Hebrew word · H1061

בִּכּוּרִים

bikurim

firstfruit

The first-ripened fruits or grain of a crop. It comes from the root b-k-r, 'firstborn' (bekhor). The idea is that the first of the land, like the first of the womb, belongs to God (Exod 13:2; 22:29; 23:19).

Appears 17 times in 15 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

1) first-fruits

1a) the first of the crops and fruit that ripened, was gathered, and offered to God according to the ritual of Pentecost

1b) the bread made of the new grain offered at Pentecost

1c) the day of the first-fruits (Pentecost)

Abridged from Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

In depth

From the study of Exodus 23:16

Range of meaning

The first-ripened fruits or grain of a crop. It comes from the root b-k-r, 'firstborn' (bekhor). The idea is that the first of the land, like the first of the womb, belongs to God (Exod 13:2; 22:29; 23:19). In the laws it appears as an offering: the 'bread of firstfruits' (Lev 23:17, 20), the 'day of firstfruits' (Num 28:26), and the firstfruits basket of Deut 26.

Against the English

English 'firstfruits' is accurate but sounds abstract or metaphorical, as in Paul's 'Christ the firstfruits' (1 Cor 15:20). In Exodus it is concrete: the first sheaves and loaves of this year's wheat.

Used elsewhere in the period

Lev 23:17–20 (two loaves of firstfruits at Weeks); Num 28:26 (yom habbikkurim, 'day of firstfruits'); Deut 26:1–11 (basket and confession). Later Jewish tradition gave a whole Mishnah tractate, Bikkurim, to the procession of firstfruits to Jerusalem. In the Septuagint it is prōtogenēmata, 'first-produce'.

From the study of Exodus 23:19

Range of meaning

First-ripe produce, the earliest fruits of grain or orchard in a season (Num 13:20, 'the season of first-ripe grapes'; Nah 3:12, first-ripe figs). It shares a root with bekhor, 'firstborn', and the logic is the same: the first of womb or field belongs to God (Exod 13:2; 22:29–30).

Against the English

'Firstfruits' is accurate. Modern church use of the word, though, often means money (a first paycheck, a first portion of income), which the text does not have in view.

How it drifted

Christian use made 'firstfruits' a metaphor early on (Rom 8:23; 1 Cor 15:20; Jas 1:18). Modern giving language extended it to income. The metaphors build on the literal sense, but readers can lose the plain agricultural meaning.

Used elsewhere in the period

Exodus 23:16 calls the Feast of Harvest (later Shavuot or Pentecost) the feast of 'the firstfruits of your labours'. Exodus 34:22, 26 repeats the law. Deuteronomy 26 describes the basket ritual and the spoken confession ('A wandering Aramean was my father…'). Mishnah Bikkurim describes pilgrims bringing first-ripe fruit of the seven species to Jerusalem.

From the study of Exodus 34:26

Range of meaning

First-ripe produce: grain, fruit, and the first bread baked from the new crop (Lev 23:17, 20; Num 13:20, 'the first ripe grapes'). It comes from the root b-k-r, 'to be first-born, early', the same root as bekhor, 'firstborn'.

Against the English

'Firstfruits' is accurate, but it now sounds churchy and abstract, and in modern preaching it is often applied to money. In Hebrew it is concrete: the first figs, barley, wheat or grapes of the season.

How it drifted

Modern stewardship teaching uses 'firstfruits' for the first portion of a paycheck or of the year's income. The principle of giving God the first is in the text, but the word here is agricultural.

Used elsewhere in the period

Exod 23:16, 19; 34:22 ('firstfruits of the wheat harvest' at the Feast of Weeks); Lev 2:14; 23:17; Num 18:13, where they go to the priests; Deut 26:1–11, the basket ceremony. Offering first produce to the gods was common across the ancient Near East. Mishnah tractate Bikkurim describes later processions bringing them to Jerusalem.

Where it appears

Exodus · 4

  1. Exodus 23:16 בִּכּוּרֵ֣י [the] first-fruits of

    You are also to keep the Feast of Harvest with the firstfruits of the produce from what you sow in the field. And keep the Feast of Ingathering at the end of the year, when you gather your produce from the field.

    Here: The first-ripened portion of the crop. It stands right beside 'festival of the harvest' with no linking word, so it describes what the festival is: a feast made of the first produce, brought to God before the rest is used.

