Exodus 29:26

Summary

The verse instructs the taking of the breast portion from the ram used in Aaron's ordination ceremony, its ritual waving before Yehovah, and its designation as a portion belonging to the one performing the action (Moses, per the wider context of the chapter).

Key words

• la.kach.Ta ("you will take", H3947G) — qal sequential perfect, continuing a chain of prescribed actions; the verb form ties this instruction to the preceding ritual sequence rather than presenting it as an isolated command.
• cha.Zeh ("breast", H2373) — masculine singular noun designating the specific bodily portion of the animal to be handled.
• mi.lu.'Im ("installation offerings", H4394) — masculine plural noun, here in construct with 'Eil ("ram of", H0352A), forming "the ram of the installation offerings" — a technical term for the ordination sacrifice.
• he.naf.Ta ("you will wave", H5130B) — hiphil (causative) sequential perfect; the causative stem indicates the subject causes the object to move/wave, describing the physical gesture of the offering ritual.
• te.nu.Fah ("a wave-offering", H8573) — feminine singular noun, cognate with the verb he.naf.Ta, functioning adverbially to specify the manner/category of the waving action.

What the text says

The Hebrew sentence is built as a chain of three sequential perfect verbs (la.kach.Ta, he.naf.Ta, ha.Yah), each connected by the narrative vav (H9001), producing a sequence: "you will take... and you will wave... and it will become." This verbal chaining is a common feature of Hebrew legal/ritual instruction, presenting each action as a consequence following the prior one within a single continuous procedure.

The phrase 'Eil ha-mi.lu.'Im ("ram of the installation offerings") uses a construct relationship (noun + noun) to specify which ram is meant — not just any ram, but the one associated with the mi.lu.'Im ceremony. This is further qualified by the relative clause 'a.Sher le-'a.ha.Ron ("which [belongs] to Aaron"), clarifying whose ordination ram is in view.

The cognate pairing of he.naf.Ta (verb, "you will wave") and te.nu.Fah (noun, "a wave-offering") is a construction sometimes called a cognate accusative, where the noun restates the verb's action to intensify or specify it — here indicating that the waving is performed specifically in the manner/category called te.nu.Fah.

Differences between versions

The LXX renders cha.Zeh ("breast", H2373) as στηθύνιον ("breast/breastbone"), consistent with the Hebrew. However, for te.nu.Fah ("wave-offering", H8573), the LXX uses ἀφόρισμα ("that which is set apart, separated portion") rather than a term conveying "waving," and the paired verb ἀφοριεῖς means "you will set apart" rather than "you will wave" — the LXX shifts the semantic emphasis from the physical waving gesture to separation/setting apart. The Vulgate's elevatum ("lifted up") also diverges from a literal "waving," describing an elevating gesture instead.