Numbers 6:20

Summary

The verse describes the priest waving certain offerings before Yehovah as a tenufah ("wave-offering", H8573), declaring this portion holy and belonging to the priest, in addition to the breast and thigh portions. It concludes by stating that after this ritual, the Nazirite is permitted to drink wine.

Key words

he.Nif ("he will wave", H5130B) — hiphil (causative) form with sequential perfect, indicating the priest causes the offering to move in the waving gesture; it continues the narrative sequence of ritual actions.

te.nu.Fah ("a wave-offering", H8573) — feminine singular noun appearing twice (word 7 and word 18), naming the specific ritual act/object being elevated before Yehovah.

Ko.desh ("[is] a holy portion", H6944G) — masculine singular noun functioning predicatively with the pronoun hu' ("it", H1931), asserting the sanctified status of the portion.

cha.Zeh ("[the] breast of", H2373) — construct form linking to ha.tenu.Fah ("the wave-offering"), specifying which body part is designated the priest's portion.

Shok ("[the] thigh of", H7785) — construct form linking to ha.teru.Mah ("the contribution", H8641), naming the second specific cut given to the priest.

yish.Teh ("he will drink", H8354) — qal imperfect, marking the resumption of the Nazirite's permitted action (wine-drinking) after the ritual concludes.

What the text says

The verse opens with a narrative vav (ve., H9001) attached to the sequential perfect verb he.Nif ("he will wave", H5130B), continuing a chain of ritual actions performed by ha.ko.Hen ("the priest", H3548). The object marker 'o.Tam ("them", H0853+H9038) refers back to items mentioned earlier in the passage, waved as tenufah ("a wave-offering", H8573) li.f.Nei Yah.weh ("before Yehovah", H6440G+H3068G) — a construct phrase literally meaning "to the face of Yehovah."

The clause Ko.desh hu' la.ko.Hen ("[is] a holy portion... for the priest") uses a nominal (verbless) predication: the noun Ko.desh (H6944G) and pronoun hu' (H1931) form a statement of status without a copular verb, typical of Biblical Hebrew classification clauses. This holy portion is specified as being 'al cha.Zeh ha.tenu.Fah ("with the breast of the wave-offering") and 'al Shok ha.teru.Mah ("with the thigh of the contribution") — two construct chains identifying specific animal parts tied to specific offering categories (tenufah, H8573, and terumah, H8641).

The final clause shifts to qal imperfect yish.Teh ("he will drink", H8354), marking a temporal transition introduced by 'a.Char ("after", H0310A): only following the completed waving ritual may ha.na.Zir ("the Nazirite", H5139) resume drinking Ya.yin ("wine", H3196).

Differences between versions

The Vulgate renders the wave-offering with "elevabit" (he will elevate) rather than a waving motion, and restructures the sentence with "susceptaque rursum" ("received back again"), adding an interpretive step not explicit in the Hebrew's direct object marker construction. The LXX (Swete) omits the initial "and the priest will wave" clause found in the Hebrew, beginning instead directly with "ἅγιον ἔσται" ("it will be holy"), and uses "ηὐγμένος" ("the one who has vowed") for ha.na.Zir ("the Nazirite", H5139) rather than a transliterated term.