Exodus 22:29

Summary

The verse commands that the offering of "fullness" and "juice" — agricultural yield — not be delayed, and that the firstborn among one's sons be given over. The Hebrew text uses two abstract nouns for produce followed by a negated verb of delay, then shifts to a second imperative-like statement about firstborn sons.

Key words

• me.le.'a.te.kha ("full produce", H4395) — feminine singular construct with 2ms suffix; denotes agricultural "fullness" or abundance, likely referring to solid crop yield.
• dim.'a.kha ("juice", H1831) — masculine singular construct with 2ms suffix; literally connected to liquid/tear-like substance, understood as pressed liquids (wine, oil).
• te.'a.Cher ("you must delay", H0309) — piel imperfect, 2ms; the piel stem intensifies the verbal action, here negated by lo' ("not", H3808) to form a prohibition against delaying.
• be.Khor ("firstborn of", H1060) — masculine singular construct, opening a construct chain with ba.Nei.kha ("your sons", H1121A + H9021).
• ti.ten- ("you will give", H5414G) — qal imperfect, 2ms; a straightforward future/injunctive form paired with the preposition-suffix li ("to me", H9005+H9030).

What the text says

The verse divides into two parallel clauses sharing a similar grammatical pattern: a compound or single object placed before a negated or plain imperfect verb. The first clause pairs me.le'atekha and dim.'akha, both construct nouns bound to the 2ms suffix "your," functioning as a compound subject/object of the verb te'acher. The piel stem of H0309 intensifies the sense of delay, and its negation with lo' produces a prohibition: the "fullness" and "juice" are not to be held back or postponed.

The second clause uses the construct chain bekhor banekha ("firstborn of your sons"), a singular noun governing a plural noun, before the qal imperfect verb titten ("you will give") with the appended preposition-suffix li ("to me"). Unlike the first clause, this one carries no explicit negation — it is a direct statement of future/injunctive action, "you will give to me," rather than a prohibition against delay. The shift from a negated verb to a positive imperfect marks a grammatical difference between the two commands, even though both are typically read as instructions in translation.

Differences between versions

The LXX renders me.le'atekha ve.dim'akha as ἀπαρχὰς ἅλωνος καὶ ληνοῦ σου ("firstfruits of the threshing floor and of the wine press"), introducing concrete agricultural installations not present in the Hebrew nouns for "fullness" and "juice." The Vulgate reads decimas tuas et primitias tuas ("your tithes and your firstfruits"), inserting the concept of "tithes" (decimas), a term absent from the Hebrew construct nouns me.le'atekha and dim.'akha. Additionally, the LXX pluralizes τὰ πρωτότοκα ("the firstborns") against the Hebrew singular bekhor, while the Vulgate's primogenitum preserves the singular form matching the Hebrew.