Era 4 · Covenant and WildernessDeuteronomy
Firstfruits, Identity, and Covenant Commitment
"A Syrian ready to perish was my father"
"Thou shalt take of the first of all the fruit of the earth… and shalt put it in a basket, and shalt go unto the place which the LORD thy God shall choose." The priest sets the basket before the altar, and the farmer says:
In the third year, after giving the tithe to the Levite, the stranger, the fatherless and the widow, he declares: "I have brought away the hallowed things out of mine house… I have not eaten thereof in my mourning… nor given ought thereof for the dead." "Look down from thy holy habitation, from heaven, and bless thy people Israel." And the chapter closes with a mutual declaration: "Thou hast avouched the LORD this day to be thy God… And the LORD hath avouched thee this day to be his peculiar people."
Three readings of 26:5
| Reading | How it construes arami 'oved avi | Where it comes from |
|---|---|---|
| "A wandering (or perishing) Aramean was my father" | 'oved describes the father: wandering, lost, or near death | The plain grammar; most modern translations; the father is usually taken as Jacob |
| "My father left Aram" | A paraphrase of the same idea | The Septuagint (in the library's French: "Mon père a quitté la Syrie") |
| "An Aramean sought to destroy my father" | 'oved as "destroying"; the Aramean is Laban | The Passover Haggadah; the Vulgate ("Syrus persequebatur patrem meum") |
The Haggadah's reading, "Go and learn what Laban the Aramean sought to do to Jacob our father," is a midrash, a creative interpretation, built into the Passover seder. The Hebrew grammar favors the father as the Aramean. The difference is one of interpretation and translation; the Hebrew letters are the same in every witness checked.
A short history of Israel
Gerhard von Rad (1938) called 26:5–9 a "short historical creed" and argued it was one of Israel's oldest summaries of faith, from which the larger narrative of the Torah grew. Later scholars have questioned its antiquity, noting its Deuteronomic language. Either way, it shows Israel telling its identity as a story of descent, oppression, rescue and gift.
The Case for the Biblical Account
Scripture's account
Firstfruits with a confession of Israel's story; the tithe declaration; mutual covenant commitment (Deuteronomy 26).
What evidence would we expect?
Firstfruits offerings in Israel and elsewhere; the confession in later liturgy.
The discoveries
Firstfruits practice in the Mishnah (tractate Bikkurim, which describes the procession to Jerusalem); the confession in the Passover Haggadah; Aramean origins of the patriarchs in Genesis (Laban the Aramean, Haran).
Testing the discoveries
The practice is well documented in the Second Temple period. No object confirms the recital in Moses' day.
The strongest reconstruction
Deuteronomy 26 joins agriculture, worship, history and care for the poor in one ritual.
What remains possible
Whether the creed is ancient or a Deuteronomic composition; who the "Aramean" was.
What the evidence shows
- The Septuagint, Vulgate and Haggadah read 26:5 differently. Checked in the site's library texts and the Haggadah.
- The "Aramean" of 26:5 is Laban. The Haggadah's midrash; the grammar favors Jacob.
- Deuteronomy 26:5–9 is one of Israel's oldest creeds.
- "The LORD hath avouched thee this day to be his peculiar people."
Continue the journey
Journey of a PassageDeuteronomy 26:5: A wandering Aramean, or an Aramean who sought to destroy?Three words, arami 'oved avi, open the farmer's confession.More from this lesson
Why this matters to the rest of Scripture
- "Laban the Syrian [Aramean]."
- Another short history of Israel.
- "The first of the firstfruits."
- "Christ… the firstfruits of them that slept."
- "A peculiar people."