Numbers 18:18

Num 18:18 And the flesh of them shall be thine, as the wave breast and as the right shoulder are thine.

Ver. 18. And the flesh of them shall be thine.] And besides these here touched, they had other revenues of no small value, as their cities, suburbs, lands, {Num 35:1-34} that they might be encouraged in the law of the Lord. {2Ch 31:9}

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

(18) And the flesh of them shall be thine . . . —In Deu_12:17-18, the firstlings of the herd and of the flock are directed to be eaten by the owners in the place which the Lord should choose. Either the law as prescribed in Numbers was subsequently modified, or the second clause of this verse explains and qualifies the preceding clause, and assigns only the wave breast and the right shoulder (or, rather, leg) to the priests. (Comp. Lev_10:14-15.)

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

18. the flesh of them shall be thine] Aaron is to receive the whole of their flesh, as he had received the breast and thigh of the peace-offering.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

All the heave offerings of the holy things,.... All before mentioned, and whatsoever comes under that name:

which the children of Israel offer unto the Lord; either by his commandment, or of their own freewill:

have I given thee, and thy sons, and thy daughters with thee, by a statute for ever: so providing for their maintenance by an irrepealable law as long as their priesthood lasted, even until the Messiah should come:

it is a covenant of salt for ever before the Lord unto thee, and thy seed with thee: an incorruptible, inviolable, durable covenant, which should last for ever, even until the Gospel dispensation or world to come should take place; and it would remain ever before the Lord in his sight, who would take care it should never be made void, but stand fast with Aaron and his posterity as long as his priesthood endured.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Thine. So that thy wife and children, if clean, may eat the flesh. (Calmet)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

The flesh; all the flesh of them, and not only some parts, as in other sacrifices.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

The flesh of them shall be thine, as the wave breast and as the right shoulder are thine. This is on the face of it inconsistent with the direction given in Deu_15:19, Deu_15:20, that the flesh of the firstlings should be eaten by the offerers in the holy place. (cf. also Deu_12:17, Deu_12:18) Two explanations have been proposed.

1. That the firstlings were given to the priest in the same sense as the peace offerings, i.e., only as regarded the breast and shoulder, while the rest went to the offerer. This, however, does obvious violence to the language, and is not supported by the Septuagint.

2. That as the priest was bound to consume the firstlings with his family, and could not sell them, he would be certainly disposed to invite the offerer to join him in the sacred meal. This may have been usually the case, but it was entirely within the option of the priest, and could scarcely be made the basis of a direct command, like that of Deu_15:19, still less of an indirect assumption, like that of Deu_12:17, Deu_12:18, that the firstlings stood upon the same footing as free-will offerings and heave offerings. It is easier to suppose that the law was actually modified in this, as in some other particulars.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The flesh - All the flesh of them, and not only some parts, as in other sacrifices.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

כחזה התנופה וכשוק הימין [AND THE FLESH OF THEM (of the firstborn animals) SHALL BE TO YOU] AS THE WAVE BREAST AND THE RIGHT SHOULDER of the festival offerings which may be eaten by the priests, their wives and their sons and men-servants during a period of two days and one (the intervening) night, reckoning from the day of slaughtering; so, too, the flesh of the firstborn animal sacrifice may be eaten during two days and one night (Sifrei Bamidbar 118; Zevachim 57a).

לך יהיה IT SHALL BE THINE — Rabbi Akiba came and taught: By repeating the words לך יהיה Scripture adds another “status” (more lit., state of being; i.e., it intends the status implied in the first לך יהיה to be extended), in order that you should not say that it shall be to them even as the breast and shoulder of the thanksgiving offering, which may only be eaten during one day and the following night (Sifrei Bamidbar 118; Zevachim 57a).

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.