he last chapter of the central law code mandates a ceremony of first fruits. This ceremony is one of the three big yearly festivals established in Israel according to Deuteronomy 16:16. It was called the Festival of Weeks because it occurs seven weeks after Passover. Later it was also called Pentecost, from the Greek word for fiftieth (the fiftieth day after Passover).
As proof that they had actually entered the Promised Land, and as proof that it was a good and productive place, each Israelite had to take the first produce of the wheat harvest and bring it to the sanctuary. This was authentication that Yahweh's promise to the ancestors had come true. As part of the ceremony, the one offering the harvest gift would recite the following historical summary.
5 "A wandering Aramean was my father. He went down into Egypt and lived there as a resident alien with only a small group. He became a great nation, strong and numerous. 6 The Egyptians treated us badly and persecuted us. They imposed hard labor on us. 7 We cried out to YHWH, the Elohim of our ancestors. He heard our voice and saw our persecution, our toil and our oppression. 8 YHWH brought us out of Egypt with a strong hand and an outstretched arm, with awesome power, with signs and with wonders. 9 He brought us to this place and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey." (26:5-9)
Three major historical moments are evoked in this sketch of Israel's early history. The first is the patriarchs, or at least one patriarch. The description "wandering Aramean" best fits Jacob, whose name was changed to Israel. He is the one who brought his family to Egypt to join Joseph. The second event is Israel's experience of slavery in Egypt, along with the plagues and the miraculous Exodus. The conquest of Canaan is the third event. The gifts of produce taken from that land are proof that they were now in the Promised Land, the "land flowing with milk and honey." This description of Canaan is found throughout the Pentateuch. It not only contrasts Canaan with the wilderness out of which Israel came, but also captures the bountifulness of the land God gave his people. The statement expresses a faith grounded in historical events where Yahweh met his people.
Credo. Von Rad (1966) proposed that these verses contain the earliest digest of Israel's faith. He suggested that the events summarized here are the core of Israel's salvation history. He claimed the outline of events contained in this creed formed the basic historical outline of what came to be Genesis through Joshua. Carmichael (1969) has called into question the antiquity of this statement, suggesting instead that it was composed by the Deuteronomist for the first fruits festival, and is not an ancient independent creed.
