Numbers18:8–32

Where the English smooths the original

• מִשְׁמֶ֖רֶת BSB's "in charge of My offerings" softens miš·me·reṯ — literally "the keeping" (the same word for the priestly watch/guard in v.5). Keil & Delitzsch and the Pulpit Commentary both insist it here means not duty but "the keeping for their own use" — the portion they are to retain.
• לְמָשְׁחָ֛ה "as a portion" flattens lə·mā·šə·ḥāh, a rare word from the root for anointing. The older versions read "by reason of the anointing"; Cambridge and the Pulpit Commentary argue for "for an anointing-portion" — the perquisite that comes with the consecrated office.
• תְּרוּמֹתָ֑י "My offerings" loses the possessive force of tə·rū·mō·ṯāy ("My heave-offerings"). The Pulpit Commentary notes the suffix "marks the fact that these did not belong to the priest in the first instance" — they are God's gift out of what the people dedicated.
• וַאֲנִי֙ The emphatic wa·’ă·nî ("and I, even I") is barely audible in "I have put you in charge." The Hebrew stacks pronoun upon the first-person verb — the gift is doubly underwritten by the Giver Himself.

Where the English smooths the original

• מִקֹּ֥דֶשׁ הַקֳּדָשִׁ֖ים BSB "the most holy offerings" is a fair rendering of the Hebrew superlative qō·ḏeš haq·qo·ḏā·šîm ("holiness of holinesses"), but the doubled noun is the same construction as "holy of holies" — the highest grade of sacred gift, eaten only by priests in the court.
• הָאֵ֑שׁ "reserved from the fire" supplies "reserved"; the Hebrew is bare — "from the fire" (hā·’êš). Keil even argues ’êš here stands for ’iššeh, the fire-offering itself: the portion drawn back from what would have gone up in flame.
• קָ֠רְבָּנָם "the offerings" renders qā·rə·bā·nām, qorbân — that which is "brought near" the altar; the root is approach. Ellicott reads the clause distributively: "every oblation of their's for all their meat offerings, and for all their sin offerings, and for all their trespass offerings."

Where the English smooths the original

• בְּקֹ֥דֶשׁ הַקֳּדָשִׁ֖ים BSB "as a most holy offering" follows Barnes' reading ("among the most holy things"); but the same words usually mean "in the most holy place." The Pulpit Commentary lays out both: it cannot be the holy-of-holies here, so either the court is called "most holy," or the phrase means "amongst the most holy things" as in Numbers 4:4.
• זָכָר֙ "every male" is exact, but the Hebrew zā·ḵār carries the restriction by itself — only the male members of the priestly line, as Barnes notes: "only the males of the priestly families could eat of the things here specified."
• לָּֽךְ The closing pronoun is feminine singular — lāḵ, "to thee" — an old form addressing Aaron; the gift is set apart "unto thee" and to no other use.

Where the English smooths the original

• וְלִבְנֹתֶ֛יךָ BSB "and daughters" is right, but the addition is the whole point: where v.10 said only the male may eat, here the lighter holy gifts may be eaten by "your daughters" (wə·liḇ·nō·ṯe·ḵā) too. Keil: "by both the male and female members of the priestly families, provided they were legally clean."
• תְּנוּפֹת֮ "wave offerings" renders tə·nū·p̄ōṯ (tᵉnûwphâh, from a root meaning to brandish or move to-and-fro) — the breast that was waved before the LORD; distinct from the tᵉrûwmâh (heave-offering), the thigh that was lifted up.
• טָה֥וֹר "ceremonially clean person" expands ṭā·hō·wr ("clean"). The single adjective carries the gate: ceremonial cleanness, not priestly maleness, is the condition for this class — a wider table than v.10's.

Where the English smooths the original

• חֵ֣לֶב BSB "the freshest / the finest" interprets ḥê·leḇ, which literally means fat. Ellicott, Cambridge and the Pulpit Commentary all flag it: "Hebrew, all the fat, as in Genesis 45:18" — the fat being idiom for "the best" (cf. Deuteronomy 32:14).
• רֵאשִׁיתָ֛ם "their firstfruits" renders rê·šî·ṯām (rêʼshîyth, "the first/best"). Cambridge: the vague "fat" "is explained by the more technical term the firstfruits, or the first (Heb. rêshîth)." The amount is left undefined — Jewish tradition only later fixed proportions.
• תִּיר֣וֹשׁ "new wine" is tî·rō·wōš (tîyrôwsh), the fresh must "as just squeezed out" — paired with yitshâr (fresh oil) and dâgân (grain). This three-word agricultural triad is a fixed Hebrew formula for the staples of the land.

