,” referring it to the people, as if it meant “at your own will,” or, as it is crudely put, ad libitum. But I have previously shown that it must be understood as the favor and goodwill of God, although it is transferred in a passive sense to the people. For example, in Psalm 106:4, רצון, ratson, or the favor of the chosen people, means the gratuitous love with which God regards His Church.

Moses, however, signifies that the fruits of the earth cannot otherwise be eaten with a clear conscience, because they would not feel that God accepted them and looked upon them with paternal affection. This ceremony, now abolished, still remains in full force among us as regards its substance. For nothing but the acknowledgment of God’s bounty, which springs from faith and thanksgiving, sanctifies whatever we receive from His hand.

Next to the first-fruits comes the Feast of Weeks, which the Greeks called Pentecost, serving the same purpose. For after they had offered the first-fruits from the standing harvest, they added another token of gratitude in the form of the loaves and the greater sacrifice. It must, however, be observed that the two loaves, consisting of two-tenths, are required of every family, but the sacrifices of seven lambs, one bullock, and two rams, and also of a goat and two lambs, are enjoined upon the whole people. This is, in fact, the legitimate acknowledgment of God’s liberality, because the waving of the sheaf, being performed in haste, was only a minor offering. We have seen that before they touched the grain, God required that the first-fruits should be offered to Him, until, at a time of leisure and greater convenience, they could more fully discharge their duty. Thus, what we have previously observed respecting the first-fruits was only a preparation for the day of Pentecost, on which the holy oblation was not ears of wheat but loaves made from the new wheat.

³⁴⁵ “The word עמר, gomer, was both a measure, which was the tenth part of an ephah, as also a sheaf, or handful, (was both a measure, which was the tenth part of an ephah, as also a sheaf, or handful, (δράγματα, , LXX.,)) as it is taken where Ruth is said to have gathered among the sheaves; and the reason is, because usually that which was beaten out of a sheaf might fill a as it is taken where Ruth is said to have gathered among the sheaves; and the reason is, because usually that which was beaten out of a sheaf might fill a ghomer.” — Willet,— Willet, in loco.

³⁴⁶ Vide ante, p. 132.

³⁴⁷ Compare Virgil, Georgic 1:—

³⁴⁸ See note #284