Numbers 18:19
כֹּל׀ תְּרוּמֹת הַקֳּדָשִׁים אֲשֶׁר יָרִימוּ בְנֵֽי־יִשְׂרָאֵל לַֽיהוָה נָתַתִּֽי לְךָ וּלְבָנֶיךָ וְלִבְנֹתֶיךָ אִתְּךָ לְחָק־עוֹלָם בְּרִית מֶלַח עוֹלָם הִוא לִפְנֵי יְהוָה לְךָ וּלְזַרְעֲךָ אִתָּֽךְ׃
✦ Hebrew interlinear
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✦ The same verse in five languages
כֹּ֣ל׀ תְּרוּמֹ֣ת הַקֳּדָשִׁ֗ים אֲשֶׁ֨ר יָרִ֥ימוּ בְנֵֽי־יִשְׂרָאֵל֮ לַֽיהוָה֒ נָתַ֣תִּֽי לְךָ֗ וּלְבָנֶ֧יךָ וְלִבְנֹתֶ֛יךָ אִתְּךָ֖ לְחָק־עוֹלָ֑ם בְּרִית֩ מֶ֨לַח עוֹלָ֥ם הִוא֙ לִפְנֵ֣י יְהוָ֔ה לְךָ֖ וּלְזַרְעֲךָ֥ אִתָּֽךְ׃
πᾶν ἀφαίρεμα τῶν ἁγίων, ὅσα ἀν’ ἀφέλωσιν οἱ υἱοὶ Ἰσραὴλ Κυρίῳ, σοὶ δέδωκα καὶ τοῖς υἱοῖς σου καὶ ταῖς θυγατράσιν σου μετὰ σοῦ, νόμιμον αἰώνιον· διαθήκη ἁλὸς αἰωνίου ἐστὶν ἔναντι Τυρίου σοὶ καὶ τῷ σπέρματί σου μετὰ σέ.
Greek text from Swete's edition, CC BY-SA 4.0
Latin (Vulgate)
Omnes primitias sanctuarii, quas offerunt filii Israël Domino, tibi dedi, et filiis, ac filiabus tuis, jure perpetuo. Pactum salis est sempiternum coram Domino, tibi ac filiis tuis.
Todas las ofrendas sagradas que los hijos de Israel le presenten a Yehová, te las doy a ti, a tus hijos y a tus hijas como una porción para siempre. Es un pacto de sal permanente delante de Yehová, para ti y para tus descendientes”.
Classic Spanish (Reina-Valera 1909)
Todas las ofrendas elevadas de las cosas santas, que los hijos de Israel ofrecieren á Jehová, helas dado para ti, y para tus hijos y para tus hijas contigo, por estatuto perpetuo: pacto de sal perpetuo es delante de Jehová para ti y para tu simiente contigo.
All the holy offerings that the Israelites present to the LORD I give to you and to your sons and daughters as a permanent statute. It is a permanent covenant of salt before the LORD for you and your offspring.”
✦ What the text says
Summary
Numbers 18:19 records Yehovah's declaration that all the holy contributions raised by the Israelites are given permanently to Aaron and his descendants. The gift is sealed with the phrase "a covenant of salt," described as perpetual and standing before Yehovah.
Key words
- teru.Mot ("contributions of", H8641) — feminine plural construct, referring to portions set aside or "lifted" from offerings; grammatically linked to ha.qqodaShim ("the holy gifts") that follows.
- yaRimu ("they will offer up", H7311A) — hiphil (causative) imperfect, literally "cause to rise/lift up"; the imperfect form indicates an ongoing or repeated future action performed by the bene Yisra'El ("sons of Israel").
- naTati ("I give", H5414G) — qal perfect, "I have given"; despite referring to an ongoing arrangement, the perfect aspect frames this as a completed, settled act of giving by Yehovah.
- chok-oLam ("a prescribed portion of perpetuity", H2706H + H5769G) — construct chain meaning a statute or allotment fixed "forever" (oLam), marking the durability of the grant.
- berit Melach oLam ("covenant of salt of perpetuity", H1285 + H4417M + H5769G) — triple construct chain: "covenant" of "salt" of "perpetuity," a fixed legal-sounding formula naming the nature of the arrangement itself.
What the text says
The verse opens with a long construct chain — kol teruMot ha.qqodaShim ("all the contributions of the holy gifts") — establishing the category of goods under discussion before the relative clause 'aSher yaRimu vene-Yisra'El la-Yehovah ("which the sons of Israel offer up to Yehovah") specifies their origin and destination point (before being redirected to Aaron). The main verb naTati ("I give," H5414G, qal perfect) then reports Yehovah's own action, syntactically completed even though its effect is described as ongoing through the le-kha... 'itte-kha ("to you... with you") sequence naming Aaron, his sons, and his daughters as joint recipients.
The clause berit Melach oLam hi' lifNei Yehovah ("it is a covenant of salt of perpetuity before Yehovah") uses the independent pronoun hi' ("it," H1931, feminine) to refer back to the arrangement just described, formally naming it as a berit ("covenant," H1285). The construct chain Melach oLam ("salt of perpetuity") modifies berit, so the covenant itself is characterized through the image of salt paired with the durative noun oLam ("perpetuity," H5769G), which also appeared earlier in chok-oLam. The repetition of oLam across both phrases reinforces the durative framing of the statute at both the noun-phrase and clause level.
Differences between versions
The LXX renders lifNei Yehovah ("before Yehovah") as ἔναντι Τυρίου ("before Tyre"), differing from both the Hebrew Yehovah (H3068G) and the Vulgate's coram Domino ("before the Lord"), which matches the Hebrew sense of divine presence rather than a place name.
This explanation describes the text using linguistic data; it adds no doctrine or confessional interpretation.