  2. Exodus 23:19 בִּכּוּרֵי֙ [the] first-fruits of

    Bring the best of the firstfruits of your soil to the house of the LORD your God. You must not cook a young goat in its mother’s milk.

    Here: The earliest produce to ripen in a season, from the same root as 'firstborn' (bekhor). These are literal crops (grain, fruit), not a figure of speech.

  3. Exodus 34:22 בִּכּוּרֵ֖י [the] first-fruits of

    And you are to celebrate the Feast of Weeks with the firstfruits of the wheat harvest, and the Feast of Ingathering at the turn of the year.

    Here: The first-ripened produce. Here it stands loosely next to the festival name to say what the festival is: the occasion of the firstfruits. There is no 'with' in the Hebrew.

  4. Exodus 34:26 בִּכּוּרֵי֙ [the] first-fruits of

    Bring the best of the firstfruits of your soil to the house of the LORD your God. You must not cook a young goat in its mother’s milk.”

    Here: The first crops of the season to ripen. The word comes from the same root as bekhor, 'firstborn': the first produce of the land is claimed by God in the same way as the firstborn of womb and herd (34:19–20).

Leviticus · 4

  1. Leviticus 2:14 בִּכּוּרִ֖ים בִּכּוּרֶֽיךָ׃ first-fruits, first-fruits your

    If you bring a grain offering of firstfruits to the LORD, you shall offer crushed heads of new grain roasted on the fire.

  2. Leviticus 23:17 בִּכּוּרִ֖ים first-fruits

    Bring two loaves of bread from your dwellings as a wave offering, each made from two-tenths of an ephah of fine flour, baked with leaven, as the firstfruits to the LORD.

  3. Leviticus 23:20 הַבִּכּוּרִ֤ים the first-fruits

    The priest is to wave the lambs as a wave offering before the LORD, together with the bread of the firstfruits. The bread and the two lambs shall be holy to the LORD for the priest.

Numbers · 3

  1. Numbers 13:20 בִּכּוּרֵ֥י [the] first-fruits of

    Is the soil fertile or unproductive? Are there trees in it or not? Be courageous and bring back some of the fruit of the land.” (It was the season for the first ripe grapes.)

  2. Numbers 18:13 בִּכּוּרֵ֞י [the] first-fruits of

    The firstfruits of everything in their land that they bring to the LORD will belong to you. Every ceremonially clean person in your household may eat them.

  3. Numbers 28:26 הַבִּכּוּרִ֗ים the first-fruits

    On the day of firstfruits, when you present an offering of new grain to the LORD during the Feast of Weeks, you are to hold a sacred assembly; you must not do any regular work.

2 Kings · 1

  1. 2 Kings 4:42 בִּכּוּרִים֙ first-fruits

    Now a man from Baal-shalishah came to the man of God with a sack of twenty loaves of barley bread from the first ripe grain. “Give it to the people to eat,” said Elisha.

    Here: The first-ripened part of the harvest. Under Israel's law it was holy and belonged to God, and it was given to the priests. Bringing it to a prophet treats him as the rightful receiver of God's portion.

Nehemiah · 3

  1. Nehemiah 10:35 בִּכּוּרֵ֣י וּבִכּוּרֵ֛י [the] first-fruits of, and [the] first-fruits of

    We will also bring the firstfruits of our land and of every fruit tree to the house of the LORD year by year.

  2. Nehemiah 13:31 וְלַבִּכּוּרִ֑ים and for the first-fruits

    I also arranged for contributions of wood at the appointed times, and for the firstfruits. Remember me, O my God, with favor.

    Here: "and for the firstfruits", the first-ripened crops brought to the temple (Exodus 23:19; Deuteronomy 26). They also helped support the priests. Nehemiah made sure these too were delivered.

Ezekiel · 1

  1. Ezekiel 44:30 בִּכּ֨וּרֵי [the] first-fruits of

    The best of all the firstfruits and of every contribution from all your offerings will belong to the priests. You are to give your first batch of dough to the priest, so that a blessing may rest upon your homes.

    Here: The earliest produce of the harvest (grain, grapes, figs and so on), brought to the sanctuary as an acknowledgment that the land and its yield belong to God.

Nahum · 1

  1. Nahum 3:12 בִּכּוּרִ֑ים first-fruits

    All your fortresses are fig trees with the first ripe figs; when shaken, they fall into the mouth of the eater!

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.