What Does Leviticus 7:34 Mean?
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.
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
For the wave breast and the heave shoulder have I taken of the children of Israel from off the sacrifices of their peace offerings, and have given them unto Aaron the priest and unto his sons by a statute for ever from among the children of Israel.THE KEY
The peace offering carries wholeness in its root, and here that wholeness takes material form as provision shared with the priests.
THE MEANING
Here, wholeness is concrete shared provision: a portion of what is offered is given to the priests who serve. The statute places their sustenance among the people and makes that arrangement enduring.
THE ROOT
שְׁלָמִים
shelamim
GROWS FROM
שלם
sh-l-m
To be whole, complete, or intact; to restore or make whole.
“wholeness offerings” in this verse is shelamim. English “peace” can suggest only the absence of conflict, while shelamim carries the root of wholeness and well-being. Here, that wholeness takes a material form: portions are assigned to the priests as shared provision.
ALSO GROWS
shalom: Wholeness, well-being, peace.
שָׁלוֹם
It makes clear that the offering belongs to a wider sense of well-being, not merely quiet or the absence of conflict.
shalem: Whole, complete, intact.
שָׁלֵם
It shows the root’s basic sense of completeness beneath the offering’s English name.
תְּנוּפָה
tenufah
GROWS FROM
נוף
n-w-p
To wave or move back and forth.
“waving breast” in this verse is tenufah. The breast is described through the motion by which it is presented, not only as a static portion of meat. Its waving gesture marks it as set apart within the offering before it is assigned.
ALSO GROWS
lehanif: To wave or present by waving.
לְהָנִיף
This verbal form names the action behind the breast’s designation as a wave offering.
tenufah: A waving, or a portion presented by waving.
תְּנוּפָה
The noun names the presentation itself, keeping the portion connected to its ritual movement.
תְּרוּמָה
terumah
GROWS FROM
רום
r-w-m
To rise, be high, or lift up.
“lifted thigh” in this verse is terumah. Terumah carries the sense of something lifted or set apart. Paired with the breast’s waving, the verse presents the two portions through distinct gestures before naming who receives them.
ALSO GROWS
ram: High or lofty.
רָם
It preserves the root’s sense of height in an adjective.
herim: He raised or lifted.
הֵרִים
This verb makes the lifting behind the heave portion explicit.
THE PATTERN
Portions dedicated in worship are also appointed as material provision for those who serve.
And the priest shall burn the fat upon the altar. But the breast shall be Aaron's and his sons'.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
And the flesh of the slaughter of his wholeness offerings, for the open hand, shall be eaten the same day that it is brought near. He shall not leave any of it until the morning.This verse uses the same shelamim root as “peace offerings” here and shows the offering’s wholeness taking the form of food that is eaten. Beside 7:34, the priestly portion belongs to a wider arrangement in which an offering sustains those who serve and those who share its meal.
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