Numbers 15:19

Summary

Numbers 15:19 states that when the Israelites eat food from the land, they must set aside a contribution for Yehovah. The verse uses a temporal clause introduced by an infinitive construct, followed by a command expressed through the imperfect verb form.

Key words

• ba'akholkhem (from 'akhal, "to eat", H0398) — infinitive construct with preposition ba ("when") and pronominal suffix "you all" (m. pl.), forming the temporal clause "when you eat."
• lechem ("bread/food of", H3899) — construct-state noun linking to ha'aretz ("the land", H0776), producing the phrase "the food of the land."
• tarimu ("you will lift up/offer", H7311) — hiphil (causative) imperfect, 2nd person masculine plural; the causative stem marks the action as "causing to rise," i.e., setting something apart and elevating it.
• terumah ("a contribution/that which is lifted", H8641) — feminine singular noun built from the same root as tarimu, creating a cognate-accusative structure ("lift up a lifted-thing").
• YHWH (H3068) — the divine name, marked with the preposition la ("to"), indicating the recipient of the offering.

What the text says

The verse opens with the sequential perfect ve.hayah ("and it will be"), a formula that continues a legal or narrative sequence from the preceding verses. The temporal clause is built with the preposition ba attached to the infinitive construct 'akholkhem ("in your eating" / "when you eat"), governing the phrase mi.lechem ha'aretz ("from the food of the land"). The construct chain lechem ha'aretz ties "food" directly to "the land," specifying the source of what is eaten.

The main clause, tarimu terumah la-YHWH, uses the hiphil imperfect tarimu from the same root (rum, "to be high") as the noun terumah. This root repetition is a cognate-accusative construction: the verb and its object share the same root, so the Hebrew literally reads "you shall raise a raised-portion." The hiphil stem indicates a causative action — the offerer causes the portion to be lifted or set apart — while the imperfect form, in legal/instructional contexts such as this, carries obligatory force rather than simple futurity.

Differences between versions

The Vulgate (separabitis primitias Domino, "you will separate the firstfruits for the Lord") renders terumah as "primitias" ("firstfruits"), a term not present in the Hebrew, which uses the more general "contribution" (terumah) rather than a word specifically meaning "first portion." The LXX text given renders the divine recipient as "Τυρίῳ," differing from the Hebrew YHWH and from the Vulgate's "Domino."