Deuteronomy 18:3

3 This shall be the doom of (the) priests, that is, the thing justly given, either granted, of the people, and of them that offer sacrifices (This shall be the priest's due, that is, the thing rightly given from the people, yea, from those who offer sacrifices); whether they offer an ox, either a sheep, they shall give to the priest the shoulder, and the paunch,

Deuteronomy 18:3 Meaning and Commentary

Deuteronomy 18:3

And this shall be the priest's due from the people, from them
that offer sacrifice
Not from the priests, as Jarchi observes, but from those that bring the sacrifices to the priests, particularly the peace offerings:

whether it be ox or sheep;
the one of the herd, the other of the flock, creatures used in sacrifice, and takes in goats and the kids of them, rams and lambs:

and they shall give unto the priest the shoulder, and the two cheeks,
and the maw;
the first of these designs the upper part of the arm that joins to the neck and back, and the next the two cheeks with the tongue, as both Jarchi and Aben Ezra observe, and indeed the whole head is meant; the maw, which the Septuagint interpreters call (enustron) , and other writers (hnustron) , is, according to the philosopher ^F16, the fourth and last ventricle or stomach, and which he thus describes;

``after the echinus or rough tripe is that which is called (hnustron) , the maw, which is in size larger than the echinus, and in form longer, and has many large and smooth folds;''

and (hnustron boov) , the maw of an ox, and the belly of a swine, are reckoned by the poet ^F17 as delicious food.

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FOOTNOTES:

F16 Aristot. Hist. Animal. l. 2. c. 17.
F17 Aristophan. Equites, Act. 1. Sc. 3. p. 307. & Act. 4. Sc. 1. p. 355.

Deuteronomy 18:3 In-Context

1 Priests and deacons, and all men that be of the same lineage, shall have no part and heritage with the tother people of Israel, for they shall eat the sacrifices of the Lord, and the offerings of him; (The levitical priests, and all the men who be of the tribe of Levi, shall have no part or inheritance with the other people of Israel, for they shall eat the burnt sacrifices, and the other offerings, to the Lord;)

2 and they shall not take any other thing of the possession of their brethren; for the Lord himself is their heritage, as he spake to them. (and they shall have no possession among their brothers; for the Lord himself is their inheritance, as he promised them.)

3 This shall be the doom of (the) priests, that is, the thing justly given, either granted, of the people, and of them that offer sacrifices (This shall be the priest's due, that is, the thing rightly given from the people, yea, from those who offer sacrifices); whether they offer an ox, either a sheep, they shall give to the priest the shoulder, and the paunch,

4 the first fruits of wheat, and of wine, and of oil, and a part of wools of the shearing of sheep. (the first fruits of thy corn, and of thy wine, and of thy oil, and a part of the wools from the shearing of thy sheep.)

5 For thy Lord God hath chosen him (out) of all thy lineages, that he stand and minister to the name of the Lord (that he stand to minister in the name of the Lord), he and his sons, [into] without end.