What Does Exodus 29:27 Mean?
You set apart the breast of the wave offering, and the thigh of the lifted offering, which is waved, and which is lifted up from the ram of the filling, even from that which is for Aaron, and from that which is for his sons.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
And thou shalt sanctify the breast of the wave offering, and the shoulder of the heave offering, which is waved, and which is heaved up, of the ram of the consecration, even of that which is for Aaron, and of that which is for his sons:THE KEY
The Hebrew name for consecration carries the sense of “filling,” and this verse gives that idea a material form in the portions set apart for Aaron and his sons.
THE MEANING
The breast is waved and the shoulder is lifted, and both are set apart as Aaron and his sons’ portion. Here consecration takes the form of tangible provision for those who serve.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
This undoes the belief that what is set apart must be removed from bodily provision: here the consecrated portions are assigned to Aaron and his sons.
THE ROOT
מִלֻּאִים
milluʾim
GROWS FROM
מלא
Fill, be full, or make complete.
The Hebrew term translated “consecration” comes from the language of filling, and the rite is associated with filling the priests’ hands for service. This verse names the breast and shoulder among the portions set apart for Aaron and his sons.
ALSO GROWS
millēʾ: To fill.
מִלֵּא
This verb shares the root behind the name for the consecration rite.
mālēʾ: Full, filled.
מָלֵא
This form makes the sense of filling audible beneath the English word “consecration.”
קִדַּשְׁתָּ
qiddashta
GROWS FROM
ק־ד־שׁ
Set apart, make distinct for a dedicated use.
“set apart” in this verse is qiddashta. The same root forms words for set-apartness and sanctuary, so sanctifying here marks these portions for a distinct use. The verse names their recipients: Aaron and his sons.
ALSO GROWS
qadosh: Set apart.
קָדוֹשׁ
This form carries the same set-apart quality that the verb applies to the portions.
miqdash: Sanctuary, a set-apart place.
מִקְדָּשׁ
The sanctuary shares the root and shows how setting apart can mark a place as well as these portions.
תְּרוּמָה
terumah
GROWS FROM
ר־ו־ם
Rise, be high, or lift up.
“lifted offering” in this verse is terumah. Terumah names a lifted contribution, and the verse describes it with a form from the same root: “heaved up.” The root keeps the upward movement inside the name of the portion.
ALSO GROWS
huram: Was lifted up, raised.
הוּרָם
This is the root form behind “which is heaved up” in the verse.
marom: Height, high place.
מָרוֹם
This related word preserves the root’s sense of height and rising.
THE PATTERN
A portion dedicated through sacred service also becomes provision for those who serve.
For the waving breast and the lifted thigh I have taken from the children of Israel, from the slaughters of their wholeness offerings, and I have given them to Aaron the priest and to his sons by a statute for the ages from among the children of Israel.And this is the due of the priests, from the people, from those who slaughter, whether ox or sheep. They give the arm, the two cheeks, and the belly to the priest.Do you not know that those who serve the set-apart things eat from the temple, and those who sit beside the altar share with the altar?THE THREAD
For the waving breast and the lifted thigh I have taken from the children of Israel, from the slaughters of their wholeness offerings, and I have given them to Aaron the priest and to his sons by a statute for the ages from among the children of Israel.Leviticus repeats the same Hebrew terms for the wave breast and heave shoulder, then says these portions are given to Aaron and his sons. The shared roots connect the ritual gestures to a concrete transfer: the set-apart share becomes their provision.
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