Where the English smooths the original

• בִּכּוּרֵ֞י BSB "firstfruits" here is bik·kū·rê (bikkûwr), specifically the first-ripe of the crop — distinct from the rêʼshîyth of v.12. Benson: not only oil, wine and wheat "but all other first-fruits of all other grains, and all fruit-trees."
• יָבִ֥יאוּ "they bring" renders yā·ḇî·’ū (bôwʼ, Hifil — "cause to come"); Gill pictures the basket carried to the sanctuary (Deuteronomy 26:2). The bringing, not merely the growing, marks the gift as the LORD's.
• טָה֥וֹר "ceremonially clean person" again renders bare ṭā·hō·wr. Benson sharpens the logic: "because these fruits were first offered to God, and by consequence given to the priests" — their derived holiness governs who may eat.

Where the English smooths the original

• חֵ֥רֶם BSB "devoted thing" is the technical ḥê·rem — that which is placed under a ban, irrevocably given over to God (Leviticus 27:28). Cambridge: "An object placed under a ḥçrem or ban was wholly given up to God and could not be redeemed." The same word names the doomed spoil of Jericho — devotion has two faces.
• בְּיִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל "in Israel" (bə·yiś·rā·’êl) scopes the grant nationally; but Benson and J.F.B. limit it in practice — gold and silver vessels "devoted" went to the sanctuary's use, not to the priest's table; only what could be eaten or consumed came to him.

Where the English smooths the original

• פֶּ֣טֶר רֶ֠חֶם BSB "the firstborn of every womb" renders pe·ṭer re·ḥem — literally "the opening / breach of the womb" (peṭer, a fissure). The idiom is bodily and exact: the first to break the womb belongs to God (Exodus 13:2).
• פָּדֹ֣ה תִפְדֶּ֗ה "you must surely redeem" captures the Hebrew infinitive-absolute intensification pā·ḏōh ṯip̄·deh ("redeeming you shall redeem"). Barnes notes the emphasis is deliberate: for the firstborn of man "the rule admitted of no exception," unlike unclean beasts which the owner might instead destroy.
• יַקְרִ֧יבוּ "that is offered" renders yaq·rî·ḇū (qârab, to bring near) — the same approach-root as qorbân. What is brought near to the LORD is His; the firstborn is an offering before it is a possession.

Where the English smooths the original

• וּפְדוּיָו֙ BSB "You are to pay the redemption price" renders ū·p̄ə·ḏū·yāw, literally "and his redeemed-ones / his redemption." The passive participle keeps the firstborn in view as the one being ransomed — the price is named for the child, not the payer.
• בְּעֶ֨רְכְּךָ֔ "according to your valuation" is bə·‘er·kə·ḵā (‘êrek, an assessment). The Pulpit Commentary explains the safeguard: "to prevent extortion, the sum which the priest might assess was fixed by God" — the priest valued, but God capped the price.
• שְׁקָלִ֖ים "shekels" by "the sanctuary shekel" (šə·qā·lîm... haq·qō·ḏeš) fixes the weight standard; twenty gerahs to the shekel. The ransom is concrete, weighable, the same five shekels by which the Levites stood in for the surplus firstborn (Numbers 3:47).

Where the English smooths the original

• לֹ֥א תִפְדֶּ֖ה BSB "you must not redeem" is exact: lō ṯip̄·deh reverses the command of vv.15-16. Benson explains the ground: "they are holy ... consecrated to a holy use, even to be sacrificed to God" (Deuteronomy 15:19) — what is fit for the altar is not bought back but offered up.
• תִּזְרֹ֤ק "splatter" renders tiz·rōq (zâraq, to dash/sprinkle); the blood is thrown against the altar, never eaten — "the sacred life of the animal" (Cambridge on v.9) returned to God.
• אִשֶּׁ֛ה נִיחֹ֖חַ "a food offering, a pleasing aroma" renders ’iš·šeh ... nî·ḥō·aḥ — literally a "fire-offering, a soothing/restful odor." The same liturgical formula that crowns Leviticus 1; the firstling fat ascends to God before the flesh comes to the priest.

