Numbers 5:9

Num 5:9 And every offering of all the holy things of the children of Israel, which they bring unto the priest, shall be his.

Ver. 9. And every offering.] So liberally doth the Lord provide for his priests. {See Trapp on "Lev 27:30"} And is not the right of livelihood as equal and due to the ministers of the gospel, whose ministry is far more glorious, {2Co 3:8-9} even greater than that of John Baptist? {Mat 11:11}

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.

5:9-10 Priests supported their families partly by receiving a share of the sacrifices. In some instances, surplus sacrifices could be sold to provide funds for the priesthood, for maintaining the sanctuary, and for other religious needs (cp. 1 Cor 8:4-13).

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Or, things offered to the Lord, as firstfruits, etc.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

every offering . . . shall be his--Whatever was given in this way, or otherwise, as by freewill offerings, irrevocably belonged to the priest.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

9. every heave-offering] every contribution. The Heb. terûmâh is derived from a root signifying ‘to lift up, or off,’ and denotes that which is lifted off from a larger mass, and separated or contributed for sacred purposes. LXX. in the Pentateuch renders it by ἀφαιρεμα. It is used of gifts taken from the produce of the earth (Num_15:19-21 (P ), Deu_12:6; Deu_12:11), of money, spoils, &c. dedicated to Jehovah (Num_31:19; Num_31:41; Num_31:52), of the Levites’ tithe (Num_18:24), of the priests’ share of the tithe (Num_18:26-29), of materials for the Tabernacle (Exo_25:2 f., Num_35:5; Num_35:21; Num_35:24) and for the second temple (Ezr_8:25), of the half shekel for defraying the expenses of the Tabernacle services (Exo_30:13 ff.), and even of land reserved for the priests and Levites (Eze_45:1; Eze_45:6, &c.). As applied to animal sacrifices, the term is employed only of the shoulder of the peace-offering (Num_6:20, Exo_29:27, Lev_7:34; Lev_10:14 f.). See Driver’s article ‘Offer’ in Hastings’ DB. iii. 588.

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.

And every offering of all the holy things of the children of Israel,.... Of the holy sacrifices brought by them to be offered up; that part of them which is elevated, heaved, or waved, as the heave shoulder and wave breast:

which they bring unto the priest, shall be his; what they bring to him to offer for them shall be his who performs the service, even that part of them which is his due.

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

First-fruits; (teruman,) a term which comprises also voluntary oblations of all sorts, and the parts of the victims which belong to the priests; unless the person offering expressed a different intention. (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).

Heb. every heave offering, the heave-offering being here taken largely, so as to comprehend also the wave-offering for both of these were Aaron’s portion. See Exo 29:26-28.

Unto the priest to wit, to offer unto the Lord by his hands.

Shall be his, i.e. the priest’s. See Lev 6:16.

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

9. And every offering — Terumah. The original, according to Furst, signifies “any oblation, that is, a gift taken from a whole which one brings to God or to the priest.” It is supposed to have special reference here to the heave shoulder and the wave breast, the perquisites of the priestly office. Lev_10:12-15. The Greek version has απαρχη, firstfruits. We group together all the sources of revenue to the priests before their settlement in Canaan. 1.) One per cent. of the produce of the soil, which was one tenth of the tithes paid to the Levites. Num_18:26 to Num_28:2.) A special tithe every third year. Deu_14:28; Deu_26:12. 3.) The five shekels for the redemption of each firstborn. Num_18:16. 4.) The redemption of persons or things especially vowed to Jehovah. Lev_27:5.) A five hundredth part of half the spoils of war.

Num_31:27; Num_28:6.) The show bread, the flesh of the sin offerings, peace offerings, trespass offerings, especially the heave shoulder and the wave breast. 7.) An undefined amount of the firstfruits of corn, wine, and oil.

Shall be his — That is, the priest’s who ministers at the time. Thus Keil renders the tenth verse, “With regard to every man’s holy gifts, to him (the priest) shall they be; what any man gives to the priest shall belong to him.” Professor Bush interprets to him to signify the man who brings the gifts.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Every offering. Hebrew, terumah, heave offering. (Exo_29:28) Septuagint, aparch . Those offerings, or portions of offerings, which were not consumed on the altar, but "presented" at the altar. Having been offered, they were the property of the Lord, and were given by him to the priests.

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

Unto the priest - To offer by his hands.

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

וכל תרומה וגו׳ AND EVERY HEAVE OFFERING … WHICH THEY BRING UNTO THE PRIEST] — R. Ishmael asked, “Do they then have to bring the heave-offering to the priest; does he not have to go around the granaries begging for it? What, then, is the meaning of ‘which they bring unto the priest’? It refers to the first fruits of which it is said, (Exodus 23:19) ‘[The first of the first fruits of thy ground] thou shalt bring into the house of the Lord they God’, but I do not know what is to be done with them, (i.e., this is nowhere stated). Scripture therefore states here, ‘[and every heave-offering, …which they bring] unto the priest, shall be his’ — Scripture comes and teaches you with respect to the first fruits that they must be given to the priest” (Sifrei Bamidbar 5).

