Numbers 18:26
וְאֶל־הַלְוִיִּם תְּדַבֵּר וְאָמַרְתָּ אֲלֵהֶם כִּֽי־תִקְחוּ מֵאֵת בְּנֵֽי־יִשְׂרָאֵל אֶת־הַֽמַּעֲשֵׂר אֲשֶׁר נָתַתִּי לָכֶם מֵאִתָּם בְּנַחֲלַתְכֶם וַהֲרֵמֹתֶם מִמֶּנּוּ תְּרוּמַת יְהוָה מַעֲשֵׂר מִן־הַֽמַּעֲשֵֽׂר׃
✦ Hebrew interlinear
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✦ The same verse in five languages
וְאֶל־הַלְוִיִּ֣ם תְּדַבֵּר֮ וְאָמַרְתָּ֣ אֲלֵהֶם֒ כִּֽי־תִ֠קְחוּ מֵאֵ֨ת בְּנֵֽי־יִשְׂרָאֵ֜ל אֶת־הַֽמַּעֲשֵׂ֗ר אֲשֶׁ֨ר נָתַ֧תִּי לָכֶ֛ם מֵאִתָּ֖ם בְּנַחֲלַתְכֶ֑ם וַהֲרֵמֹתֶ֤ם מִמֶּ֙נּוּ֙ תְּרוּמַ֣ת יְהוָ֔ה מַעֲשֵׂ֖ר מִן־הַֽמַּעֲשֵֽׂר׃
καὶ τοῖς λευείταις λαλήσεις καὶ ἐρεῖς πρὸς αὐτούς Ἐὰν λάβητε παρὰ τῶν υἱῶν τὸ ἐπιδέκατον ὁ δέδωκα ὑμῖν παρ’ αὐτῶν ἐν κλήρῳ, καὶ ὑμεῖς ἀπ’ αὐτοῦ ἀφαίρεμα κυρίῳ ἐπιδέκατον ἀπὸ τοῦ ἐπικαὶ
Greek text from Swete's edition, CC BY-SA 4.0
Latin (Vulgate)
Præcipe Levitis, atque denuntia: Cum acceperitis a filiis Israël decimas, quas dedi vobis, primitias earum offerte Domino, id est, decimam partem decimæ,
“Habla con los levitas y diles: ‘Cuando reciban de los hijos de Israel los diezmos que les he dado como herencia, ustedes deberán presentarle a Yehová una ofrenda de esos diezmos, es decir, la décima parte del diezmo.
Classic Spanish (Reina-Valera 1909)
Así hablarás á los Levitas, y les dirás: Cuando tomareis de los hijos de Israel los diezmos que os he dado de ellos por vuestra heredad, vosotros presentaréis de ellos en ofrenda mecida á Jehová el diezmo de los diezmos.
“ Speak to the Levites and tell them: ‘ When you receive from the Israelites the tithe that I have given you as your inheritance, you must present part of it as an offering to the LORD — a tithe of the tithe.
✦ What the text says
Summary
Yehovah instructs Moses to tell the Levites that when they receive the tithe from the Israelites — given to them as their inheritance — they must in turn set apart a portion of that tithe as a terumah ("contribution") to Yehovah: a tithe taken from the tithe.
Key words
- te.da.Ber ("you will speak", H1696G) — piel imperfect, giving the instruction an intensive, official register: Moses is to declare this, not merely mention it.
- na.Ta.ti ("I give", H5414G) — qal perfect, marking the tithe as already legally granted by Yehovah to the Levites, prior to this new instruction.
- na.cha.lat.Khem ("your inheritance", H5159) — feminine singular construct with pronominal suffix, framing the tithe itself as the Levites' allotted possession, parallel to the land-inheritance of the other tribes.
- ha.re.mo.Tem ("you will offer up", H7311A) — hiphil sequential perfect, a causative form indicating the Levites must actively "raise up" or set apart a portion; it continues the narrative chain begun by 'a.mar.Ta ("you will say").
- te.ru.Mat ("contribution of", H8641) — feminine singular construct joined to Yehovah (H3068G), naming the specific category of offering the Levites must render.
- ma.'a.Ser ("tithe", H4643) appears three times in the verse, culminating in the phrase ma.'a.Ser min ha.ma.'a.Ser ("a tithe from the tithe"), a construct-like repetition rather than a formal construct chain, emphasizing that the offering is a tenth taken specifically from the tithe already received.
What the text says
The verse opens with two paired verbs of speech, te.da.Ber ("you will speak") and the sequential 'a.mar.Ta ("you will say"), both governing the instruction to the Levites (ha.l.vi.Yim, H3881). The conditional particle ki ("if/when", H3588A) introduces the circumstance: the Levites "taking" (Tik.chu, H3947G) the tithe from "the people of Israel" (be.nei- Yis.ra.'El). The relative clause 'a.Sher na.Ta.ti la.Khem ("which I have given to you") uses the qal perfect to mark this grant as a completed, prior act — the tithe is already theirs by Yehovah's decree, described as bi. na.cha.lat.Khem ("in your inheritance").
The sequential perfect ha.re.mo.Tem then shifts to the new obligation: from that received tithe, the Levites must "raise up" — a hiphil verb suggesting a deliberate lifting or setting-apart — a te.ru.Mat Yehovah ("contribution of Yehovah"). The final clause, ma.'a.Ser min- ha.ma.'a.Ser ("a tithe from the tithe"), repeats the noun ma.'a.Ser to specify the proportion: a tenth taken from the tenth already given to them, structuring a second-order tithe within the first.
Differences between versions
The Hebrew na.cha.lat.Khem ("your inheritance") is rendered in the LXX as ἐν κλήρῳ ("in a lot/portion"), a related but distinct image of allotment rather than inherited possession. The Vulgate renders te.ru.Mat Yehovah as "primitias... offerte Domino" ("offer the firstfruits to the Lord"), using the language of firstfruits where the Hebrew specifies a terumah ("contribution/raised offering"). The provided LXX text also appears truncated after ἐπικαὶ, leaving the final phrase incomplete relative to the Hebrew's min- ha.ma.'a.Ser.
This explanation describes the text using linguistic data; it adds no doctrine or confessional interpretation.