Numbers 18:12

Summary

The verse specifies that the richest portion of oil, wine, and grain — the first fruits given to Yehovah — is transferred by the speaker to "you" (Aaron, in context). It closes a list begun in the surrounding verses of priestly portions derived from Israelite offerings.

Key words

• chelev ("the best of", H2459) — construct noun repeated twice (once for oil, once for wine/grain), meaning literally "fat" or "richest part," used to mark the choicest portion rather than the whole substance.
• reshitam ("first fruit", H7225G) — construct noun with 3rd person masculine plural suffix "their," summarizing the three preceding items (oil, wine, grain) as "their first-fruit portion."
• asher yitenu ("which they will give", H0834A + H5414G) — relative clause with a qal imperfect verb, describing an ongoing or repeated action: the offering process performed by an unspecified "they" (contextually the Israelites).
• netatim ("I give them", H5414G) — qal perfect with 1st person subject and 3rd person masculine plural suffix "them," describing the speaker's act of transfer as completed, in contrast to the imperfect yitenu.

What the text says

The sentence structure lists three items in construct chains — chelev yitzhar ("the best of the fresh oil"), chelev tirosh ("the best of the new wine"), and dagan ("grain") — each governed by chelev except the plain noun dagan, which is joined by the conjunction ve ("and", H9002). These three items are then summarized by reshitam, "their first-fruit portion," a construct noun with a plural suffix referring back to oil, wine, and grain collectively.

The relative clause asher yitenu la-Yehovah ("which they give to Yehovah") uses the imperfect verb yitenu, describing the habitual or future action of presenting these items to Yehovah. The main clause then shifts to the perfect verb netatim ("I have given them"), where the same items (marked by the 3rd person plural suffix "them") are now stated as already transferred to "you" (marked by the 2nd person suffix on lekha, "to you"). This tense shift — imperfect for the ongoing offering to Yehovah, perfect for the completed transfer to "you" — marks two distinct stages: the people's continual giving, and the speaker's stated, settled disposition of what was received.

Differences between versions

The LXX renders the tetragrammaton as κυρίῳ ("to the Lord") rather than transliterating the divine name. The Vulgate condenses chelev ("the best of") into "medullam" ("marrow"), applied once to all three substances rather than repeated per item, differing from the Hebrew's twofold construct repetition. The BSB inserts "the Israelites" as the subject of "give," a referent not explicit in the Hebrew's unmarked plural verb yitenu.