Numbers 18:8
וַיְדַבֵּר יְהוָה אֶֽל־אַהֲרֹן וַאֲנִי הִנֵּה נָתַתִּֽי לְךָ אֶת־מִשְׁמֶרֶת תְּרוּמֹתָי לְכָל־קָדְשֵׁי בְנֵֽי־יִשְׂרָאֵל לְךָ נְתַתִּים לְמָשְׁחָה וּלְבָנֶיךָ לְחָק־עוֹלָֽם׃
✦ Hebrew interlinear
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✦ The same verse in five languages
וַיְדַבֵּ֣ר יְהוָה֮ אֶֽל־אַהֲרֹן֒ וַאֲנִי֙ הִנֵּ֣ה נָתַ֣תִּֽי לְךָ֔ אֶת־מִשְׁמֶ֖רֶת תְּרוּמֹתָ֑י לְכָל־קָדְשֵׁ֣י בְנֵֽי־יִ֠שְׂרָאֵל לְךָ֨ נְתַתִּ֧ים לְמָשְׁחָ֛ה וּלְבָנֶ֖יךָ לְחָק־עוֹלָֽם׃
ἐλάλησεν Κύριος πρὸς Ἀαρών Καὶ ἐγὼ ἰδοὺ δέδωκα ὑμῖν τὴν διατήρησιν τῶν ἀπαρχῶν ἀπὸ πάντων τῶν ἡγιασμένων μοι παρὰ τῶν υἱῶν Ἰσραήλ· σοὶ δέδωκα αὐτὰ εἰς γέρας καὶ τοῖς υἱοῖς σου μετὰ σέ, νόμιμον αἰώνιον.
Greek text from Swete's edition, CC BY-SA 4.0
Latin (Vulgate)
Locutusque est Dominus ad Aaron: Ecce dedi tibi custodiam primitiarum mearum. Omnia quæ sanctificantur a filiis Israël, tradidi tibi et filiis tuis pro officio sacerdotali legitima sempiterna.
Yehová también le dijo a Aarón: “Yo mismo te he puesto a cargo de las ofrendas que me presentan, es decir, de todas las cosas sagradas de los hijos de Israel. Te las he dado a ti y a tus hijos como una porción permanente, debido a tu consagración.
Classic Spanish (Reina-Valera 1909)
Dijo más Jehová á Aarón: He aquí yo te he dado también la guarda de mis ofrendas: todas las cosas consagradas de los hijos de Israel te he dado por razón de la unción, y á tus hijos, por estatuto perpetuo.
Then the LORD said to Aaron, “ Behold, I have put you in charge of My offerings. As for all the sacred offerings of the Israelites, I have given them to you and your sons as a portion and a permanent statute.
✦ What the text says
Summary
Yehovah speaks to Aaron, declaring that he has given him charge over the contributions and holy gifts brought by the people of Israel. This portion is granted to Aaron and his sons as a perpetual, fixed allotment.
Key words
- yedaBer ("he spoke", H1696G) — piel verb, narrative sequence; marks the intensive/formal act of divine speech opening the unit.
- mishmeret ("charge of", H4931) — feminine singular construct; introduces what Aaron is entrusted to guard/oversee.
- terumotai ("my contributions", H8641) — feminine plural construct with 1st-person suffix; the offerings belong to Yehovah before being assigned to Aaron.
- qodshei ("holy gifts of", H6944G) — masculine plural construct; specifies the category of consecrated items from the bene Yisrael ("sons of Israel", H1121G/H3478).
- choq olam ("a prescribed portion of perpetuity", H2706H + H5769G) — construct chain naming the allotment as a fixed, unending statute.
What the text says
The verse opens with the narrative verb yedaBer (H1696G), signaling a new divine speech act directed 'el- 'a.ha.Ron ("to Aaron", H0413/H0175). The first-person pronoun 'a.Ni ("I", H0589) followed by hi.Neh ("here!", H2009) and the perfect verb na.Ta.ti ("I give", H5414G) creates an emphatic self-presentation: Yehovah himself is the giver, and the action is treated as already completed despite being announced in the moment.
The object given is mishmeret ("charge of", H4931) construct with terumotai ("my contributions", H8641) — the possessive suffix -i ("my") marks these as belonging to Yehovah, not originally to Aaron or the people. The scope is then widened: le-khol qodshei bene Yisra'el ("to all the holy gifts of the sons of Israel") specifies that the charge covers every consecrated item brought by Israel.
The verb na.Ta.ti ("I give") is repeated a second time as ne.ta.Ti with a 3rd-person plural suffix (-m, "them"), restating the act of giving with the object now made explicit as "them" (the holy gifts just named). This repetition reinforces the transfer before specifying its terms: le-mashchah ("as a portion", H4888B) for Aaron, and le-vanekha le-choq olam ("to your sons, as a prescribed portion of perpetuity") extending the grant to his descendants indefinitely.
Differences between versions
The Hebrew le-mashchah ("as a portion", H4888B) is rendered by the LXX as εἰς γέρας ("as a prerogative/privilege") and by the Vulgate as pro officio sacerdotali ("for the priestly office"), both of which shift the sense from a granted portion toward a functional or honorific role not stated in the Hebrew noun itself.
This explanation describes the text using linguistic data; it adds no doctrine or confessional interpretation.