C. The firstlings
C. The firstlings(TOC)
Here the same principle is assumed, that all the original gifts to the Deity were destined for religious meals. When Exodus 22:30, where the first-born are commanded to be given to Jehovah, seems to contradict this assumption, Wellhausen appeals to Deuteronomy in proof that "to give to Jehovah" need not mean "to pay to the priests," but simply "to eat before Jehovah." It is significant, however, that Deuteronomy never uses the phrase "to give to Jehovah" with reference to the tithes to be eaten at the sanctuary. We are not therefore warranted to understand the passages Exodus 22:30 and Deuteronomy 15:19 as implying nothing more than that a sacrificial meal should be eaten. That this is called "a giving to Jehovah" makes it necessary to suppose that a part, at least, fell to the priest. What is intimated in Exodus is stated in Deuteronomy; for the eating which is required in 15:20, and the sacrificing which is forbidden in verse 21, are not synonymous, but stand in juxtaposition, so that a twofold use of the firstlings is also implied here. Thus understood, both the Covenant-law and Deuteronomy will bear out the fact, that the priest received the firstlings, but restored so much of them to the offerer as to enable him to prepare a meal. And this agrees fully with what the Priest Code teaches, Numbers 18:15.