And the priest shall take the basket out of thine hand, and set it down before the altar of the LORD thy God.
Parallel translations
- WEB The priest shall take the basket out of your hand, and set it down before Yahweh your God’s altar.
- BSB Then the priest shall take the basket from your hands and place it before the altar of the LORD your God,
- NKJV “Then the priest shall take the basket out of your hand and set it down before the altar of the Lord your God.
- NASB Then the priest shall take the basket from your hand and set it before the altar of the Lord your God.
- NLT The priest will then take the basket from your hand and set it before the altar of the Lord your God.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The priest takes the basket and sets it before the Lord's altar. The gift is formally presented to God in worship.
Overview
The priest's mediating act placed the firstfruits before God's altar, marking the offering as accepted in His presence. This shows the necessity of priestly mediation in approaching a holy God. It anticipates Christ, our great High Priest, who presents His people and their offerings acceptable to God through Himself (Hebrews 13:15).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 3
- Matt 5:23–24Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee;
- Heb 13:10–12We have an altar, whereof they have no right to eat which serve the tabernacle.
- Matt 23:19Ye fools and blind: for whether is greater, the gift, or the altar that sanctifieth the gift?
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
Moses promised a Prophet like himself to whom Israel must listen (18:15); Jesus is that Prophet, the one who keeps the covenant we broke and becomes the curse for us by hanging on a tree (Gal 3:13).
How Deuteronomy 26:4 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.