Firstfruits
26th Day of the 1st Month
Overview
Firstfruits is held on the 26th day of the 1st month, and lasts 1 day.
The only exact date given for Firstfruits is found in 2 fragments from the Dead Sea Scrolls.
Firstfruits starts off the counting of the Omer that leads to the Feast of Weeks (Shavuot).
We are to count 7 Sabbaths after Firstfruits, with Shavuot being the day following the 7th Sabbath (placing Shavuot on the 15th day of the 3rd month).
Firstfruits is a mo’edim (appointed time) that is to be celebrated each year (forever) according to Torah.
Torah Requirements
General commandments:
- No one is to eat of the new grain harvest of their field until after the Omer is waved by the priest on the day of Firstfruits
- 2 silver trumpets are to be blown over the burnt offering
Required wave offering (tenufah):
- 1 Omer (1/10 of an ephah) of grain
Required burnt offering (`olah):
- 1 male lamb, 1 year old, without blemish
Required food offering (minchah) for the burnt offering (`olah):
- Flour mixed with oil (2/10 of an ephah)
Required drink offering (nacek):
- 1/4 of a hin (approximately 5 quarts) of wine
Firstfruits in the Torah
Exodus 13:1 And YAHWEH spoke to Moses, saying,
Exodus 13:2 Set apart to Me every first-born, the one opening the womb among the sons of Israel, among men and among livestock; they shall be Mine.
Exodus 34:19 Every one opening the womb is Mine, and all your male livestock, a firstling of ox or sheep,
Exodus 34:20 and a firstling of a donkey, you shall redeem with a lamb. And if you do not redeem, you shall break its neck. You shall redeem every firstborn of your sons, and they shall not be seen before My face empty.
Leviticus 23:9 And YAHWEH spoke to Moses, saying,
Leviticus 23:10 Speak to the sons of Israel, and you shall say to them, When you come in to the land which I am giving to you, and have reaped its harvest, and have brought in the Omer, of the beginning of your harvest, to the priest,
Leviticus 23:11 then he shall wave the Omer before YAHWEH for your acceptance; on the morrow of the Sabbath the priest shall wave it.
Leviticus 23:12 And you shall prepare a lamb in the day you wave the Omer, one without blemish, a son of a year, for a burnt offering to YAHWEH.
Leviticus 23:13 And its food offering shall be two tenths part of flour mixed with oil, a fire offering to YAHWEH, a sweet fragrance; and its drink offering, a fourth of a hin of wine.
Leviticus 23:14 And you shall not eat bread, nor roasted grain, nor fresh ears, until this same day, until you have brought the offering of your Elohim; it is a never ending statute throughout your generations in all your dwellings.
Numbers 10:1 And YAHWEH spoke to Moses, saying,
Numbers 10:2 Make two trumpets of silver for yourself. You shall make them of hammered work, and they shall be to you for the calling of the congregation, and for causing the camps to pull up stakes.
Numbers 10:3 And when they blow with them, all the congregation shall gather themselves to you at the door of the tent of meeting.
Numbers 10:4 And if they blow with one, then the rulers, the heads of the thousands of Israel, shall assemble to you.
Numbers 10:5 And when you blow an alarm, the camps that lie on the east side shall then pull up stakes.
Numbers 10:6 And when you blow an alarm the second time, the camps that lie on the south side shall pull up stakes; they shall blow an alarm for their journeys.
Numbers 10:7 But when the assembly is gathered, you shall blow, but you shall not sound an alarm.
Numbers 10:8 And the sons of Aaron, the priests, shall blow with the trumpets. And they shall be to you for a never ending statute throughout your generations.
Numbers 10:9 And when you go into battle in your land against the foe distressing you, then you shall blow with the trumpets, and you shall be remembered before YAHWEH your Elohim. And you shall be saved from your enemies.
Numbers 10:10 And in the day of your gladness, and in your appointed times, and in your new moons, you shall blow the trumpets over your burnt offerings, and over the sacrifices of your peace offerings. And they shall be to you for a memorial before your Elohim. I am YAHWEH your Elohim.
Firstfruits in the Dead Sea Scrolls
In the first (month) on the fourth (day) is Sabbath…
On the eighth (day) in it [is Sabbath] …
On the eleventh (day) in it is Sabbath…
[On the 14th (day) in it is Passover on the third (day of the week).
On the 15th (day) in it: the feast of the Unleavened Bread on the fourth (day of the week).
On the 18th (day) is Sabbath.
On the 25th (day) in it: Sabbath.
On the 26th (day) in it:] feast of the Gr[ain after the Sabbath.
In the first month] 30 (days).
[… Passover on the thi]rd (day of the week). On the eighteenth (day) in
(the first month) is the sabbath of [(the week of) Joiarib] … in the
evening. On the twenty-fifth (day) in (the first month) is the sabbath of (the
week of) Jedaiah. During the same week is [the Feast] of Barley on
the twenty-sixth (day) in (the first month), after the sabbath.
Jewish Traditions
A Different Date for Firstfruits
Most Orthodox Jewish people have a different interpretation of when Firstfruits takes place.
As the scriptures read…
- Leviticus 23:15 And you shall number to you from the next day after the Sabbath, from the day you bring in the sheaf of the wave offering; they shall be seven complete Sabbaths;
- Leviticus 23:16 to the next day after the seventh Sabbath, you shall number fifty days; and you shall bring near a new food offering to YAHWEH;
Orthodox Jewish people interpret the “Sabbath” in Leviticus 23:15 to be referring to the 15th day of the 1st month (the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, a Shabbat of rest). As a result, Orthodox Jewish people always celebrate the day of Firstfruits on the 16th day of the 1st month of the year. And, since Firstfruits is used to determine when the Feast of Weeks (Shavuot) will take place, the Jewish people have standardized the date of Shavuot to be observed each year on the 6th day of the 3rd month, according to the Hillel II calendar.
Firstfruits falls during the Feast of Unleavened Bread. More details on the Jewish traditions surrounding the Feast of Unleavened Bread (commonly referred to as “Passover” by Jewish people) can be found here at Chabad.org.