Deuteronomy 18:3

3 This shall be the priests’ share from the people who offer a sacrifice, whether a bull or a sheep: the priests are to be given the shoulder, the jowls, and the stomach.

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.


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 The Levitical priests—indeed the whole tribe of Levi—shall have no portion or inheritance with Israel. They are to eat the food offerings to the LORD; that is their inheritance.
2 Although they have no inheritance among their brothers, the LORD is their inheritance, as He promised them.
3 This shall be the priests’ share from the people who offer a sacrifice, whether a bull or a sheep: the priests are to be given the shoulder, the jowls, and the stomach.
4 You are to give them the firstfruits of your grain, new wine, and oil, and the first wool sheared from your flock.
5 For the LORD your God has chosen Levi and his sons out of all your tribes to stand and minister in His name for all time.
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