משנה: הֶחָלִיל מַכֶּה לִפְנֵיהֶם עַד שֶׁמַּגִּיעין לְהַר הַבָּיִת. הִגִּיעוּ לְהַר הַבָּיִת אֲפִילוּ אַגְרִיפַּס הַמֶּלֶךְ נוֹטֵל הַסָּל עַל כְּתֵיפוֹ וְנִכְנָס עַד שֶּׁהוּא מַגִּיעַ לָעֲזָרָה. הִגִּיעַ לָעֲזָרָה וְדִבְּרוּ הַלְּוִיִּם בַּשִׁיר אֲרוֹמִמְךָ י֙י כִּי דִילִיתָנִי וְלֹא שִׂמַּחְתָּ אוֹיְבַי לִי. הַגּוֹזְלוֹת שֶׁעַל הַסַּלִּים הָיוּ עוֹלוֹת וּמַה שֶׁבְּיָדָם נוֹתְנִין לַכֹּהֲנִים. עוֹדֵינוּ הַסַּל עַל כְּתֵיפוֹ קוֹרֵא מֵהִגַּדְתִּי הַיּוֹם לַי֙י אֱלֹהֶיךָ עַד שֶׁהוּא גוֹמֵר כָּל־הַפָּרָשָׁה. רִבִּי יוּדָה אוֹמֵר עַד אֲרַמִּי אוֹבֵד אָבִי. הִגִּיעַ לַאֲרַמִּי אוֹבֵד אָבִי מוֹרִיד הַסַּל מִן כְּתֵיפוֹ וְאוֹחֲזוֹ בִּשְׂפָתָיו וְכֹהֵן מַנִּיחַ יָדוֹ תַּחְתָּיו וּמְנִיפוֹ. וְקוֹרֵא מֵאֲרַמִּי אוֹבֵד אָבִי עַד שֶׁהוּא גוֹמֵר כָּל־הַפָּרָשָׁה. וּמַנִּיחוֹ בְּצַד הַמִּזְבֵּחַ וְהִשְׁתַּחֲוָה וְיָצָא. בָּרִאשׁוֹנָה כָּל־מִי שֶׁהוּא יוֹדֵעַ לִקְרוֹת קוֹרֵא וְכָל־מִי שֶׁאֵינוֹ יוֹדֵעַ לִקְרוֹת מַקְרִין לְפָנָיו. נִמְנְעוּ מִלְּהָבִיא הִתְקִינוּ שֶׁיְּהוּ מַקְרִין אֶת מִי שֶׁהוּא יוֹדֵעַ וְאֶת מִי שֶׁאֵינוֹ יוֹדֵעַ. הָעֲשִׁירִים מְבִיאִין אֶת בִּיכּוּרֵיהֶן בְּקָלָתוֹת שֶׁלְכֶּסֶף וְשֶׁלְזָהָב וְהָעֲנִייִם מְבִיאִין אוֹתָן בְּסַלֵּי נְצָרִים שֶׁלְעֲרָבָה קְלוּפָה וְהַסַּלִּים וְהַבִּיכּוּרִים נוֹתְנִים לַכֹּהֲנִים. MISHNAH: The fife beats before them until they arrive at the Temple Mount. Arrived at the Temple Mount, even king Agrippas takes the basket on his own shoulder and enters until he arrives at the Temple courtyard. When they arrived at the Temple courtyard, the Levites sang (Psalms.30.2">Ps. 30:2): “I shall elevate You, Eternal, for You drew me up and You did not make my enemies happy because of me.” The pigeons on the baskets were elevation sacrifices and what was in their hands67According to Maimonides, pigeons that were not tied to the baskets. According to R. Abraham ben David and R. Simson, the baskets of First Fruits; according to the Mayence commentary (“Rabbenu Gershom”) and Menachot 58a" href="/Rashi_on_Menachot.58a">Rashi (in Menaḥot 58a), the baskets themselves. The last explanation is the only one compatible with the Halakhah (Note 70). they gave to the Cohanim.
