תְּרוּמָה

From the study of Deuteronomy 12:6

Range of meaning

From rûm, 'to be high', in its causative sense 'to raise, lift off, remove'. A terûmāh is a portion 'lifted off' a larger whole and set apart for the sanctuary or priests. It is used of materials for the Tabernacle (Exod 25:2–3), priestly portions of sacrifices (Lev 7:14, 32), the priests' share of the tithe (Num 18:26–29), the land set apart for the sanctuary (Ezek 45:1), and dough offerings (Num 15:19–21). The phrase terûmat yedkhem, 'the contribution of your hand', occurs in Deuteronomy 12 (vv. 6, 11, 17).

Against the English

KJV, YLT and BSB say 'heave offering(s)', which suggests a physical heaving or lifting before the altar. WEB says 'wave offering', which confuses it with a different ritual, the tenûfāh. ESV and NASB are closer: 'contribution'. NIV's 'special gifts' keeps the sense of something set apart but loses the image of a portion taken off the whole.

How it drifted

Older Jewish and Christian interpreters took both terûmāh and tenûfāh to be motions of the hands (lifting up and down, waving to and fro). The early English Bible tradition took that over as 'heave offering'. Jacob Milgrom's work on cultic terms showed that terûmāh refers to the act of setting something apart from one's property for God, not to a ritual gesture.

Used elsewhere in the period

Exod 25:2–3; 29:27–28; 35:5; Lev 7:14, 32–34; Num 15:19–21; 18:8–29; Ezek 45:1–7; 48:8–21. The Septuagint renders it variously as aphairema ('something taken off') and aparchē ('first portion'). The early rabbinic commentary on Deuteronomy (Sifre) and later Rashi identify the 'contribution of your hand' here with the firstfruits of Deut 26:1–11, which the farmer carried in his own hands in a basket to the priest.

From the study of Deuteronomy 12:11

Range of meaning

From rum, 'to be high'. In its causative form the verb means 'to lift off, take off, set apart' a portion from a larger whole. The noun is the portion so removed and dedicated: a contribution or levy (Exod 25:2–3 of materials for the tabernacle; Num 15:19–21 of dough; Ezek 45:1 of land).

Against the English

KJV and YLT say 'heave offering'. WEB says 'wave offering', which is a different Hebrew term (tenufah). NASB says 'contribution', and BSB and NIV 'special gifts'.

How it drifted

Older interpreters took the root as describing a ritual motion, lifting or 'heaving' the gift up before God, hence KJV's 'heave offering'. Jacob Milgrom and others showed that the term means a portion removed from one's property and transferred to God's domain, with no lifting gesture involved. WEB's 'wave offering' is a further slip, since that is a separate rite.

Used elsewhere in the period

In tabernacle building contexts the terumah was gold, cloth and wood (Exod 25:2–7), none of which were ceremonially lifted. That usage supports 'contribution'. The Septuagint here seems to render 'terumah of your hand' as 'firstfruits (aparchai) of your hands'.

From the study of Exodus 25:2

Range of meaning

A noun from the root rûm, "be high"; in the causative form "lift off, take off, set apart." A tərûmâ is a portion removed from a larger whole and dedicated to a sacred use. It can be a voluntary contribution (here; 35:5, 21–24), a fixed levy (the half-shekel "tərûmâ to the LORD," 30:13–15), the priests' share of sacrifices ("the thigh of the tərûmâ," Lev 7:32–34), tithes passed on to priests (Num 18:24–29), or land set apart (the "holy tərûmâ," Ezek 45; 48). What these share is separation and transfer to God, not a particular motion or a particular amount.

Against the English

KJV and YLT elsewhere render it "heave offering" (YLT does so here too), which suggests something lifted or swung up in a ritual. KJV, BSB and WEB here say "offering," which modern readers hear as a sacrifice on an altar or a church collection. ESV and NASB say "contribution," which is closest to the sense.

How it drifted

The "heave offering" rendering follows a long tradition, from rabbinic interpretation to the early English Bibles, that tied tərûmâ to a physical up-and-down lifting rite, alongside the "wave offering" (tənûpâ). Jacob Milgrom and others have argued from usage that the word means removal or dedication: you "lift" something off your property for God. It does not describe a gesture. Many modern translations followed this conclusion.

Used elsewhere in the period

LXX renders it here as aparchai, "firstfruits": the first or choice portion taken off for the deity, which interprets the word as "portion set aside." The Vulgate likewise has primitias. Rabbinic Hebrew uses tərûmâ as a technical term for the priestly portion separated from produce (Mishnah tractate Terumot), again meaning a separated share. A whole Torah reading portion (Exodus 25:1–27:19) is named Terumah after this verse.