Exodus 34:20

34:20 Now the firstling ¹  of a donkey you may redeem with a lamb, but if you do not redeem it, then break its neck. ²  You must redeem all the firstborn of your sons.

“No one will appear before me empty-handed. ³ 

Leviticus 23:10

23:10 “Speak to the Israelites and tell them, ‘When you enter the land that I am about to give to you and you gather in its harvest, ⁴  then you must bring the sheaf of the first portion of your harvest ⁵  to the priest,

Deuteronomy 16:16

16:16 Three times a year all your males must appear before the Lord your God in the place he chooses for the Festival of Unleavened Bread, the Festival of Weeks, and the Festival of Temporary Shelters; and they must not appear before him ⁶  empty-handed.

Proverbs 3:9-10

3:9 Honor ⁷  the Lord from your wealth

and from the first fruits of all your crops; ⁸ 

3:10 then your barns will be filled completely, ⁹ 

and your vats ¹⁰  will overflow ¹¹  with new wine.

¹ tn Heb “and the one that opens [the womb of] the donkey.”

² sn See G. Brin, “The Firstling of Unclean Animals,” JQR 68 (1971): 1-15.

³ tn The form is the adverb “empty.”

⁴ tn Heb “and you harvest its harvest.”

⁵ tn Heb “the sheaf of the first of your harvest.”

⁶ tn Heb “the Lord.” See note on “he” in 16:1.

⁷ tn The imperative כַּבֵּד (kabbed, “honor”) functions as a command, instruction, counsel or exhortation. To honor God means to give him the rightful place of authority by rendering to him gifts of tribute. One way to acknowledge God in one’s ways (v. 6) is to honor him with one’s wealth (v. 9).

⁸ tn Heb “produce.” The noun תְּבוּאָה (tÿvu’ah) has a two-fold range of meaning: (1) “product; yield” of the earth (= crops; harvest) and (2) “income; revenue” in general (BDB 100 s.v.). The imagery in vv. 9-10 is agricultural; however, all Israelites – not just farmers – were expected to give the best portion (= first fruits) of their income to Lord.

⁹ tn Heb “with plenty” (so KJV, NASB, NRSV); NIV “to overflowing.” The noun שָׂבָע (sava’, “plenty; satiety”) functions as an adverbial accusative of manner or contents: “completely.”

¹⁰ sn This pictures the process of pressing grapes in which the upper receptacle is filled with grapes and the lower one catches the juice. The harvest of grapes will be so plentiful that the lower vat will overflow with grape juice. The pictures in v. 10 are metonymies of effect for cause (= the great harvest that God will provide when they honor him).

¹¹ tn Heb “burst open.” The verb פָּרַץ (parats, “to burst open”) functions as hyperbole here to emphasize the fullness of the wine vats (BDB 829 s.v. 9).