Leviticus 23:17

Bring two loaves of bread from your dwellings as a wave offering, each made from two-tenths of an ephah of fine flour, baked with leaven, as the firstfruits to the LORD.

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — The Lord commands Moses and the Israelites to present a specific harvest offering immediately after counting fifty days from the Sabbath following Passover. This directive functions as the central ritual for the Feast of Weeks within Leviticus 23.

The words — תְּנוּפָה (tanu'fah) translates literally to a wave-offering, denoting a ritual presentation before the Lord. מִמּוֹשְׁבֹתֵיכֶם (mi-moshvoteychem) means "from your dwelling places," specifying that the bread originates from the people's homes rather than a central sanctuary kitchen.

The thread — The firstfruits theme appears in Exodus 23:19 and Exodus 34:22, where the best of the soil's yield and the wheat harvest are brought to the house of the Lord. Leviticus 23:10 also establishes the initial harvest offering that precedes this later celebration.

Why it lands — The text requires the community to bring leavened loaves as a firstfruits offering, explicitly noting the use of leaven where other grain offerings typically forbid it. This command asks the reader to recognize the ritual as a communal expression of gratitude for the completed wheat harvest.

Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.

The Hebrew words

מִמּוֹשְׁבֹ֨תֵיכֶ֜םmi./mo.she.Vo.tei./Khemfrom/ dwelling places/ your תָּבִ֣יאּוּ׀ta.Vi'.'uyou will bring לֶ֣חֶםLe.chembread of תְּנוּפָ֗הte.nu.Faha wave-offering שְׁ֚תַּיִםShe.ta.yimtwo שְׁנֵ֣יshe.Neitwo עֶשְׂרֹנִ֔ים'es.ro.Nimtenths סֹ֣לֶתSo.letfine flour תִּהְיֶ֔ינָהtih.Yei.nahthey will be חָמֵ֖ץcha.Metzleaven תֵּאָפֶ֑ינָהte.'a.Fei.nahthey will be baked בִּכּוּרִ֖יםbi.ku.Rimfirst-fruits לַֽיהוָֽה׃la./Yah.wehto/ Yahweh

King James Version

Ye shall bring out of your habitations two wave loaves of two tenth deals: they shall be of fine flour; they shall be baken with leaven; they are the firstfruits unto the Lord.

Cross-references

Leviticus 23:10 “Speak to the Israelites and say, ‘When you enter the land that I am giving you and you reap its harvest, you are to bring to the priest a sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest.
Exodus 23:19 Bring the best of the firstfruits of your soil to the house of the LORD your God. You must not cook a young goat in its mother’s milk.
Exodus 34:22 And you are to celebrate the Feast of Weeks with the firstfruits of the wheat harvest, and the Feast of Ingathering at the turn of the year.
Exodus 34:26 Bring the best of the firstfruits of your soil to the house of the LORD your God. You must not cook a young goat in its mother’s milk.”
Leviticus 7:13 Along with his peace offering of thanksgiving he is to present an offering with cakes of leavened bread.
Numbers 28:26 On the day of firstfruits, when you present an offering of new grain to the LORD during the Feast of Weeks, you are to hold a sacred assembly; you must not do any regular work.
Exodus 22:29 You must not hold back offerings from your granaries or vats. You are to give Me the firstborn of your sons.
Exodus 23:16 You are also to keep the Feast of Harvest with the firstfruits of the produce from what you sow in the field. And keep the Feast of Ingathering at the end of the year, when you gather your produce from the field.
Leviticus 2:12 You may bring them to the LORD as an offering of firstfruits, but they must not go up on the altar as a pleasing aroma.
Numbers 15:17 Then the LORD said to Moses,