As long as the basket is still on his shoulder he reads from (Deuteronomy.26.3">Deut. 26:3) “I am declaring today before the Eternal, your God” until he finishes the entire paragraph. Rebbi Jehudah says, until (Deuteronomy.26.5">v. 5): “My father was a wandering Aramean.” When he comes to “my father was a wandering Aramean”, he takes the basket down from his shoulder, holds it by its rim, and the Cohen puts his hand under it and weaves68Cf. Bikkurim 2:3:8" href="/Jerusalem_Talmud_Bikkurim.2.3.8">Chapter 2, Note 122. it. Then he reads from “my father was a wandering Aramean” until he finishes the entire paragraph, he puts it down next to the altar, prostrates himself, and leaves.
In earlier times, everybody who knew how to read, read, and everybody who did not know how to read, had someone read before him81The Cohen recites the declaration word by word and the farmer repeats each word after the Cohen.. When they refrained from bringing they instituted that one read before him who knew and him who did not know.
Rich people bring their First Fruits in bowls82Greek κάλαθος, Latin calathus “basket; pail; bowl”. of silver and gold but poor people bring them in baskets of stripped willow twigs. Baskets and First Fruits are given to the Cohanim.
הלכה: רַב הוּנָא אָמַר כֵּינִי מַתְנִיתָא וְלָקַח הַכֹּהֵן הַטֶּנֶא מִיָּדֶיךָ. HALAKHAH: Rav Huna said69According to R. Isaac Simponti and R. Simson of Sens, this refers to Bikkurim 3:4:1" href="/Jerusalem_Talmud_Bikkurim.3.4.1">Mishnah 4: The Cohen has to take the basket before the Levites start to sing. In this version, the Levites wait until the procession reaches the inner courtyard where the ceremony is held. According to others, Rav Huna gives the reason why even the king has to take the basket himself, that the Cohen has to receive it from the owner’s hand. The correct interpretation seems to be that “the Cohen shall take the basket from your hand” should replace the first reference to “my father was a wandering Aramean” in the text of R. Jehudah since v.4 separates between two declarations.: So is the Mishnah (Deuteronomy.26.4">Deut. 26:4): “The Cohen shall take the basket from your hand.”
אִית תַּנָּיֵי תַנֵּי מַחֲלִף. כְּדֵי לִסְמוֹךְ מַתָּנָה לְמַתָּנָה. Some Tannaïm switch statements70Switch the order of Mishnaiot to have Mishnah 7 follow immediately after Bikkurim 3:4:1" href="/Jerusalem_Talmud_Bikkurim.3.4.1">Mishnah 4, to explain what really was given to the Cohanim. to combine gift with gift.
תַּנֵּי רִבִּי יוֹסֵי. לֹא הָיוּ נוֹתְנִין אֶת הַגּוֹזְלוֹת עַל גַּבֵּי הַסַּלִּין שֶׁלֹּא יְנַבְּלוּ הַבִּיכּוּרִין אֶלָּא תוֹלֶה אוֹתָן חוּץ לַסַּלִּים. Rebbi Yose stated: They did not put the pigeons on top of the baskets in order not to dirty them but one hangs them on the sides of the baskets.
תַּנֵּי חַד סָב קוֹמֵי רִבִּי זְעִירָא. חוֹזֵר לְהִגַּדְתִּי הַיּוֹם. וְכִי יֵשׁ אָדָם מַגִּיד חוֹזֵר וּמַגִּיד. קִייַמּוּנָהּ כְּבָר הַגַּדְתִּי. An old man stated before Rebbi Zeïra: He returns to71In this version, R. Jehudah requires the farmer first to declare v. 3, then to perform the procedure of weaving, and then to read again vv. 3,5–10. “I am declaring today.” But can a person declare and repeat it72Usually, this is taken to mean that a witness may not change his story even if he gives a reason (Sanhedrin.44b">Babli Sanhedrin 44b).? We support it: I already declared73The repetition of v. 3 is not a declaration but a statement that this already had been declared..
