Of the first of your coarse meal you shall present a cake as an offering: The first loaf of bread baked from the first grain harvested is for the LORD. The rest is only available to eat after this offering has been made. The Hebrew word for coarse meal probably refers to “flour” (New Living Translation) or “bread dough” (Contemporary English Version) made from barley, the first major grain crop harvested in Israel. Good News Translation uses the general term “grain” (“corn” in British edition of Good News Translation). For the Hebrew word rendered cake, which probably refers to a ring-shaped loaf of baked bread, see the comments on 6.15. Since a cake is not in view here, this word is better translated “thick flat bread” or “loaf of bread” (Contemporary English Version). For the Hebrew expression rendered present … as an offering, see the previous verse.

As an offering from the threshing floor, so shall you present it: This sentence highlights that the first loaf of bread must be a contribution from the grain harvest. A threshing floor was a hard, level surface in the open air, located outside of a town, where the blowing winds could separate the seeds of grain from the husks. People either walked on the grain or dragged a heavy board over it, and then tossed both the grain and husks into the air. The wind blew away the lighter husks, but the heavier grain fell to the ground. Threshing floor may be rendered “place where grain is threshed/beaten.” This whole sentence may be translated “Give it as a contribution from the grain you thresh.”

Quoted with permission from de Regt, Lénart J. and Wendland, Ernst R. A Handbook on Numbers. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2016. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .