Thomas Coke Commentary on the Holy Bible - Deuteronomy 26:5
Ver. 5. And thou shalt speak, &c.— The sum of the acknowledgment amounts to this: that their possession of that land was entirely owing to the bounty of God, and not left them by their ancestors; for Jacob or Israel, their progenitor, was forced to fly into Syria in a poor condition, and afterwards to go down into Egypt, where his posterity was sorely afflicted; but, by the mercy of God, they increased there, and were by him miraculously brought into this good land. The Vulgate, and some... read more
Thomas Coke Commentary on the Holy Bible - Deuteronomy 26:2
Ver. 2. Shalt put it in a basket, &c.— The baskets used by the rich upon this occasion were sometimes of silver, or overlaid with gold, and these the priest restored to the owner; but if it was a wicker-basket, or the like, the priest had it, together with the first-fruits. Bishop Patrick thinks it probable, that the heathens derived from hence their custom of carrying their first-fruits, as a tithe, every year to the island of Delos, where Apollo was supposed to have his special residence:... read more