PRIMIZIE (DIRITTO): V. DECIMA; OBLAZIONI.
PRIMIZIE (Firstfruits). — The taking of the first fruits of the soil, which were sacred to the Lord as were the firstborn, to be offered in the Temple after the entry into Canaan, as a sign of grateful acknowledgment of Jahweh’s supreme dominion and protection over the land.
The Hebrew specifies: bikkurim (Vulg. primitiae), the first ripe fruits of the fields and trees; re’šith bikkurē ha-’adha-mah (= the Akkadian rešēti), in Greek ἀπαρχίζει τῶν περὶ τοὺς νηρυμάτων τῆς γῆς: Ex. 23, 19; Ez. 44, 30; etc., the best of such fruits.
The people as a whole were to offer the first sheaves at Passover (Lev. 23, 10-14), and at Pentecost two loaves made from the new grain, to be burned on the altar with two lambs (ibid. 23, 15-20). For the offerings of firstfruits by individual Israelites, there was no determination as to quantity or time. The law in general referred to all the first fruits of the field and trees of the land of Israel, to which were added the ancient territories of Sihon (Deut. 2, 32-37), of Og (ibid., 3, 8 sqq.), and later the Syria conquered by David. It thus extended to the fruits of new trees: in the fourth year they were to be entirely consecrated to Jahweh, and only in the fifth year could the Israelite enjoy them (Lev. 19, 23 sqq.); to the first dough of every new batch (Num. 15, 20 sqq.; Ez. 44, 30; cf. the tractate Hallāh of the Mishnah); and to the first shearing of every sheep (Deut. 18, 4).
All firstfruits always belonged to the priests (Num. 18, 13-19; Deut. 18, 4; Neh. 10, 36[37]; Ez. 44, 30). No offering is so attested and recommended as that of the firstfruits (1 Sam. 2, 29; 2 Chron. 31, 5; Hezekiah restored it to honor; Neh. 10, 36; it was resumed after the exile; Ez. 44, 30; Mal. 3, 8; Tob. 1, 6; Prov. 3, 9; Ecclus. 7, 34 [31]; 35, 10; 1 Mach. 3, 49). Later rabbis, basing themselves on Deut. 8, 8, determined the offering of firstfruits to include the seven common fruits of Palestine: wheat, barley, grapes, figs, pomegranates, oil, and honey. These had to be of the finest quality and very fresh, except for grapes and figs, which could be dried if brought from afar. They fixed the quantity of the offering between 1/40 and 1/60 (St. Jerome, In Ezechielem, 45, 13 sqq.; PL 25, 451). The offering at the Temple (Deut. 12, 6 sqq.) had its own rite (ibid., 26, 1-11); the firstfruits arranged in a basket were placed before Jahweh. Detailed regulations are found in the tractate Bikkurim of the Mishnah regarding the basket and the arrangement of the firstfruits within II. Processions were usually formed; the leader of the group gave the signal to depart by reciting Jer. 31, 6; on the way Ps. 122 (121) was recited; at the entrance to the Temple each person took his basket and carried it inside singing Ps. 150, to which the Levites responded with Ps. 30 (29). In the priests’ court, a balancing movement back and forth toward the altar symbolized the offering of the basket to Jahweh, while the prescribed formula was recited (Deut. 26, 3-10).
In a transferred sense, Israel is called “the people of Jahweh” (Jer. 2:3). In the New Testament, the first converts are called “the people” (Rom. 16:5; 1 Cor. 16:15; Jas. 1:18); likewise the virgins who follow the Lamb (Apoc. 14:4). Christ himself is “the first-fruits of them that sleep” (1 Cor. 15:20, 23). Christians possess “the first-fruits of the Spirit” (Rom. 8:23), inasmuch as the life of grace is the same life of glory begun on earth and destined to continue in heaven.