הוּנָא בָּעֵי. הֲנָחָה מַהוּ שֶׁתַּתִּיר לִמְחוּסְּרֵי זְמָן. אָמַר רַב מַּתַּנְייָה הָדָא דְּתֵימַר בְּשֶׁחָזַר וּנְטָלָן. אֲבָל אִם הָיוּ בִּמְקוֹמָן כֶּהִנִּיחָן הֵן. רִבִּי יוֹנָה בָּעֵי. הִנִּיחָן בַּלַּיְלָה. Huna asked: Does depositing it permit to those lacking time74Somebody brought First Fruits to the Temple before Pentecost. They should not have been accepted but if they were duly dedicated and deposited near the altar, will they automatically become regular First Fruits on Pentecost and then may be eaten by Cohanim under the rules of heave?? Rav Mattania said, that means75That you have a problem (which is not answered.), if he took them up again. But if they stayed in their place they are deposited76While the owner cannot make the declaration, the Temple acquires all it is given and gives it to the Cohanim.. Rebbi Jonah asked, if he deposited them in the night77No Temple service is performed during the night except what is connected to the activities of the preceding day. Therefore, the obvious answer to R. Jonah’s question is negative; First Fruits illegally deposited in the night never become permitted.?
מַנִּיחָן בְּקֶרֶן דְּרוֹמִית מַעֲרָבִית. לִפְנֵי י֙י. יָכוֹל בְּמַעֲרָב. תַּלְמוּד לוֹמַר אֶל פְּנֵי הַמִּזְבֵּחַ. אִי לִפְנֵי הַמִּזְבֵּחַ יָכוֹל בְּדָרוֹם. תַּלְמוּד לוֹמַר לִפְנֵי י֙י. הָא כֵּיצַד. מַגִּישָׁן עַל קֶרֶן דְּרוֹמִית מַעֲרָבִית וּמַנִּיחָהּ בִּדְרוֹמָה שֶׁלְקֶרֶן. “78This is a Babylonian baraita, quoted in Sotah.14b">Babli Soṭa 14b, Zevachim.66a">Zebaḥim 66a, Menachot.19b">Menaḥot 19b. The Babylonian character is shown by the use of אי as “if”. One puts them79The First Fruits to be deposited near the altar. The problem treated is an apparent contradiction between the prescriptions contained in verses 4 and 10 of Chap. 26. near the South-West corner. (Deuteronomy.26.10">Deut. 26:10) ‘Before the Eternal’, that should mean the West. The verse says (Deuteronomy.26.4">Deut. 26:4) ‘at the face of the altar.’ If it is at the face of the altar that should mean the South80The entrance to the Temple precinct was to the East. Going from East to West one has the outer and inner courtyards, then the Cohanim’s court containing the altar, and to the West the Temple building containing the holiest of holies, counted as the Presence of the Eternal. The access to the altar was via the ramp built at its South side. Therefore, “before the Eternal” means before the Temple building, to the West of the altar. “At the face of the altar” means at the South side.. The verse says ‘before the Eternal’! How is that? He presents them at the South-Western corner and puts them down South of the corner.”
תַּנֵּי. אֵין עֲנִייָה אֶלָּא מִפִּי אֶחָד. וְלֹא עוֹד אֶלָּא שֶׁסָּֽמְכוּ לְמִקְרָא וְעָנִיתָ וְאָמַרְתָּ. It was stated: “Answering is only by a single person. Not only that but they found support in the verse (Deuteronomy.26.5">Deut. 26:5): ‘You shall answer and say’.83In Deuteronomy.26.5">Deut. 26:5, reciting the declaration is formulated as “answering and saying.” From this one deduces that even though First Fruits are brought to the Temple in a large procession, the presentation is a private ceremony for each farmer separately. They also found a biblical hint that the declaration should be repeated after the Cohen, to convince literate people to conform to the usage of the illiterate.
