Numbers 6:20

6:20 then the priest must wave them as a wave offering ¹  before the Lord; it is a holy portion for the priest, together with the breast of the wave offering and the thigh of the raised offering. ²  After this the Nazirite may drink ³  wine.’

Exodus 29:24

29:24 You are to put all these ⁴  in Aaron’s hands ⁵  and in his sons’ hands, and you are to wave them as a wave offering ⁶  before the Lord.

Leviticus 7:30

7:30 With his own hands he must bring the Lord’s gifts. He must bring the fat with the breast ⁷  to wave the breast as a wave offering before the Lord, ⁸ 

Leviticus 8:27

8:27 He then put all of them on the palms ⁹  of Aaron and his sons, who waved ¹⁰  them as a wave offering before the Lord. ¹¹ 

Leviticus 8:29

8:29 Finally, Moses took the breast and waved it as a wave offering before the Lord from the ram of ordination. It was Moses’ share just as the Lord had commanded Moses.

¹ sn The ritual of lifting the hands filled with the offering and waving them in the presence of the Lord was designed to symbolize the transfer of the offering to God in the sight of all. This concludes the worshiper’s part; the offering now becomes the property of the priest – his priest’s due (or “raised/heave offering”).

² sn The “wave offering” may be interpreted as a “special gift” to be transferred to the Lord, and the “heave offering” as a “special contribution” to God – the priest’s due. These two offerings have also inspired a good deal of study.

³ tn The imperfect tense here would then have the nuance of permission. It is not an instruction at this point; rather, the prohibition has been lifted and the person is free to drink wine.

⁴ tn Heb “the whole” or “the all.”

⁵ tn Heb “palms.”

⁶ tn The “wave offering” is תְּנוּפָה (tÿnufah); it is, of course, cognate with the verb, but an adverbial accusative rather than the direct object. In Lev 23 this seems to be a sacrificial gesture of things that are for the priests – but they present them first to Yahweh and then receive them back from him. So the waving is not side to side, but forward to Yahweh and then back to the priest. Here it is just an induction into that routine, since this is the ordination of the priests and the gifts are not yet theirs. So this will all be burned on the altar.

⁷ tn Heb “on the breast.”

⁸ tc Many Hebrew mss and some versions (esp. the LXX) limit the offerings in the last part of this verse to the fat portions, specifically, the fat and the fat lobe of the liver (see the BHS footnote). The verse is somewhat awkward in Hebrew but nevertheless correct.

⁹ sn The “palms” refer to the up-turned hands, positioned in such a way that the articles of the offering could be placed on them.

¹⁰ tn Heb “and he waved.” The subject of the verb “he waved” is Aaron, but Aaron’s sons also performed the action (see “Aaron and his sons” just previously). See the similar shifts from Moses to Aaron as the subject of the action above (vv. 15, 16, 19, 20, 23), and esp. the note on Lev 8:15. In the present translation this is rendered as an adjectival clause (“who waved”) to indicate that the referent is not Moses but Aaron and his sons. Cf. CEV “who lifted it up”; NAB “whom he had wave” (with “he” referring to Moses here).

¹¹ sn See Lev 7:30-31, 34.