PRIMO AND FELICIAN, SS., Martyrs – Mosaic decoration of the apse where Pope Theodore (642-49)
PRIMO AND FELICIAN, SS., Martyrs – Mosaic decoration of the apse where Pope Theodore (642-49) deposited the bodies of the Two Martyrs – Rome, church of S. Stefano Rotondo.
Primo and Feliciano, Saints and Martyrs – Mosaic decoration of the apse where Pope Theodore (642–649) deposited the bodies of the Two Martyrs – Rome, Church of S. Stefano Rotondo.
Primo and Feliciano, Saints and Martyrs – Mosaic decoration of the apse where Pope Theodore (642–649)
Primo and Feliciano, Saints and Martyrs – Mosaic decoration of the apse where Pope Theodore (642–649) deposited the bodies of the Two Martyrs – Rome, Church of S. Stefano Rotondo.
Primo and Feliciano, Saints and Martyrs – Mosaic decoration of the apse where Pope Theodore (642–649)
PRIMO and FELICIANO, Saints, Martyrs
Mosaic decoration of the apse where Pope Theodore (642-49) deposited the bodies of the Two Martyrs — Rome, church of S. Stefano Rotondo.
Mosaic decoration of the apse where Pope Theodore (642-49)
Mosaic decoration of the apse where Pope Theodore (642-49) deposited the bodies of the Two Martyrs — Rome, church of S. Stefano Rotondo.
PRIMO and FELICIANO, Saints, Martyrs
Mosaic decoration of the apse where Pope Theodore (642-49) deposited the bodies of the Two Martyrs — Rome, church of S. Stefano Rotondo.
Mosaic decoration of the apse where Pope Theodore (642-49)
Mosaic decoration of the apse where Pope Theodore (642-49) deposited the bodies of the Two Martyrs — Rome, church of S. Stefano Rotondo.
Primo and Feliciano, Saints and Martyrs – Mosaic decoration of the apse where Pope Theodore (642–49) deposited the bodies of the Two Martyrs – Rome, church of S. Stefano Rotondo.
Primo and Feliciano, Saints and Martyrs – Mosaic decoration of the apse where Pope Theodore (642–49)
Primo and Feliciano, Saints and Martyrs – Mosaic decoration of the apse where Pope Theodore (642–49) deposited the bodies of the Two Martyrs – Rome, church of S. Stefano Rotondo.
Primo and Feliciano, Saints and Martyrs – Mosaic decoration of the apse where Pope Theodore (642–49)
PRIMO and FELICIANO, Saints, Martyrs — Mosaic decoration of the apse where Pope Theodore (642-49) deposited the bodies of the Two Martyrs — Rome, Church of S. Stefano Rotondo.
PRIMO and FELICIANO, Saints, Martyrs — Mosaic decoration of the apse where Pope Theodore (642-49)
PRIMO and FELICIANO, Saints, Martyrs — Mosaic decoration of the apse where Pope Theodore (642-49) deposited the bodies of the Two Martyrs — Rome, Church of S. Stefano Rotondo.
PRIMO and FELICIANO, Saints, Martyrs — Mosaic decoration of the apse where Pope Theodore (642-49)
PRIMO and Feliciano, Saints, Martyrs — Mosaic decoration of the apse where Pope Theodore (642–49) deposited the bodies of the Two Martyrs — Rome, church of S. Stefano Rotondo.
PRIMO and Feliciano, Saints, Martyrs — Mosaic decoration of the apse
later than Deut. 15:19–23, where the flesh of the peace offerings was eaten by the offerers themselves, for their share. Deuteronomy (ibid.) adapts the legislation of the desert to the new condition of Israel in Canaan. Thus, whereas in Ex. 22:29 the immolation of the firstlings was prescribed for the eighth day after birth, in Deuteronomy it must take place within the first year, e.g., on the occasion of a pilgrimage to the single sanctuary. The firstlings, being sacred to Jahweh, cannot in the meantime be employed for field work or subjected to shearing. The Mishnaic treatise Bēkhōrōth provides the interpretations and judicial determinations regarding this law.