The corresponding statement in Sifry Deut (#301) reads: “ ‘You shall answer and say’. It is said here ‘answer’ and it is said there (Deuteronomy.27.14">Deut. 27:14) ‘answer’. Since the answering there is in the holy language (Hebrew), so the answering here is in the holy language. From here, they said that in earlier times, everybody who knew how to read, read, and everybody who did not know how to read, had someone read before him. When they refrained from bringing they instituted that one read before him who knew and him who did not know; they found support in the verse: ‘You shall answer’, answering is only to what others said.” This text would read in the Halakhah: אֵין עֲנִייָה אֶלָּא מִפִּי אַחֵר.”
רִבִּי יוֹנָה בָּעֵי מַהוּ לַהֲבִיאָן בְּתַמְחוּיִין שֶׁלְכֶּסֶף. Rebbi Jonah asked: May one bring in large silver bowls84The (probably Egyptian) word טנא which appears only in Deuteronomy.26">Deut. (Chapters 26,Deuteronomy.28">28) traditionally means a small (wooden or metal) bowl. Is this prescriptive? No answer is given. In the Babli (Baba Qama 92a), Mishnah 7 is interpreted to mean that the poor give baskets and fruits to the Cohanim but the rich come to get their silver bowl back after the Cohanim have eaten their fruits. There is no hint of this interpretation in the Yerushalmi and, since the presentation of First Fruits was always done simultaneously by a mass of people, the position of the Babli is not practical. Probably the question of R. Jonah is not answered because nobody would give a large precious bowl.?
רִבִּי יוֹנָה וְרִבִּי יִרְמְיָה. חַד אָמַר מְחַזֵּר מָנָא. וֶחָרָנָה אָמַר מְחַזֵּר פַּטִּירִין עִם יַרְקוֹנִין. דְּאַתְּ אָמַר פַּטִּירִין עִם מְרוֹרִין. וְלָא יָֽדְעִינָן מָאן אָמַר דָּא וּמָאן אָמַר דָּא. מִן מַה דְּאָמַר רִבִּי יוֹנָה מַהוּ לַהֲבִיאָן בְּתַמְחוּיִין שֶׁלְכֶּסֶף. הֲוֵי הוּא דְּאָמַר דִּמְחַזֵּר מָנָא. דִּי אָמַר סַלָּה. (דִּ)רִבִּי פִינְחָס אָמַר. מְחַזֵּר פַּטִּימִין בְּנֵי תוֹרִין. דִּי אָמַר תּוֹרִין וּבְנֵי תוֹרִין. 87The main place of this paragraph is in Megilla 4:1, which deals with the rules of the Aramaic translation of the Torah in public worship. While in principle the translator may choose his own words, in a few instances rabbinic authorities insisted that certain expressions are too imprecise. The first one is the translation of טנא by “vessel” instead of “basket”, the second one that of מצות ומרורים (Numbers.9.11">Num. 9:11) by “unleavened bread and vegetables.” The paragraph is included here since from the preceding paragraph it is inferred that R. Jonah is the stickler for the correct translation of טנא. The addition of the unconnected statement of R. Phineas shows that the paragraph is copied from Megillah and not vice-versa.
The Targumim follow R. Jonah and R. Jeremiah but not R. Phineas. Rebbi Jonah and Rebbi Jeremiah. One says, one repeats “vessel”. The other one says, one repeats “unleavened with vegetables” because you have to say “unleavened with bitter herbs.” We do not know who said what. Since Rebbi Jonah said, may one bring in large silver baskets, that shows that he must have said that one repeats “vessel”. One must say: “basket.” Rebbi Phineas said, one must repeat (Leviticus.1.14">Lev. 1:14): “Fattened and young pigeons” because one must say “pigeons and young pigeons.”