מראשית כל פרי האדמה אשר תביא מארצך, the choicest of each category. [the word ראשית is not understood as “first.” Ed] We find the term ראשית used in this sense in Amos 6,6 וראשית שמנים ימשחו, “they anoint themselves with the choicest oils.” In verse 1 of the same chapter we read נקובי ראשית הגויים, “the ones known as the choicest of the nations. ” These “choicest” fruit are the seven types of produce for which the Land of Israel is famous, and this is why we have been commanded already in Exodus 23,19 to offer samples of these in the Temple. The gift known as ביכורים is not literally the fist ripe produce of each of these seven species, but the ones that grow on the best soil the farmer has so that it is truly also his choicest. The seven categorise of produce have been enumerated in Deut. 8,8-9.

אל הכהן אשר יהיה בימים ההם, even if the priest in the particular generation may not be outstanding in wisdom, you must not therefore treat with less respect than his position warrants. This is why the Torah added the seemingly superfluous words לה' אלוקיך, words usually only used when addressing men of outstanding caliber such as kings and prophets. [If I understand correctly, the author mans that only high ranking people need to be reminded by implication that there is a higher authority than they themselves. Hence the addition of the words לה' אלוקיך after the word הגדתי. Ed.] At any rate, the idea is that seeing that the priest receives the bikkurim on behalf of G’d, it is as if G’d’s agent is addressed by the title reserved for his Master.

הגדתי היום, equivalent to “I have made a public acknowledgment of the great works of the Lord today.” We find similar phrasing in Samuel II 19,7 when Yoav accuses David of having insulted all his ministers and generals by grieving over the death of his rebellious son instead of appreciating the loyalty of his followers who had saved his life under most difficult circumstances. The words there are: כי הגדת היום כי אין לך שרים ועבדים, “(by your excessive grieving) you have made clear that you do not consider that you have any loyal followers.”

כי באתי אל הארץ, that I have come to this land from another country אשר נשבע ה' לאבותינו לתת לנו, as when G’d had said in Genesis 17,8 “I gave this land to you and to your descendants after you.” Seeing that G’d had sworn this oath at the time, I consider myself though apparently an outsider, a stranger, as if I am a permanent resident thanks to His gift, and this is why I have brought these choice fruit that it is incumbent upon anyone who has received the land as either a gift or even as a tenant to present to the real owner of the land in recognition of His largesse.

(4) THAT ADONAI SWORE TO OUR FATHERS TO ASSIGN US. As it says (Gen. 17:8), "I have given to you and your offspring to come." Therefore, I, the stranger, who have come to the land as a resident by way of [Divine] gift, have brought the first fruits to the One who gave the land as a gift or as a sharecropping arrangement.

והניחו לפני מזבח ה' אלוקיך, to make plain by this gesture that these fruit are not really intended for the priest, but are a present to G’d, Who, in turn, gives them to the priest just as He does with other offerings brought to Him.

ארמי אובד אבי, my father, i.e. Yaakov, who was for a while a wandering lost person without a home of his own, was not at the time able to establish a nation deserving or fit to inherit this land.

ויענונו ויתנו עלינו עבודה קשה, seeing that once the Jewish people had become a nation they were not legally capable of receiving gifts as the gifts given to slaves automatically belong to the slave’s master.

ויתן לנו את הארץ הזאת, after we had left Egypt as free men we did not have any part of the land to settle in, and He gave us this land which is a superior land flowing with milk and honey.

ועתה, after I have become thoroughly aware how great and extensive is Your loving kindness demonstrated by how You have made us fit to take possession of the land and to take us out to freedom in a manner enabling us to accept a gift which will be legally ours, and you have given us such a choice land, הנה הבאתי את ראשית פרי האדמה אשר נתת לי ה', I herewith present as a token of my gratitude a gift of the choicest fruit of this land which the Lord has given me.

(2) I HAVE BROUGHT THE FIRST FRUITS OF THE SOIL WHICH YOU HAVE GIVEN ME, ADONAI. I have brought the choicest fruits of that land that You have given me, to give thanks to Your name for it.

