“And it shall be when you come to the land, etc.” We do not find the language “and you shall possess it and dwell in it” except here and in the section about the king. This is because after settling and possessing the land, Israel will grow fat and rebel, and they will ask for matters of authority like all the nations. Similarly, in the section about first fruits, the intention was to humble their proud hearts, which after possession and settlement would lead them to say that the land is theirs and they conquered it with their sword, and they would forget God. This is what it means: And it shall be when you come to the land which the Lord your God gives you as an inheritance — because truly, you are not coming to the land as an inheritance, for house and wealth are inherited from fathers, but the land is given to you by God as a gift on the condition that you return His repayment and keep all His commandments. But your heart will imagine otherwise, saying and you shall possess it — that you will hold onto it as an heir, as if it were your inheritance from your fathers, and dwell in it — as a permanent resident, not as it is said The land shall not be sold permanently, for the land is Mine; for you are strangers and residents with Me (Leviticus 25:23). And all this will lead you to pride, that you will forget God. Therefore, I command you the commandment of first fruits. And so explained Maimonides that the main reason for this commandment is humility and subjugation to the Blessed God. The evidence for this is what it says, I have declared today to the Lord your God. I have declared is in past tense, but he has not yet declared anything. Rather, it means that by this heaving [the basket of fruits] to and fro, it is already as if I have declared by way of confession that I have come to the land, etc. — meaning, not as an inheritance but in this manner that God swore to our fathers to give to us. And I testify about myself by bringing the first fruits that the land was given to me by God as a portion and gift. And this is what it means: and you shall take from the first fruits. It does not say “and you shall give” but and you shall take, telling you that from these first fruits that you bring to the house of God to give thanks and honor to His blessed name, from them you will take [acquire] all the fruits of the earth and merit all the fruits of the earth after you have acknowledged that you bring the first fruits from your land which the Lord your God gives you. For this land will not be called “your land” except after bringing the first fruits, and through this bringing, you will take for yourself all the fruits of the earth. And this bringing is the declaration mentioned in the verse I have declared today.

You shall come to the priest who will be in those days. According to what our Sages said (Ketubot 105b), “Was Elisha one who ate first fruits? Rather, this teaches that whoever brings a gift to a Torah scholar, it is as if he offered first fruits.” Since they linked the gift for a Torah scholar to first fruits, one might think that the first fruits should only be given to a priest who is a Torah scholar from the priestly division serving at that time. And if there is no Torah scholar among them, one might think that he should wait until the division of some priest who is a Torah scholar comes to serve. Therefore, the Torah states who will be in those days, and with this, the words of the Ramban, who wrote “I did not understand this, etc.,” are addressed. And you shall say to him, “I declare” already by this bringing [of first fruits], even though there are no words or speech, as it is said The firmament declares the work of His hands…there is no speech and there are no words, etc. (Psalms 19:2–4). Similarly, this bringing [of first fruits] declares and testifies about me that I have come to the land, not because of my righteousness, but because He kept the oath that the Lord swore to our forefathers.

And because confession is an altar of atonement, therefore the priest shall take the basket from your hand and place it before the altar of the Lord, to say, “Behold, your iniquity has been removed and your sin is atoned for.” And after the atonement, you shall respond and say in a loud voice, not like the confession which was whispered, for it is impudent for one to detail their sins in public. But this matter one can say in a loud voice to remove the transgression from the seed of Jacob and attribute it to the defective seed of the mother who was from an Aramean, and he says, A lost Aramean is my father. He did not mention Laban by name, but rather to say that because he was from Aram, therefore he behaved according to the custom of his place, and from him was drawn this evil trait mentioned in the verse, And you shall possess it and dwell in it, to seek a peaceful dwelling in this world. As is concluded in Genesis Rabbah (chapter 39:8), Rabbi Levi said: “When Abraham was traveling in Aram Naharaim and Aram Nahor, and saw people eating, drinking, and acting frivolously, he said, ‘May my portion not be in this land, etc.’” And because from there Isaac took Rebecca, and Jacob his wives, from there Jacob learned to seek a peaceful dwelling in this world, and through this, the distress of Joseph came upon him, and through this, the matter developed that they went down to Egypt, and there they were strangers and entered the iron furnace to cleanse that sin. And this is what is meant by A lost Aramean is my father, and he went down to Egypt. And he mentioned this as a way of defending against what they were accused of in saying, And you shall possess it and dwell in it, as mentioned, to say that from this some impression remained for generations, therefore he said A lost Aramean is my father. Is my father is in the present tense, to say that this impression remained for the [future] generations as well.

