신명기 17:14의 인용 해설

“And it shall be when you come to the land, etc.” We do not find the language “and you shall possess it and dwell in it” except here and in the section about the king. This is because after settling and possessing the land, Israel will grow fat and rebel, and they will ask for matters of authority like all the nations. Similarly, in the section about first fruits, the intention was to humble their proud hearts, which after possession and settlement would lead them to say that the land is theirs and they conquered it with their sword, and they would forget God. This is what it means: And it shall be when you come to the land which the Lord your God gives you as an inheritance — because truly, you are not coming to the land as an inheritance, for house and wealth are inherited from fathers, but the land is given to you by God as a gift on the condition that you return His repayment and keep all His commandments. But your heart will imagine otherwise, saying and you shall possess it — that you will hold onto it as an heir, as if it were your inheritance from your fathers, and dwell in it — as a permanent resident, not as it is said The land shall not be sold permanently, for the land is Mine; for you are strangers and residents with Me (Leviticus 25:23). And all this will lead you to pride, that you will forget God. Therefore, I command you the commandment of first fruits.
And so explained Maimonides that the main reason for this commandment is humility and subjugation to the Blessed God. The evidence for this is what it says, I have declared today to the Lord your God. I have declared is in past tense, but he has not yet declared anything. Rather, it means that by this heaving [the basket of fruits] to and fro, it is already as if I have declared by way of confession that I have come to the land, etc. — meaning, not as an inheritance but in this manner that God swore to our fathers to give to us. And I testify about myself by bringing the first fruits that the land was given to me by God as a portion and gift.
And this is what it means: and you shall take from the first fruits. It does not say “and you shall give” but and you shall take, telling you that from these first fruits that you bring to the house of God to give thanks and honor to His blessed name, from them you will take [acquire] all the fruits of the earth and merit all the fruits of the earth after you have acknowledged that you bring the first fruits from your land which the Lord your God gives you. For this land will not be called “your land” except after bringing the first fruits, and through this bringing, you will take for yourself all the fruits of the earth. And this bringing is the declaration mentioned in the verse I have declared today.

the Levite priests Having mentioned the regulations pertaining to the sovereign, who is the Chief Justice, Scripture now mentions certain ordinances concerning the priests, who are the teachers of the Law. And, since they have no land allotted to them, they shall take from every sacrifice the shoulder, the cheeks, and the stomach. The shoulder — from the body; the cheeks (including the tongue) — from the head; and the stomach — from the internal organs. There is a homiletical explanation, based on the fact that the kohanim slaughter the peace-offerings [the halakha [Zevaḥim 31b] is that a non-kohen may slaughter the sacrifice — Translator], which depicts the shoulder as the reward for the slaughtering, which is done with one’s arm; the cheeks are the reward for the recitation of the benediction; and the stomach is the reward for the inspection of the internal organs. But the straightforward meaning is that these are the choicest cuts of meat. Scripture also mentions the matter of the Levite, because he is a teacher of the Torah as well, in the provinces. This is evident from Chronicles [II Chronicles 17: 7 ff].

"For if they will say..." Now, you may argue that the verse is still problematic; for how does the issue of the giving of the land connect to Torah's mitzvot? This is clear, since most of the Torah's mitzvot are performed in conjunction with (the Jewish people's sovereignty or dwelling in) the land. Donations, tithes, and the construction of a temple must be done in the land. When Jewish people do not have the land, they cannot fulfill these mitzvot at all.