Numbers 18:12
in Numbers 18I give you all the freshest olive oil and all the finest new wine and grain that the Israelites give to the LORD as their firstfruits.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
All the best of the oil, and all the best of the vintage, and of the grain, the first-fruits of them which they give unto Jehovah, to thee have I given them.
KJV
All the best of the oil, and all the best of the wine, and of the wheat, the firstfruits of them which they shall offer unto the Lord, them have I given thee.
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This verse in Numbers 18
Commentary
6 notes on this verseThis site's exposition
I have put you in charge of My offerings
on Numbers 18:8-14
The portions follow two rules, which the text marks without explaining. In verses 9 and 10 every male may eat the most holy offerings, while every ceremonially clean person in the priest's household, daughters included, may eat the gifts and firstfruits of verses 11 to 13. Paul appeals to this arrangement at 1 Corinthians 9:13.
This site's exposition
all the freshest olive oil
The Hebrew behind freshest and finest is one word, the fat, the same word verse 17 uses for what is burned on the altar. The best of the oil, wine and grain goes to the priest as the fat of a sacrifice goes to God. Deuteronomy 18:4 repeats the grant and adds the first fleece.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
It is commanded that the best of the oil, and the best of the wine and wheat, should be offered for the first-fruits unto the Lord, which the priest were to have,
quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — scripture-overlap:82%@v11-13
All the best of the oil, and all the best of the wine, and of the wheat,....
Note, We must always serve and honour God with the best we have, for he is the best, and best deserves it; he is the first, and therefore must have the first ripe. Those that think to save charges by putting God off with the refuse do but deceive themselves, for God is not mocked.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
the Lord spake unto Aaron, Behold, I also have given thee the charge of my heave offerings--A recapitulation is made in this passage of certain perquisites specially appropriated to the maintenance of the priests.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
ראשיתם THE FIRST FRUITS OF THEM [WHICH THEY SHALL GIVE UNTO THE LORD; THEM I HAVE GIVEN THEE] — This refers to the “T’rumah Gedolah” (the priest’s portion of the produce which is the first portion to be set aside from the produce; cf. Deuteronomy:4).
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 6 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
13 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| כֹּ֚ל | kol | all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| חֵ֣לֶב | chelev | [the] best of | H2459 → | 92 times |
| יִצְהָ֔ר | yitzhar | [the] fresh oil | H3323 → | |
| וְכָל־ | vekhol | and all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| חֵ֖לֶב | chelev | [the] best of | H2459 → | 92 times |
| תִּיר֣וֹשׁ | tiroosh | [the] new wine | H8492 → | |
| וְדָגָ֑ן | vedagan | and grain | H1715 → | |
| רֵאשִׁיתָ֛ם | reshitam | first [fruit] their | H7225 → | 51 times |
| אֲשֶׁר־ | ʾasher- | which | H834 → | 5497 times |
| יִתְּנ֥וּ | yitenu | they will give | H5414 → | 2011 times |
| לַֽיהוָ֖ה | layahweh | to Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| לְךָ֥ | lekha | to <the> you | ||
| נְתַתִּֽים׃ | netatim | I give them | H5414 → | 2011 times |
כֹּ֚לall
kolH3605 →5413 times
חֵ֣לֶב[the] best of
chelevH2459 →92 times
יִצְהָ֔ר[the] fresh oil
yitzharH3323 →
וְכָל־and all
vekholH3605 →5413 times
חֵ֖לֶב[the] best of
chelevH2459 →92 times
תִּיר֣וֹשׁ[the] new wine
tirooshH8492 →
וְדָגָ֑ןand grain
vedaganH1715 →
רֵאשִׁיתָ֛םfirst [fruit] their
reshitamH7225 →51 times
אֲשֶׁר־which
ʾasher-H834 →5497 times
יִתְּנ֥וּthey will give
yitenuH5414 →2011 times
לַֽיהוָ֖הto Yahweh
layahwehH3068 →6520 times
לְךָ֥to <the> you
lekha
נְתַתִּֽים׃I give them
netatimH5414 →2011 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Exodus 34:26Bring the best of the firstfruits of your soil to the house of the LORD your God. You must not cook a young goat in its mother’s milk.”
it leads to
- Exodus 23:19
Bring the best of the firstfruits of your soil to the house of the LORD your God. You must not cook a young goat in its mother’s milk.
Reached by 3 separate paths from here.
- Exodus 23:19
Through
Exodus 23:19Bring the best of the firstfruits of your soil to the house of the LORD your God. You must not cook a young goat in its mother’s milk.
it leads to
- Exodus 34:26
Bring the best of the firstfruits of your soil to the house of the LORD your God. You must not cook a young goat in its mother’s milk.”
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Deuteronomy 14:21
You are not to eat any carcass; you may give it to the foreigner residing within your gates, and he may eat it, or you may sell it to a foreigner. For you are…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Exodus 22:29
You must not hold back offerings from your granaries or vats. You are to give Me the firstborn of your sons.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Deuteronomy 26:10
And now, behold, I have brought the firstfruits of the land that You, O LORD, have given me.” Then you are to place the basket before the LORD your God and bow down before…
- Exodus 34:26
Through
Leviticus 23:17Bring two loaves of bread from your dwellings as a wave offering, each made from two-tenths of an ephah of fine flour, baked with leaven, as the firstfruits to the LORD.
it leads to
- Leviticus 23:10
“Speak to the Israelites and say, ‘When you enter the land that I am giving you and you reap its harvest, you are to bring to the priest a sheaf of the firstfruits of…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Leviticus 23:10
Through
Exodus 22:29You must not hold back offerings from your granaries or vats. You are to give Me the firstborn of your sons.
it leads to
- Exodus 23:16
You are also to keep the Feast of Harvest with the firstfruits of the produce from what you sow in the field. And keep the Feast of Ingathering at the end of the year,…
- Exodus 13:2
“Consecrate to Me every firstborn male. The firstborn from every womb among the Israelites belongs to Me, both of man and beast.”
- Exodus 23:16
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Numbers
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.