Leviticus 7:34

Summary

Leviticus 7:34 records YHWH's declaration that the breast and thigh portions from Israel's peace offerings have been taken and assigned permanently to Aaron and his sons as priests. The verse establishes this allocation as a perpetual statute owed by the Israelites to the priesthood.

Key words

• techi.nu.Fah — chazeh ("breast of", H2373) in construct with ha-tenufah ("the wave-offering", H8573): a construct chain identifying which breast portion is meant, namely the one associated with the "waving" rite.
• shok ("thigh of", H7785), feminine singular construct, paired with ha-terumah ("contribution", H8641): another construct chain naming the specific cut tied to the "contribution/lifting" offering.
• laqachti ("I have taken", H3947G), qal perfect 1st person: marks a completed action from the speaker's (YHWH's) perspective — the taking is presented as already accomplished.
• va'etten ("and I have given", H5414G), qal narrative form 1st person, joined by the narrative vav (H9001): continues the sequence of completed divine actions — first taking, then giving.
• chok-olam ("a prescribed portion of perpetuity", H2706H + H5769G), construct chain: designates the arrangement as a fixed, ongoing legal provision rather than a one-time act.

What the text says

The verse opens with the subordinating particle ki ("for/that", H3588A), linking this statement to what precedes it as a explanatory or causal clause. The core structure pairs two construct chains — chazeh ha-tenufah ("breast of the wave-offering") and shok ha-terumah ("thigh of the contribution") — both marked as direct objects via 'et (H0853), specifying exactly which portions of the sacrifice are in view. These are said to be taken (laqachti) me'et bene-Yisra'el ("from the sons of Israel", using H0854 for "with/from"), and further specified as coming mi-zzivchei shalmeihem ("from the sacrifices of their peace offerings", H2077 + H8002 + H9028), a double construct chain narrowing the source to a specific category of sacrifice.

The second half of the verse shifts to a narrative sequence marked by va-'etten ("and I have given"), using the vav-consecutive pattern to present the giving as following the taking in a connected sequence. The recipients are named through a chain of prepositional phrases: le-Aharon ha-kohen ("to Aaron the priest") u-le-vanav ("and to his sons"). The phrase le-choq-olam ("as a prescribed portion of perpetuity") uses a construct chain to characterize the nature of this assignment — not a single event but an ongoing legal provision. The verse closes by repeating me'et bene-Yisra'el ("from the sons of Israel"), framing the entire arrangement as one where Israel's sacrificial offerings supply the priesthood on a continuing basis.