Numbers 15:21

Summary

The verse instructs that a portion "from the first of your dough" be set aside as a terumah ("contribution", H8641) for Yehovah, a practice specified as applying "for your generations" — that is, as a recurring obligation across time.

Key words

• re'shit ("[the] first of", H7225G) — feminine singular construct; opens the clause and syntactically governs 'arisoteikhem, marking what portion is meant: not "some dough" but specifically its first/best part.
• 'arisoteikhem ("your dough[s]", H6182) — feminine plural construct with 2nd person masculine plural suffix; the plural form suggests batches or portions of dough, all belonging to "you" (plural addressees).
• titnu ("you will give", H5414G) — Qal imperfect, 2nd person masculine plural; the imperfect aspect conveys an action to be performed repeatedly or in the future, not a single past event.
• terumah ("a contribution", H8641) — feminine singular noun, unmarked by construct or suffix; it stands as the direct object description of what is given, appositional to the dough offering.
• doroteikhem ("your generations", H1755) — feminine plural construct with 2nd person masculine plural suffix; extends the instruction's applicability across successive generations of the addressees.

What the text says

The Hebrew clause opens with the prepositional phrase me-re'shit 'arisoteikhem ("from the first of your dough"), placing the object of the offering before the verb titnu ("you will give"). This fronting foregrounds what is being given rather than the act of giving itself. The verb, a Qal imperfect, follows, then the recipient la-YHWH ("to Yehovah"), then the noun terumah describing the nature of the gift, and finally the temporal qualifier le-doroteikhem ("for your generations") closing the sentence.

The construct chain re'shit 'arisoteikhem ("first of your doughs") specifies a portion drawn from the dough itself, not a separate offering brought alongside it. The plural form of 'arisoteikhem may indicate multiple portions or repeated instances of dough-making rather than a single mass.

Differences between versions

The Vulgate renders 'arisoteikhem ("your dough") as pulmentis ("dishes" or "prepared food"), a broader term than the Hebrew's specific reference to dough. It also merges re'shit and terumah into the single term primitiva ("first-fruits"), where the Hebrew keeps these as two distinct elements (the construct phrase and the separate noun terumah).

The LXX text given reads Τυρίῳ ("to a Tyrian" — where the Hebrew has the divine name YHWH, H3068G), diverging from the Hebrew's direct designation of the recipient as Yehovah.