For the firstborn of man, Jahweh established the redemption (Ex. 13:13; 34:20) fixed at five shekels of silver (Num. 3:47; 18:15–16); the substitution of the Levites, at the time of their institution, served in place of the redemption for an equal number of Israelite firstborn (Num. 3:11 sqq., 41–51). On this occasion, the Lord assigned the redemption money to the priests, who, together with the Levites, were exempt from this law. The firstlings of animals had to be immolated to Jahweh if they were clean, or killed if they were unclean.
Non c'è nella Tôrâh alcun obbligo di presentare al Tempio il p. degli uomini, per il riscatto; quest'uso prevalse dopo l'esilio (Neh. 10, 36); e si approfittava della visita al Tempio che la madre doveva fare (Lev. 12, 2-8), per l'altra legge della purificazione. La S.ma Vergine si conformò al pio uso vigente (Lc. 2, 22). I Giudei rimasero fedeli alla prescrizione del riscatto del p. anche dopo la distruzione del Tempio. Al 31° giorno dopo la nascita, i genitori invitavano un sacerdote al banchetto e gli davano i sieli. Gesù è detto p. di Maria (ibid. 2, 7) secondo l'uso ebraico, che prescinde affatto dalla nascita di altri figli (cf. S. Girolamo, Contra Helvidium, 101); ciò è comprovato dall'uso di πρωτότοκος nell'iscrizione trovata nel 1922 presso Tell el-Jehudijieh in Egitto. Nella poligamia potevano darsi più p.; il p., in rapporto al padre, è primizia della sua forza (Gen. 49, 3; Deut. 21, 17), nelle antiche famiglie aveva un posto di privilegio sui fratelli; ereditava una doppia porzione e il posto del padre a capo della stirpe; privilegio che poteva essere perduto (Esau, Ruben) o trasferito dal padre su altro figlio (Deut. 21, 15 sg.). Per tale diritto (ebr. bēkhōrāh) cf. Gen. 25, 31-34; 27, 36; 43, 33, ecc.; Hebr. 12, 16; τα πρωτότοκος. I p. erano oggetto del più grande affetto (cf. Gen. 22, 2, 12, 16; Jos. 6, 26; II Reg. 3, 27; Zach. 12, 10). Dio pertanto chiama Israele «suo p.» (Ex. 4, 22 sg.; Eccli. 36, 14; cf. Ier. 31, 9). E «figlio prediletto» (Lc. 20, 13; ἀγαπητός) equivale a figlio unico (Mc. 12, 6; cf. M.-J. Lagrange, Ev. selon st Luc, 3ª ed., Parigi 1927, p. 509).
MORFISMO); e p. supremo del divenire, «da cui dipende il cielo e la natura», è l'atto «puro», «per se stesso», Dio (Met., XII, capp. 6-7, 9).
Dalla scolastica il termine è ripreso con la ricchezza dei riferimenti aristotelici (definizione in Sum. Theol., 1a, q. 33, a. 1 c.). Viene inoltre precisata, in rapporto al mistero trinitario, la distinzione (incerta in Aristotele) fra causa e p.: mentre la causa implica sempre, nell'effetto, un rapporto di reale dipendenza nell'essere («causa est per se influens esse in aliud»), p. può anche indicare un semplice rapporto di origine-conseguenza (cf. s. Tommaso, De potentia, q. 10, a. 1 ad 10; Sum. Theol., 1a, q. 27).
