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The practice of consecrating first-fruits to the Deity is not a distinctly Jewish one (cf. Iliad, IX, 529; Aristophanes, "Ran.", 1272; Ovid, "Metam.", VIII, 273; X, 431; Pliny, "Hist. Nat.", IV, 26; etc.). It seems to have sprung up naturally among agricultural peoples from thebelief that the first — hence the best — yield of the earth is due toGod as an acknowledgment of His gifts. "God served first", then the whole crop becomes lawful food. The offering of the first-fruits was, inIsrael, regulated bylaws enshrined in different parts of theMosaic books. Theselaws were, in the course of ages, supplemented by customs preserved later on in the Talmud. Three entire treatises of the latter, "Bíkkûrîm", "Terû-môth", and "Hállah", besides numerous other passages of both the Mishna and Gemarah, are devoted to the explanation of these customs.
First-fruit offerings are designated in the Law by a threefold name: Bíkkûrîm, Reshîth, and Terûmôth. There remains much uncertainty about the exact import of these words, as they seem to have been taken indiscriminately at different epochs. If, however, one considers the texts attentively, he may gather from them a fairly adequateidea of the subject. There was a first-fruit offering connected with the beginning of the harvest. Leviticus, xxiii, 10-14, enacted that a sheaf of ears should be brought to thepriest, who, the next day after theSabbath, was to lift it up before the Lord. Aholocaust, a meal-offering, and a libation accompanied theceremony; and until it was performed no "bread, or parched corn, or frumenty of the harvest" should be eaten. Seven weeks later two loaves, made from the new harvest, were to be brought to the sanctuary for a new offering. The Bíkkûrîm consisted, it seems, of the first ripened raw fruits; they were taken from wheat, barley, grapes, figs, pomegranates, olives, and honey. The fruits offered were supposed to be the choicest, and were to be fresh, except in the case of grapes and figs, which might be offered dried byIsraelites living far fromJerusalem. No indication is given in Scripture as to how much should be thus brought to the sanctuary. But the custom was gradually introduced of consecrating no less than one-sixtieth and no more than one-fortieth of the crop (Bíkk., ii, 2, 3, 4). Occasionally, of course, there were extraordinary offerings, like that of the fruit of a tree the fourth year after it had been planted (Leviticus 19:23-25); one might also, for instance, set apart as a free offering the harvest of a whole field.
No time was, at first, specially set apart for the offering; in later ages, however, the feast of Dedication (25 Casleu) was assigned as the limit (Bíkk., i, 6; Hállah, iv, 10). In the Book of Deuteronomy, xxvi, 1-11, directions are laid down as to the manner in which these offerings should be made. The first-fruits were brought in a basket to the sanctuary and presented to thepriest, with an expression of thanksgiving for the deliverance ofIsrael fromEgypt and the possession of the fertile land of Palestine. A feast, shared by theLevite and the stranger, followed. Whether the fruits offered were consumed in that meal is not certain;Numbers 18:13 seems to intimate that they henceforth belonged to thepriest, andPhilo andJosephus suppose the same.
Other offerings were made of the prepared fruits, especially oil, wine, and dough (Deuteronomy 18:4;Numbers 15:20-21;Leviticus 2:12, 14-15; cf.Exodus 22:29, in the Greek), and "the first of the fleece". As in the case of the raw fruits, no quantity was determined; Ezechiel affirms that it was one-sixtieth of the harvest for wheat and barley and one-one hundredth for oil. They were presented to the sanctuary with ceremonies analogous to those alluded to above, although, unlike the Bíkkûrîm, they were not offered at the altar, but brought into the store-rooms of the temple. They may be looked upon, therefore, not so much as sacrificial matter as a tax for the support of thepriests. (SeeANNATES.)
SMITH,The Religion of the Semites (2d ed., London, 1907): WELLHAUSEN,Prolegomena to the History of Israel, tr. BLACK AND MENZIEB (Edinburgh, 1885), 157-58; PHILO,De festo cophini; ID.,De proemiis sacerdotum; JOSEPHUS,Ant. Jud., IV, viii, 22; RELAND,Antiquitates sacræ; SCHÜRER,Geschichte des jüd. Volkes im Zeit. J. C. (Leipzig, 1898), II, 237-50.
APA citation.Souvay, C.(1909).First-Fruits. InThe Catholic Encyclopedia.New York: Robert Appleton Company.http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/06082a.htm
MLA citation.Souvay, Charles."First-Fruits."The Catholic Encyclopedia.Vol. 6.New York: Robert Appleton Company,1909.<http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/06082a.htm>.
Transcription.This article was transcribed for New Advent by Douglas J. Potter.Dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus Christ.
Ecclesiastical approbation.Nihil Obstat. September 1, 1909. Remy Lafort, Censor.Imprimatur. +John M. Farley, Archbishop of New York.
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