What Does Leviticus 10:15 Mean in the King James?

The heave shoulder and the wave breast shall they bring with the offerings made by fire of the fat, to wave it for a wave offering before the LORD; and it shall be thine, and thy sons’ with thee, by a statute for ever; as the LORD hath commanded.
Leviticus 10:15 · KJV
The analysis reads the King James wording.

King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.

This verse in the Selah Decoded Version

What is lifted and waved before the LORD does not vanish from human life; it becomes a named share for the serving household.

The raised portion and waved breast come before the LORD with the fat, then belong to Aaron and his sons as a continuing share. The verse holds presentation and provision in one act: what is moved before the LORD remains tangible provision for the serving household. The statute gives that share an enduring place.

WHAT THIS UNDOES

The verse undoes the assumption that a portion presented before God must cease to be material provision: here it becomes the serving household’s concrete share.

תְּרוּמָה

terumah

GROWS FROM

רום

rûm

rise, be high, lift up

“heave offering” in this verse is terumah. The raised portion carries the motion of lifting in its name through ⁨רום⁩ (rûm, rise or be high). Here, what is lifted is also assigned to Aaron’s household, joining presentation before the LORD with provision for those who serve.

ALSO GROWS

rûm: rise, be high

רוּם

This verb is the seed of the raised portion’s name and keeps the act of elevation inside the offering.

marom: height, high place

מָרוֹם

The same root gives a concrete sense of being raised, illuminating the portion’s movement upward before it becomes a household share.

תְּנוּפָה

tenufah

GROWS FROM

נוף

nûph

move to and fro, wave, brandish

English can make “wave offering” sound like a category, while ⁨נוף⁩ (nûph, move to and fro or wave) keeps the motion visible. The portion is moved before the LORD and then named as the priests’ share, so presentation and allocation remain joined.

ALSO GROWS

hēnîf: wave, cause to move to and fro

הֵנִיף

This verb form names the action in the verse; its weak middle consonant shifts in the standard conjugation of this root.

tenufat: wave offering of, the construct form of “wave offering”

תְּנוּפַת

The construct form in “breast of the wave offering” ties the portion itself to the movement named by the root.

עוֹלָם

ʿolam

GROWS FROM

עלם

ʿ-l-m

hide, conceal, be out of sight; associated with an unseen or distant horizon

The phrase rendered “for ever” uses ⁨עוֹלָם⁩ (ʿolam, age or long duration), a word associated with what lies beyond sight. The statute gives this household share a continuing place through the ages, without making the duration disappear into an abstract idea of endlessness.

ALSO GROWS

ʿālam: hide, conceal

עָלַם

The root’s sense of what is out of view lends the word for an age its horizon beyond what can be seen.

neʿlam: hidden, concealed

נֶעְלָם

This related form makes the hidden horizon explicit, adding depth to the verse’s language of a share that continues through an age.

A sacred portion can be presented before God and still be assigned as concrete provision for those who serve.

And the LORD spake unto Aaron, Behold, I also have given thee the charge of mine heave offerings of all the hallowed things of the children of Israel; unto thee have I given them by reason of the anointing, and to thy sons, by an ordinance for ever.
Numbers 18:8 · KJVThe heave offerings are not only presented as sacred things; they are assigned as an ongoing share to Aaron and his sons.
Do ye not know that they which minister about holy things live of the things of the temple? and they which wait at the altar are partakers with the altar?
1 Corinthians 9:13 · KJVThose who serve at the altar live from its offerings, making the material provision of sacred service explicit.
His own hands shall bring the offerings of the LORD made by fire, the fat with the breast, it shall he bring, that the breast may be waved for a wave offering before the LORD.
Leviticus 7:30 · KJV

Leviticus 7:30 pairs ⁨הֵנִיף⁩ (hēnîf, wave) with ⁨תְּנוּפָה⁩ (tenufah, wave offering), both from ⁨נוף⁩ (nûph, move to and fro). Leviticus 10:15 carries that same motion into its destination: the portion passes before the LORD and becomes a continuing household share.

Read the SDV Bible.

Every verse has a Deep Dive in the app.

Get Selah Verse

The iPhone Bible app with the Selah Decoded Version.

Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us