Sforno on Leviticus 23:17/ספורנו על ויקרא כ״ג:י״ז

1חמץ תאפינה, בכורים, the Omer was the first ripened barley; the offering mentioned in our verse here represented the first ripened stalks of the wheat harvest. This is why the festival of weeks is also known as יום הבכורים, “the day of the firstlings offering.” (compare Numbers 28,26 where this מנחה חדשה, “new gift offering” is described). The more appropriate translation would be the “gift offering consisting of the new (grain) harvest.” The reason that the Torah added the word לה', “for the Lord,” [after all, all offerings are exclusively for the Lord, so why single out this one by name? Ed.] is that after first presenting this offering to G’d, the whole people may now enjoy the new wheat harvest. The verse from Jeremiah 5,24 which we quoted earlier, referred to the סכנה, period of “danger” which this crop was exposed to while growing during which period so many things could have happened which would have ruined the eventual crop. Thanksgiving prayers are therefore called for, expressing our gratitude that nothing of what we worried about during those many weeks actually happened. [the word חקות in that verse may mean that the laws of nature according to which the crop would ripen was not upset by bad weather, and other climatic phenomena which would have ruined all of the farmer’s efforts during the season of ploughing and seeding. Ed.] The Torah, appropriately, legislated that in addition to the two loaves baked from the new wheat, which did not get on the altar, of course, also 2 sheep, etc., were offered as explained in connection with שלמי תודה, thanksgiving offerings in Leviticus 7,13.