Where the English smooths the original

• וּבְשָׂרָ֖ם BSB "their meat" renders ū·ḇə·śā·rām (bâsâr, flesh) — Poole insists on the scope: "all the flesh of them, and not only some parts, as in other sacrifices." The whole carcass of the clean firstling (after blood and fat) falls to the priest, unlike the peace-offering.
• כַּחֲזֵ֧ה "just as the breast" renders ka·ḥă·zêh (the waved breast) — the comparison invokes the priest's standing portion of the peace-offerings (Leviticus 7:34). The firstling's flesh is given on the same footing as that long-established due.
• הַיָּמִ֖ין "right thigh" — hay·yā·mîn, the right ("the stronger and more dexterous" side). The Pulpit Commentary flags the tension with Deuteronomy 12:17-18, where firstlings are eaten by the offerers; it judges "the law was actually modified."

Where the English smooths the original

• בְּרִית֩ מֶ֨לַח BSB "a permanent covenant of salt" renders bə·rîṯ me·laḥ — "covenant of salt." The commentators converge: salt was the emblem of incorruption and of an unbreakable bond. Keil: "equivalent to an indissoluble covenant, or inviolable contract." J.F.B. ties it to the Oriental pledge of fidelity in shared salt.
• יָרִ֥ימוּ "present" renders yā·rî·mū (rûwm, Hifil — "to lift / raise high"). This is the verb behind tᵉrûwmâh itself: the heave-offering is the lifted gift. BSB's "present" loses the gesture of elevation.
• וּלְזַרְעֲךָ֥ "and your offspring" renders ū·lə·zar·‘ă·ḵā (zeraʻ, seed). The covenant is generational — "for you and for your seed with you" — language that elsewhere carries the Abrahamic promise; Gill calls it "an incorruptible, inviolable, durable covenant."

Where the English smooths the original

• לֹ֣א תִנְחָ֔ל BSB "You will have no inheritance" renders the verb ṯin·ḥāl (nâchal, to take possession by inheritance). The priest is barred from the one thing every other tribe receives — land. The negation is the hinge of the whole arrangement (cf. Joshua 14:3).
• חֶלְקְךָ֙ "your portion" renders ḥel·qə·ḵā (chêleq, an allotted share). The same word denies him a share among them and then, astonishingly, names God as that share: "I am your portion." The Pulpit Commentary: "This is not to be explained away, as if it meant only that they were to live of the altar."
• אֲנִ֤י The emphatic ’ă·nî ("I, even I") stands alone before "your portion": the LORD Himself, not His revenues, is the inheritance. Keil: "the possession of the priests and Levites did not consist in the revenues assigned to them by God, but in the possession of Jehovah."

Where the English smooths the original

• מַֽעֲשֵׂ֥ר BSB "all the tithes" renders ma·‘ă·śêr (maʻăsêr, "a tenth"). Already claimed as the LORD's in Leviticus 27:30, the tithe is here formally assigned to the Levites. The Pulpit Commentary traces it back to Abraham (Genesis 14:20) and Jacob (Genesis 28:22) as immemorial.
• לְנַחֲלָ֑ה "as an inheritance" renders lə·na·ḥă·lāh (nachălâh) — the very word denied them as land in v.20 is now restored as tithe. The Levite's "inheritance" is not soil but the tenth of the soil's increase.
• חֵ֤לֶף "in return for" renders ḥê·lep̄ — "in exchange / instead of." Keil: "for (חלף, instead of, for) their service." The tithe is wages for labor, not charity; the principle Henry presses into the maintenance of Gospel ministers.

Where the English smooths the original

• לֹא־ ע֛וֹד BSB "No longer" renders wə·lō- ‘ō·wḏ — the new order is final: lay Israel may not encroach on sacred service. Poole limits the sense: "So nigh as to do any act proper to the priests or Levites" — ordinary worship was not forbidden, only intrusion into office.
• לָשֵׂ֥את חֵ֖טְא "or they will incur guilt" renders lā·śêṯ ḥêṭ — literally "to bear sin." Ellicott distinguishes the senses: here "to bring sin upon themselves, the penalty of which they would have to bear," the root of the later atoning sense of bearing sin.
• לָמֽוּת "and die" renders the bare infinitive lā·mūṯ ("to die") — the consequence stated as purpose-clause grammar. The Septuagint, the Pulpit Commentary notes, read it "ἀμαρτίαν θανατηφόρον" — "death-bearing sin."

