Verse 19. - When ye eat of the bread of the land. A thing which the younger Israelites, few of whom had ever tasted bread, must have eagerly looked forward to (see on Joshua 5:11, 12). An heave offering. See on Exodus 29:27; Leviticus 7:14. The dedication of first-fruits had been ordered in general terms in Exodus 22:29; Exodus 23:19.

15:1-21 Full instructions are given about the meat-offerings and drink-offerings. The beginning of this law is very encouraging, When ye come into the land of your habitation which I give unto you. This was a plain intimation that God would secure the promised land to their seed. It was requisite, since the sacrifices of acknowledgment were intended as the food of God's table, that there should be a constant supply of bread, oil, and wine, whatever the flesh-meat was. And the intent of this law is to direct the proportions of the meat-offering and drink-offering. Natives and strangers are placed on a level in this as in other like matters. It was a happy forewarning of the calling of the Gentiles, and of their admission into the church. If the law made so little difference between Jew and Gentile, much less would the gospel, which broke down the partition-wall, and reconciled both to God.Then it shall be, that when ye eat of the bread of the land,.... Of the land of Canaan; when they were about to eat of it, before they actually did; when they were preparing for it, had ground their corn into flour, and had mixed it with water and kneaded it into dough, in order to bake it and make it fit for food; by bread is meant bread corn, such as was the old corn of the land the Israelites first ate of when they entered into it, Joshua 5:11; the Targum of Jonathan adds,"not of rice, or millet, or pulse,''but what was made of corn used for bread; and the Jews say (n), there were five things only they were obliged to make the cake of, wheat, barley, "cusmin" or rye, fox ear (barley), and oats; and this is to be understood only of dough made for men's bread, and not for dogs or any other beast (o):

ye shall offer up an heave offering unto the Lord; and what that is, is expressed in Numbers 15:20.

(n) Misn. Challah, c. 1. sect. 1.((o) Schulchan Aruch, ut supra, (par. 2.) c. 330. sect. 8, 9.