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.

AND EVERY HEAVE-OFFERING OF ALL THE HOLY THINGS OF THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL, WHICH THEY BRING UNTO THE PRIEST, SHALL BE HIS. Scripture is saying that the heave-offering which the children of Israel hallow, that is to say, which they set aside [of the produce] and declare holy, shall be the priest’s, for since there is no specific measure [required by law of the Torah when setting aside] the heave-offering, therefore Scripture said that however much they set aside of the produce [as the heave-offering] shall belong to the priest when the owners bring it and give it to him, but the priest may not take it by force. This is the plain meaning of the verse. And so the Rabbis have said in the Sifre: 5. The “Sifre” is the Tannaitic Midrash on the Books of Numbers and Deuteronomy. It is equivalent to the Mechilta on Exodus, and the Sifra or Torath Kohanim on Leviticus. “Rabbi Akiba says: ‘Scripture comes [here] to teach you that if the owner wishes to declare his whole granary heave-offering, he may do so, provided that he leaves over a small amount’ [as ordinary food].” We have furthermore been taught there in the Sifre: 5. The “Sifre” is the Tannaitic Midrash on the Books of Numbers and Deuteronomy. It is equivalent to the Mechilta on Exodus, and the Sifra or Torath Kohanim on Leviticus. “Which ‘yakrivu’ (they bring) unto the priest. Said Rabbi Yishmael: But do they bring the heave-offering to the priest? What then is the meaning of the expression, which ‘yakrivu’ (they bring) unto the priest, shall be his? [It is as follows:] Since He stated, The choicest first-fruits of thy land thou shalt bring unto the House of the Eternal thy G-d, but we have not been informed yet what shall be done with them, therefore Scripture states [here], which ‘yakrivu’ (they bring) unto the priest, shall be his — Scripture comes and teaches you that the first-fruits are to be given to the priest.” Now Rashi [in citing here this text of the Sifre] explained [the question] “But do they bring the heave-offering to the priest?” in the following way: “Does not the priest have to go around the granaries asking for it?” But this is not clear. (they ‘bring’) unto the priest, shall be his. The heave-offering, according to Rashi, is to be “brought” to the priest. In the opinion of Ramban, only the priest’s taking it by force is forbidden, while his going around for it, is not prohibited in this verse, [[illegible]]since the yakrivu as explained by Rabbi Yishmael in the Sifre is to be understood as denoting offering on the altar, and his question is as follows: “Were they [really] (yakrivu) ‘bringing’ the heave-offering on the altar? Certainly not. Therefore it must refer to the first-fruits.” In brief, Rashi’s interpretation of yakrivu as “bringing” the heave-offering to the priest is therefore “not clear” (as Ramban expresses it). But the [correct] explanation is that in the opinion of Rabbi Yishmael [in the above text of the Sifre] the root hakravah in the Torah [“bringing” — as in yakrivu mentioned here] refers only to things which are offered up on the altar. Therefore he interpreted the expression ‘asher yakrivu’ (which they bring) as referring to the first-fruits, which require waving and bringing to the altar, Scripture thus stating [here] that all first-fruits which the owners bring to G-d shall belong to the officiating priest. And when Rabbi Yishmael said [in the Sifre above], “Since it is stated, The choicest first-fruits of thy land thou shalt bring unto the House of the Eternal thy G-d, but I do not know what is to be done with them,” he means to say that we have not yet been taught at all that the first-fruits are amongst the gifts of the priests, and it is here that He taught us for the first time that they are to be given to the priest. But afterwards He taught it again in the section dealing with [the gifts of] the priests: The first ripe fruits of all that is in their Land, which they bring unto the Eternal, shall be thine, for there He also restated the [laws of the] heave-offering, Verse 12. and hallowed objects, Verses 9, 17-19. in order to include together all gifts given to the priests, and to make a covenant of salt, Verse 19. for all of them [indicating that just as salt never decays, so will His covenant with Aaron endure]. It also [repeats the laws] for the sake of some new things added in that section, such as, every one that is clean in thy house may eat thereof., Verse 13. The verse is speaking about first-fruits. We furthermore learn from the verse here [i.e., from the expression asher yakrivu which, as explained above, refers to some act of service in the Sanctuary] that the first-fruits are to be given to the men of the mishmar. to offer it up [i.e., to the priests who are then on duty in the Sanctuary], and that [the owner] may not give them to any priest he wants to, as is the law of the heave-offering.

Ramban (Nachmanides) on the Tanakh — English translation: “Commentary on the Torah by Ramban (Nachmanides). Translated and annotated by Charles B. Chavel. New York, Shilo Pub. House, 1971-1976” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.