Leviticus 8:29

Summary

Moses takes the breast of the ram of ordination and waves it as a tenufah ("wave-offering", H8573) before Yehovah. The text then notes that this portion belonged to Moses himself, in accordance with Yehovah's prior command.

Key words

• va-yiqqach ("and he took", H3947G) — qal narrative verb, marking the next sequential action performed by Moses.
• cha-Zeh ("breast", H2373) — masculine singular noun, definite via the article ha (H9009), identifying the specific body part of the sacrificial animal.
• va-yenifeHu ("and he waved it", H5130B) — hiphil (causative) narrative verb with 3rd person masculine singular object suffix ("it", H9033) attached, meaning Moses causes the breast to be waved; the causative stem indicates the ritual gesture of elevating/moving the offering.
• tenuFah ("a wave-offering", H8573) — feminine singular noun functioning adverbially/appositionally to specify the category of ritual act just performed.
• milu'Im ("installation offerings", H4394) — masculine plural noun in construct with 'Eil ("ram of", H0352A), naming the specific ram associated with the ordination ceremony from which the breast was taken.

What the text says

The verse opens with two chained narrative verbs, va-yiqqach ("and he took") and va-yenifeHu ("and he waved it"), both governed by the subject Mosheh ("Moses", H4872). The second verb is in the hiphil stem, which frames the waving as something Moses causes to happen to the object (the breast, referenced by the suffix -hu, "it"), rather than a simple action. The phrase tenufah lifnei Yehovah ("a wave-offering before Yehovah") specifies both the technical category of the rite and its directional orientation — performed lifnei ("before", built from fenei, H6440G, "face of") Yehovah.

The second half of the verse shifts from narrated action to a statement of fact using the qal perfect hayah ("it belonged", H1961): the breast from the ram of milu'im ("installation offerings", H4394) is declared to have been Moses' manah ("portion", H4490). This portion is sourced me-Eil ha-milu'im ("from the ram of the installation offerings"), with 'Eil in construct form linking it directly to milu'im. The verse closes with a formula of compliance: ka'asher tzivah Yehovah et-Mosheh ("as Yehovah had commanded Moses"), using the piel perfect tzivah ("he had commanded", H6680), a stem carrying an intensive or authoritative nuance, and closing the verse by tying the entire action back to a prior divine instruction.

Differences between versions

The LXX renders cha-Zeh ("breast") as τὸ ἀφεῖλεν αὐτὸ ἐπίθεμα ("the portion he set aside"), a phrasing that does not correspond directly to "breast" but instead names the resulting cultic item. The Vulgate uses pectusculum ("little breast"), a diminutive form, and translates the wave-offering action with elevans ("lifting up") rather than a gesture specifically of "waving," reflecting a different verbal image for the ritual movement described by the Hebrew yenifeHu.