And we cried out to the Lord, God of our fathers. For without the merit of our fathers, He would not have heard our prayers because they were wicked and sinful in Egypt, as is found in the prophecy of Ezekiel. That is why it says, And He saw our affliction, and our labor, and our oppression. And you should know that regarding affliction and oppression, it is written in the section of Exodus (3:7–9), I have seen the affliction of My people, etc., and I have also seen the oppression, etc. But regarding the seeing of our labor, we do not find it written. Therefore, it appears that our labor means that He looked at the mischief and iniquity in Jacob and in the children of Israel, that even in the time when they were in affliction and oppression, nevertheless, the detestable things of their eyes they did not cast away. And the Holy One, blessed be He, saw the debt and its receipt — our affliction and our mischief — and if so, certainly without the merit of our fathers, He would not have responded to us. And the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand — against the attribute of justice that accused us, saying, “How are these different from those? These worship idolatry and those worship idolatry, etc.” And from all this, there is proof for And He brought us to this place and gave us — as a gift — the land. And now, what has passed has passed, and from here on we calculate, for now I acknowledge that to the Lord belongs the land. And the proof of this is that behold, I have brought, etc. and you shall set it before the Lord, for from then on, one draws near to the Lord.

And Abarbanel explained, you shall leave it there is from the language of and she left his garment by her (Genesis 39:16), meaning that one should not return and take the basket from there, but rather leave it for the priests of the Lord.

Look down from Your holy dwelling, etc. Since he previously said, I have done according to all that You have commanded me, Rashi explains that “I rejoiced and made others rejoice.” Therefore, Look down from Your dwelling [maon],as we say “that joy is in His dwelling,” and from there return and make us rejoice. In the tractate Chagigah (12b), they said that in Ma’on [the fifth heaven] are companies of ministering angels who sing praises at night and are silent during the day out of respect for Israel, as it is said, By day, the Lord will command His steadfast love, and at night His song is with me (Psalms 42:9). Rashi explains: “By day, the Lord will command His steadfast love” — He commands the angels to be silent in order to show kindness to those in need of kindness, and these are the lower beings [humans]. It seems reasonable that the Holy One, blessed be He, performs this kindness because of the kindness that people below do for one another, and tithing is included in acts of kindness. Therefore, he says: by virtue of the kindness I have done through this tithe for those in need of kindness, Look down from Your dwelling to show kindness to those in need of kindness. For those heavens that are called Ma’on are designated for this purpose and designated for joy, because where there is joy there is song, and not where there is no joy. Furthermore, by virtue of I have not transgressed [avarti] Your commandments — from the expression “one does not pass [ma’avirin] over commandments” — that I did not pass over a commandment to prioritize what should come later, similarly, Look down from Your holy dwelling without prioritizing what should come later, for the thought of Israel preceded the world, and they precede even the angels. Therefore, it is right that the angels should not sing praises until Israel first says them during the day, and afterward the angels at night, as it is written, The God of the first is a dwelling place (Deuteronomy 33:27). That is, the God of Israel, who came first, and below them are the angels who are called “the arms of the world,” for in the dwelling [Ma’on], Israel comes first, as mentioned. And our Sages said (Tanchuma, Ki Tisa 14), “Every instance of ‘look down’ [in Scripture] is for bad, except for [when it relates to] gifts to the poor, which transforms anger into compassion.” This is by virtue of the attribute of compassion in a person who transforms their attribute of cruelty into compassion, so too, the Holy One, blessed be He, transforms anger into compassion.

This day the Lord your God commands you, etc. After you have acknowledged that the world and its fullness belong to the Lord, and from His blessed hand He has given you everything, now you accept upon yourself to keep the commandments of the Lord: You have affirmed this day that the Lord is your God, etc. and The Lord has affirmed this day that you are His treasured people, etc. For you have affirmed Him in these declarations about first fruits and tithes, and you said, I have listened to the voice of the Lord. And in response to this, the Lord has also affirmed you to look forth from His holy dwelling, from heaven, and to bless you with greater elevation above all peoples. Even though all [divine] looking down is for negative purposes, nevertheless, in your case the matter will be different, like a treasured possession that has no rational explanation. This is what is meant by The Lord has affirmed you this day to be His treasured people. Some say that this looking down is also for negative purposes, meaning “Look down upon the nations who anger You and make them a ransom for Your people Israel.” Therefore, it does not say “look down to bless,” but rather and bless is a separate phrase on its own. According to this interpretation, it makes sense why it says The Lord has affirmed you this day to be His treasured people, etc. and to set you high above all nations, because this matter is explained in the look down through which God has affirmed us. And even if affirmed [he’emarta] and affirmed [he’emircha] mean “distinction” (as in Berakhot 6a), nevertheless, it is explained in this way. And since it says this day in both instances, we can learn that it refers to the section above about first fruits and tithes, because in them these two affirmations are explained.