PRIMIZIE (DIRITTO): V. DECIMA; OBLAZIONI.
PRIMIZIE. - The taking of the first fruits of the soil, sacred to the Lord like the firstborn, to be offered to 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: bikkūrim (Vulg. primitiae), the first ripe fruits of the fields and trees; and rē'ēth bikkūrē ha-'ādhāmāh (= the Akkadian rēlētī), in Greek ἐπικρὴ τῶν πρωτογεννημάτων τῆς γῆς; Ex. 23, 19; Ez. 44, 30; etc., the best of such fruits.
The people as such were to offer the first ears of grain at Passover (Lev. 23, 10-14), and at Pentecost two loaves made from leavened dough of the new grain, to be burned on the altar together with two lambs (ibid. 23, 15-20). As for the offerings of the p. by individual Israelites, there was no specification concerning the quantity or the time. The
law generally referred to all the first fruits of the field and of the trees of the land of Israel, to which were added the ancient territories of Sehon (Deut. 2, 32-37), of Og (ibid., 3, 8 ff.) and, later, of Syria conquered by David. It was therefore extended to the fruits of new trees: in the fourth year they were to be consecrated entirely to Jahweh; only in the fifth year could the Israelite enjoy them (Lev. 19, 23 f.); to the first loaves of every new batch of dough (Num. 15, 20 f.; Ez. 44, 30; cf. the treatise Hallāh of the Mišnāh); and to the first shearing of every sheep (Deut. 18, 4).
All the p. always belonged to the priests (Num. 18, 13, 19; Deut. 18, 4; Neh. 10, 36[37]; Ez. 44, 30). No offering is attested and recommended as much as this of the p. (I Sam. 2, 29; II Par. 31, 5: Ezechia restores it to honour; Neh. 10, 36: it is resumed after the exile; Ez. 44, 30; Mal. 3, 8; Tob. 1, 6; Prov. 3, 9; Ezel. 7, 34 [31]; 35, 10; I Mach. 3, 49). The later rabbis, basing themselves on Deut. 8, 8, determined the offering of the p. from the seven common fruits of Palestine: wheat, barley, grapes, figs, pomegranates, oil and honey. They were to be of the finest quality and absolutely fresh, except for the grapes and figs, which could also be dried if they were brought from a distance. And they fixed the amount of the offering at between 1/40 and 1/60 (s. Girolamo, In Ezechielem, 45, 13 f.; PL 25, 451). The offering at the Temple (Deut. 12, 6 ff.) had its own rite (ibid., 26, 1-11); the p., arranged in a basket, were placed before Jahweh. Precise regulations are found in the treatise Bikkūrim of the Mišnāh concerning the material of the basket and the arrangement of the p. within II. Ordinarily, processions were formed; the leader of the company gave the signal for departure by reciting Ier. 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 while singing Ps. 150, to which the Levites responded with Ps. 30 (29). In the priests’ court, a balancing movement forward and backward toward the altar symbolized the offering of the basket to Jahweh, while the prescribed formula was recited (Deut. 26, 3-10).
In a figurative sense, Israel is called «p. di Jahweh» (Ier. 2, 3). In the New Testament, the first converts are called p. (Rom. 16, 5; I Cor. 16, 15; Jac. 1, 18); as are the virgins who follow the lamb (Apoc. 14, 4). Christ himself is «p. dei dormienti» (I Cor. 15, 20, 23). Christians possess «le p. dello Spirito» (Rom. 8, 23), insofar as the life of Grace is the very life of glory begun here on earth, to continue in heaven.
(phot. Gab. phot. nec.)
PRIMO E FELICIANO, saints, martyrs - Mosaic decoration of the apse where Pope Teodoro (642-49) deposited the bodies of the two Martyrs - Rome, church of S. Stefano Rotondo.
773 ff.; A. Clamer, in La Ste Bible (ed. L. Pirot, 2), Paris 1940, pp. 39 f., 71, 150, 169-72, 352 f., 674 ff.