Deuteronomy 18:3

WEB

This shall be the priests' due from the people, from those who offer a sacrifice, whether it be ox or sheep, that they shall give to the priest the shoulder, and the two cheeks, and the maw.

KJV

And this shall be the priest’s due from the people, from them that offer a sacrifice, whether it be ox or sheep; and they shall give unto the priest the shoulder, and the two cheeks, and the maw.

Commentary

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 she ep; 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 and other writers is, according to the philosopher (p), the fourth and last ventricle or stomach, and which he thus describes;"after the echinus or rough tripe is that which is called the maw, which is in size larger than the echinus, and in form longer, and has many large and smooth folds;''and , the maw of an ox, and the belly of a swine, are reckoned by the poet (q) as delicious food. (p) Aristot. Hist. Animal. l. 2. c. 17. (q) Aristophan. Equites, Act. 1. Sc. 3. p. 307. & Act. 4. Sc. 1. p. 355.