English: “the first of the fruit” — how does one designate bikkurim? A person goes down into his field, sees a fig that has begun to ripen or a cluster that has begun, ties a reed around it and says, “These are bikkurim.”
In Sifrei: The midrash reads successive phrases of the declaration or the curse, assigning each a concrete referent or legal implication drawn from the surrounding narrative or parallel verses.
Type of Learning
Custom (A practical derasha from the language of “first fruit” — the designation can be made as soon as the first ripening is visible, by a clear physical mark and verbal statement.)
What Is Learned
Chazal teach the concrete procedure for setting aside first fruits: mark the earliest ripening produce in the field with a reed and declare it bikkurim. That designation stands until the fruit is brought.