Where the English smooths the original

• יִשְׂא֣וּ עֲוֺנָ֑ם BSB "they must bear their iniquity" renders yiś·’ū ‘ă·wō·nām. Barnes reads it of the people's sin guarded against: "the iniquity of the people; who would ... have fallen ... into overt acts of offence," against which the Levites mercifully shield. Benson reads it of accountability for negligence.
• חֻקַּ֤ת עוֹלָם֙ "a permanent statute" renders ‘ō·w·lām ḥuq·qaṯ (using chuqqâh, the feminine statute-word, here, where v.8 used masculine chôq). The arrangement is fixed "throughout your generations" — perpetuity sealed.
• לֹ֥א יִנְחֲל֖וּ "will not receive an inheritance" renders lō yin·ḥă·lū — the same nâchal verb of v.20, now applied to the whole tribe. The Levites share the priests' landlessness, and so the priests' divine portion.

Where the English smooths the original

• תְּרוּמָ֔ה BSB "as a contribution" renders tə·rū·māh, the same heave-offering word from v.8 — Poole flags its widened use: "the word heave-offering ... is here used for any offering in general." The tithe is lifted to God before it is given to the Levite.
• לְנַחֲלָ֑ה "as their inheritance" (lə·na·ḥă·lāh) — Gill stresses the chain of title: the Levites "had the tithe not immediately from the Israelites ... but they were first given to the Lord, and then by him to the Levites." They hold it of God, not of men.
• כִּ֞י The opening kî ("For") makes the verse the explicit ground of v.20's prohibition: the tithe-inheritance is the reason the Levites receive no land. The logic is sealed, not merely stated.

Where the English smooths the original

• אֶל־ מֹשֶׁ֥ה BSB "the LORD instructed Moses" is right, but the shift of addressee is the point: vv.8-24 were spoken to Aaron; now the word comes to Moses (mō·šeh). Ellicott and Gill both note the reason — the law about the priests' tithe "in which Aaron's family were directly concerned" comes through a third party, Moses, not from Aaron's own mouth.
• וַיְדַבֵּ֥ר "instructed" renders way·ḏab·bêr (dâbar, to speak) — the same formula as v.8, marking a fresh oracle. The narrative seam is grammatical: a new speech, a new recipient, a new audience (the Levites).

Where the English smooths the original

• מַעֲשֵׂ֖ר הַֽמַּעֲשֵֽׂר BSB "a tithe of the tithe" exactly renders ma·‘ă·śêr ham·ma·‘ă·śêr. Ellicott: "Better, a tithe of the tithe." The Levites, recipients of Israel's tenth, are themselves tithed — the principle of the firstfruit reaches even those who live by it.
• וַהֲרֵמֹתֶ֤ם "you must present" renders wa·hă·rê·mō·ṯem (rûwm, to lift up) — the heave-verb of v.19. The Levites perform on their tithe the same lifting Israel performed on its increase; the gesture of dedication is repeated down the chain.
• בְּנַחֲלַתְכֶ֑ם "as your inheritance" (bə·na·ḥă·laṯ·ḵem) again uses nachălâh — the tithe IS the Levites' inheritance (v.24), yet even an inheritance owes its firstfruit to God.

Where the English smooths the original

• וְנֶחְשַׁ֥ב BSB "will be reckoned" renders wə·neḥ·šaḇ (châshab, to reckon/impute) — a Niphal of accounting. Poole: "It shall be accepted of you as much as if you offered it out of your own lands and labours." The same imputation-verb that will carry covenant weight in Genesis 15:6.
• וְכַֽמְלֵאָ֖ה "or juice" renders wə·ḵam·lê·’āh (mᵉlêʼâh, "fullness"). Ellicott connects it to Exodus 22:29's "first of thy ripe fruits." A very rare word — only three verses — making its echo in Deuteronomy 22:9 a genuine verbal link.
• הַגֹּ֔רֶן "the threshing floor" (hag·gō·ren) and "the winepress" (hay·yā·qeḇ) are the standard figures for grain and wine income; the Levite's heave-offering counts as if it were ordinary produce of his own floor and press.