הקודש מן הבית, because of our and our fathers’ sins the privilege of performing Temple service was removed from the firstborn, who otherwise would also have been the recipients of all the various tithes. Ezekiel 20,26 refers to this when he writes: ואטמא אותם במתנותם, בהעביר כל פטר רחם , “and I defiled them through their own gifts, when causing each first born to pass;” the prophet calls this line the ווידוי מעשר, the confession represented by the fact that the tithe cannot remain in the home but must be given to Levites who supplanted the family priest, the firstborn as a result of their having participated in the sin of the golden calf. (Maasser Sheyni 5,10)

וגם נתתיו ללוי, the meaning of the word גם in our context is the same as the words אף על פי, “even so.” We find the word גם used as אף על פי also in Ruth 1,12 when Naomi explains to her daughters-in-law that even if she were to get married immediately she would not be able to produce sons who could become the husbands of her daughters-in-law and thereby keep their deceased husbands’ names alive vicariously (symbolic levirate marriage). We must therefore perceive the farmer’s declaration to mean: “I confess that my sin was great so that as a result I am forced to destroy or remove all sacred things from my house even though I, personally, have discharged my duties by giving the Levite and his companions these tithes at Your command. Having done so, I pray that You will look down benevolently. Seeing that normally the word השקפה is used in Scripture as “looking down to confirm something negative,” the farmer had to add that he means that he has merited a benevolent השקפה as expressed by the plea וברך את עמך את ישראל, “and bless Your people, Israel, etc.”

וברך את עמך...ואת האדמה אשר נתתה לי, in the same manner as You have sworn to our forefathers, when You swore to them: “I will take you up from the poverty in Egypt to a wide good land, etc.” (Exodus 3,17)

היום הזה, that You entered into the covenant with him. The “covenant” comprised the undertaking by Israel to keep G’d’s statutes as something that would ensure their welfare, something He had not done for any other nation.

בכל לבבך, you must embrace these laws with all your heart, without mental reservations or doubts about their authenticity. Your sole motivation must be to carry out His will.

ובכל נפשך, you must not allow yourself to be distracted, sidetracked, by the evil urge, i.e. temptations, because you are so firm in the belief of the superiority of the Lawgiver.

In this respect, את ה' האמרת היום, when you accepted upon yourself to become a party to this sacred oath, which puts at risk every physical goodness on earth in the event that you desecrate this oath האמרת, by doing so you elevated the image of the Lord, Who, as a result, will be even more honoured in your eyes than before you entered into this reciprocal covenant with Him. You have thereby demonstrated that it is more important for you to do His will than to enjoy any of the transient pleasures of this life.

להיות לך לאלוקים, that He will be the most exalted of all disembodied phenomena, powers; you are aware that all that occurs in your life is the result of His guiding fate and history, in your case, without resorting to deputies, agents, any intermediaries who carry out His commands. Seeing that this is so, it would be inconceivable that in your religious rites you were to turn, even only as an auxiliary, to any other phenomenon purporting to be His agent. You bow and humble yourself only before Him, directly.

וללכת בדרכיו, to try and emulate His characteristics to the extent He has seen fit to reveal these to you.

ולשמוע בקולו, as is fit for His servants.

וה' האמירך היום, by entering into the covenant with you, a distinction He has not accorded to any other nation.

להיות לו לעם סגולה, so that He may achieve with you what He hoped to achieve with mankind when He created man, saying: “let us make man in our image, etc. (Genesis 1,26).

ולשמור כל מצותיו, He accorded you an additional distinction in having chosen you to observe all of His commandments; by comparison the other nations have not been rated important enough in His eyes to warrant these commandments. Proof is the statement of our sages that if a gentile decides to observe the Sabbath legislation voluntarily as a religious act, he is guilty of death, as ever since the first sin, man had been condemned to labour in the sweat of his brow for a livelihood, and only the Jewish people have been relieved of this decree on one day of the week, i.e. the Sabbath. (compare Sanhedrin 58) All other nations have been given only seven commandments to observe.

ולתתך עליון על כל הגוים, in your ability to understand the meaning of life on earth and to teach it. This is the meaning of Exodus 19,6 “you shall be for Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.”

לתהלה ולשם ולתפארת, for the Almighty, as per Isaiah 49,3 “Israel, you in whom I glory.”

ולהיותך עם קדוש, and your being a holy and eternal nation.

כאשר דבר, when He said at the time in Exodus 20 “you shall be unto Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.”