Numbers 18:32

Summary

The verse closes a set of instructions to the Levites about handling the tithe: after they set aside the best portion for offering, they will not incur guilt, but they must not treat the sacred gifts of the Israelites as ordinary, or they will die.

Key words

• tis'u ("you will bear", H5375J) — qal imperfect 2nd person masculine plural: an ongoing/future obligation not to "carry" or "incur" sin.
• chet' ("sin", H2399) — masculine singular noun, the object being avoided; paired with 'alav ("on it/because of it") it marks the condition under which guilt would attach.
• harimkem ("offer up", H7311A) — hiphil infinitive with pronominal suffix "your": a causative action ("to lift/raise up"), used here as a temporal clause ("when you lift up/offer").
• chelbo ("best of/its fat", H2459) — construct noun with suffix "its": denotes the choicest portion, the part that must be set aside before the rest may be used.
• techalelu ("you will profane", H2490H) — piel imperfect 2nd person masculine plural: an intensive verb form indicating active desecration, contrasted with tamutu ("you will die", H4191, qal imperfect), the stated consequence.

What the text says

The Hebrew sentence is built as two parallel prohibitions followed by a shared consequence. The first clause, ve-lo tis'u 'alav chet' ("and you will not bear on it sin"), is conditioned by the infinitive clause ba-harimkem 'et-chelbo mimenu ("when you offer up its best from it") — meaning the absence of guilt depends on the prior act of setting aside the choice portion. The second clause, ve-'et qodshei venei-Yisra'el lo techalelu ("and the holy things of the sons of Israel you will not profane"), uses the piel form techalelu, which intensifies the verb "to be common/profane" (H2490H) into an active sense of "making profane." Both prohibitions converge on the final clause ve-lo tamutu ("and you will not die"), a qal imperfect stating the outcome of failing to observe the preceding rules. The construct chain chelbo ("best/fat of it") and qodshei venei-Yisra'el ("holy things of the sons of Israel") both show possessive relationships expressed through Hebrew construct syntax, which the translations render as prepositional phrases ("the best part of it," "the sacred offerings of the Israelites").

Differences between versions

The LXX renders chelbo ("its fat/best part," H2459) as ἀπαρχὴν ("first-fruits"), a shift from the physical sense of "fat" to a cultic term for "first portion." The Vulgate expands the same word into two adjectives, egregia... et pinguia ("excellent and fat things"), where the Hebrew has a single noun with a suffix. The Vulgate also merges the two Hebrew prohibitions (lo tis'u chet' and lo techalelu) into one continuous clause structure ("non peccabitis... ne polluatis"), whereas the Hebrew keeps them as two separate imperfect clauses joined by ve- ("and").