The first of the firstfruits of thy land thou shalt bring into the house of the Lord thy God. Thou shalt not seethe a kid in his mother’s milk. (Exodus 23:19)
This phrase is synonymous with the expression, “the place which the Lord thy God shall choose to place his name there” (Deut. 26:2; 12:5, 11, 14; 16:16), and refers to the sanctuary and later the Temple.
Not seethe a kid.
Texts unearthed at Ras Shamra, the ancient Ugarit, a Syrian coastal city opposite the island of Cyprus, reveal the fact that boiling sacrificial kids in their mother’s milk was a ritual practice of the Canaanites. It was probably to avoid this heathen rite that God forbade His people to do so.
The first of the firstfruits.
This means either “the best” of the first fruits (Num. 18:12) or the “first ripe” fruits (Num. 18:13). As these first fruits of the harvest of the “land” were brought to God, so Christ presented Himself to the Father as the first fruits of the resurrection harvest (John 20:17; 1 Cor. 15:20-23).