Where the English smooths the original

• תָּרִ֤ימוּ BSB "are to present" renders tā·rî·mū (rûwm, lift up) — the heave-gesture again, now performed by the Levites. The whole chain rises: people lift to Levites, Levites lift to priests, priests offer on the altar (Keil).
• לְאַהֲרֹ֖ן הַכֹּהֵֽן "to Aaron the priest" (lə·’a·hă·rōn hak·kō·hên) — Keil reads it representatively: "for Aaron the priest (i.e., for the priesthood)." The tithe-of-the-tithe terminates not in a man but in the office, and through it before the LORD.
• מִכֹּל֙ "from all" (mik·kōl) stresses comprehensiveness: not a token but a tenth of the whole received tithe; the obligation is exhaustive, matching the people's own.

Where the English smooths the original

• חֶלְבּ֔וֹ BSB "the best" renders ḥel·bōw — again literally "its fat" (cf. v.12), the idiom for the choicest. Benson: the part "which was the part or proportion that God hallowed or sanctified to himself as his proper portion." God's portion is the prime, never the leftover.
• מִקְדְּשׁ֖וֹ "the holiest part" renders miq·də·šōw (from miqdâsh, sanctuary/consecrated thing) — "its holy [part]." Keil: "the holy part, which was to be dedicated to Jehovah." The very best is set apart as the most holy.
• מִכָּל־ כָּל־ The doubled mik·kāl ... kāl ("from all ... all") is emphatic comprehensiveness: out of the entirety of every gift, the best of the best is reserved. Henry: "Those who think to save, by putting God off with the refuse, deceive themselves, for God is not mocked."

Where the English smooths the original

• בַּהֲרִֽימְכֶ֤ם BSB "When you have presented" renders the infinitive ba·hă·rî·mə·ḵem (rûwm, lift up) — "in your lifting up." The remainder becomes common only after the heave; the gift sanctifies the rest. The Pulpit Commentary: "the rest was theirs exactly as if they had grown it and gathered it themselves."
• וְנֶחְשַׁב֙ "it will be reckoned" repeats wə·neḥ·šaḇ from v.27 — the imputation-verb. Once the firstfruit is rendered, the nine-tenths is "counted" the Levites' own ordinary income, free of cultic restriction.
• כִּתְבוּאַ֥ת "as the produce" renders kiṯ·ḇū·’aṯ (tᵉbûwʼâh, income/increase) — distinct from v.27's mᵉlêʼâh; the remainder is reckoned as plain agricultural increase, theirs to eat anywhere (v.31).

Where the English smooths the original

• בְּכָל־ מָק֔וֹם BSB "anywhere" renders bə·ḵāl mā·qō·wm ("in every place"). The contrast with v.10 is the point: the priest's most-holy food was bound to the sanctuary court; the Levite's tithe-portion, once tithed, may be eaten "in every place" — Poole adds "in every clean place."
• שָׂכָ֥ר "the compensation" renders śā·ḵār (sâkâr, wages, "payment of contract") — Gill: "the labourer is worthy of his reward, as those that labour in the word and doctrine" (1 Timothy 5:17). The tithe is earned wage, not handout.
• חֵ֥לֶף "for" renders ḥê·lep̄ — "in exchange for," the same word as v.21. The Levite's bread is the consideration given for his service; the bond is contractual as well as covenantal.

Where the English smooths the original

• וְלֹֽא־ תִשְׂא֤וּ חֵ֔טְא BSB "you will not incur guilt" renders wə·lō- ṯiś·’ū ḥêṭ — literally "you shall not bear sin" — the same idiom as v.22, now turned to assurance: faithful tithing removes the guilt that withholding would incur.
• תְחַלְּל֖וּ "defile" renders ṯə·ḥal·lə·lū (châlal, to profane, "properly to bore, pierce") — the opposite of hallowing (v.29). To keep back God's portion is to bore a hole in the holy, to treat the sacred as common. Cambridge: they "would profane" the tithe "if they did not give it to the priests."
• לֹ֥א ... תָמֽוּתוּ "or else you will die" renders lō ... ṯā·mū·ṯū. Barnes reorders the syntax: "by not polluting the holy things ... ye shall not die" — the warning of v.22 returns as the seal of the whole chapter; the priestly privilege carries priestly peril.