In modern philosophy, while some traditional references have been abandoned along with the doctrines that inspired them, the use of the term has still been extended. The following main meanings can be distinguished:
a) Principle in the logical sense. It is the premise of deduction (v.) or demonstration (v.). Within a given order or system it is undemonstrated and undemonstrable: first principle, immediate principle. But it is sometimes taken in a broader sense, as a premise that is not necessarily immediate. Beyond the indicated distinction (immediate-mediated principle), the principle is universal if it refers to the transcendental order of reality and thus holds for every field of knowledge (e.g., principles of identity, contradiction, excluded middle); particular or proper if it is limited to a specific field of reality (e.g., the principles of mathematics). It is rational if it is knowable not only through experience but also rationally (a priori) through intuition and analysis of the concepts, points, or values of thought; empirical if derived from experience (v.). In opposition to positivist approaches that consider every principle to be exclusively grounded in and measured by experience, or to be the result of a free choice for practical ends or interests, it must be maintained that rational principles are the fruit of an intellectual intuition: always related to experience insofar as their real content (subject and predicate) is concerned, they depend, in their formal meaning (the relation of belonging between terms, affirmation-negation), on the original intellectual perception of being and its values. The principle is finally purely explicative or analytic if in it the predicate adds nothing to the subject; synthetic if the predicate (whether a priori or a posteriori) adds a determination not formally contained in the subject (cf. E. Kant, Kritik der reinen Vernunft. Transzend. Logik, 1. II, cap. 2).
b) Principle in the epistemological sense: it indicates what, in the theory of knowledge (v.), is considered self-evident and true, and thus as the foundation of a critical system of knowing. According to the various approaches, such a principle is sometimes placed either in an immediate datum of experience (self-consciousness, sensation, moral experience, etc.) or in something psychological-metaphysical-abstract.
c) Principle in a real-ontological sense. It is an entity or reality upon which another reality depends. cause (v.) is a principle in this sense: extrinsic principle, efficient and final cause; intrinsic principle, i.e., constitutive of reality itself, material and formal cause. In Christian thought God is the transcendent efficient principle, and therefore not constitutive, of all reality. In pantheism and monism (v.) the Absolute (v.) is an immanent principle, and thus also constitutive, of the finite. Intrinsic-ontological principles, rather than realities, should be understood as "metaphysical moments" of reality (principia "ut quibus"). In Thomism the only absolutely simple reality, without any composition of constitutive principles, is God; every finite being, on the other hand, implies a composition of metaphysical principles (act-potency, essence-being, matter-form, substance-accidents).
d) Principle as "maxim." It denotes the general directive rules of action, expressed in value judgments: aesthetic, ethical, juridical, political, religious principles, etc. "Intellectus principiorum" (in the ethical sphere "synderesis," [v.]) is called by St. Thomas the natural aptitude and disposition of the mind to formulate the first speculative-practical principles (Sum. Theol., 1a, q. 79, a. 12; cf. 1a-2ae, q. 51, a. 1, and In Ethic. ad Nicom., bk. VI, lect. 5, nn. 1178-79).
e) Principle in a psychological sense. It is the source or cause of psychic activities: the person (v.) as "principium quod" or subject of attribution of action; nature, the soul, the faculty (v.) as "principium quo" or the ontological root and determining condition of action.
f) Principle as a law or general explanatory hypothesis (or directive-methodological rule of research) of natural facts and phenomena, e.g.: principle of the conservation of energy, principle of inertia, principle of indeterminacy, etc.
g) In a general sense, a principle is that which founds, explains, or gives reason for a reality or a fact, e.g.: vital principle, principle of individuation (v.). When said of a science, a system, or a doctrine, principle means the fundamental element or truth of it (cf. Descartes, Principia philosophiae; Berkeley, Principles of human knowledge, etc.).
With technical meaning, in transcendental idealism the absolutely first principle expresses "that act which does not appear nor can appear among the empirical determinations of our consciousness, but rather underlies every consciousness and alone renders it possible." Such a principle is posited by Fichte in the Ego as absolute self-position (Wissenschaftslehre, part 1, § 1; Italian trans. by A. Tilgher, 2nd ed., Bari 1925, pp. 51 ff.).