Numbers 18:30

Summary

Moses is instructed to tell the Levites that once they have set aside the chelev ("best part / fat") from the tithe they receive, the remainder will be credited to them (nechshav, "it will be reckoned") as if it were their own produce, equivalent to what comes from a threshing floor or a wine-press.

Key words

• 'a.mar.Ta ("you will say", H0559) — sequential perfect continuing the narrative chain begun by earlier commands to Moses; marks direct speech that follows.
• ha.rim ("offer up", H7311A) — hiphil infinitive (causative) of the root for "to lift/raise"; describes the Levites actively "raising up" or setting apart a portion, not merely giving it.
• chel.B ("best of", H2459) — construct noun with pronominal suffix "its"; literally denotes the "fat" or richest part of the tithe, here bound to the noun it modifies.
• nech.Shav ("it will be reckoned", H2803H) — niphal (passive) sequential perfect; the grammatical subject is not stated by name but is treated by the passive verb as something counted or credited to the Levites.
• t.vu.'At ("produce of", H8393) — construct noun appearing twice, forming the comparative phrases "like the produce of a threshing floor" and "like the produce of a wine-press."

What the text says

The verse continues a sequence of perfect verbs joined by the narrative vav: "you will say... when you offer up... and it will be reckoned." This chain shows that the reckoning (nechshav) is presented as the direct consequence of the Levites' action of "raising up" (ha.rim) the chelev from the tithe. The infinitive construction ba.harim.khem ("when you [pl.] offer up") places the timing of the reckoning precisely at the moment the best portion is separated, not before or after.

The comparison uses two parallel construct phrases, tevu'at goren ("produce of a threshing floor") and tevu'at yaqev ("produce of a wine-press"), joined by the conjunction ve ("and", H9002) before the second term. The Hebrew syntax treats these as a single joint comparison — the remaining tithe is reckoned as if it were both grain-floor and wine-press produce together, rather than an either/or choice.

Differences between versions

The Hebrew conjunction before "wine-press" is ve ("and"), joining the two comparisons as one continuous image; the BSB renders this same conjunction as "or," presenting the threshing floor and wine-press as alternatives rather than a joined pair as in the Hebrew.

The LXX renders chelev ("best of it") as ἀπαρχήν ("first-fruit"), a term with different connotations from the Hebrew's use of "fat," while the Vulgate expands this to "praeclara et meliora quaeque" ("the excellent and better parts"), a broader plural expression not found in the singular construct chel.B of the Hebrew text.