The priests, unlike the other tribes of Israel, receive no territorial inheritance in the land, relying instead entirely on designated gifts for their livelihood. Placing this mandate immediately after the laws of the king highlights a profound contrast. While a monarch may appropriate the people's property through power and authority, the priestly portions are bestowed as a lawful, earned wage for their sacred service [כלי יקר]. This allocation is not an act of charity or a voluntary favor from the giver, but a strictly defined legal right. The entitlement is so absolute that if these portions are withheld, a priest can rightfully claim them in a court of law [העמק דבר, תורה תמימה].
The timing of this mandate, given just before the Israelites enter the land, is highly significant. During their years in the desert, the people primarily consumed meat from consecrated peace offerings, which are exempt from these specific gifts. As they prepare to settle the land, the consumption of secular meat—slaughtered solely for everyday food—becomes permitted. Consequently, the Torah now grants the priests specific portions from these ordinary meals. Because these gifts involve entirely secular meat with no inherent holiness, they were excluded from earlier lists of sacred priestly dues [רמב״ן, רבנו בחיי].
The obligation to provide these portions falls exclusively on the general populace. The primary approach among commentators is that priests themselves are exempt from giving these gifts to other priests, even if they work as butchers. The status of Levites remains uncertain, exempting them from the obligation out of doubt, though any portions they do give are not reclaimed [מזרחי, שפתי חכמים]. The duty to yield these parts is directed primarily at the butcher performing the slaughter rather than the owner of the animal, and it applies equally to livestock owned by partners [הכתב והקבלה, בכור שור, תורה תמימה]. Furthermore, the requirement applies strictly to kosher slaughter that renders the meat fit for consumption; an animal found to be invalid or torn is completely exempt [מלבי״ם, צפנת פענח]. The mandate is limited to domesticated cattle and flocks, including their hybrids, but excludes wild animals like deer [רש״י, רש״ר הירש, תורה תמימה]. When transferring these gifts, the slaughterer must hand them directly to the priest, who is forbidden from taking them without explicit permission [אדרת אליהו, תורה תמימה].
The mandated gifts consist of three specific parts: the right foreleg from the knee to the foot, the lower jaw along with the tongue and its attached hair or wool, and the animal's maw, or digestive stomach, including its fat and milk [רש״י, תורה תמימה]. Commentators offer profound insights into why these exact parts were chosen. Anatomically, they represent the firsts of the animal's body—the jaws are the beginning of the head, the foreleg is the beginning of the limbs, and the maw is the beginning of the internal organs. As the prime components of the body, they are the most fitting portions for God's servants [רמב״ם, רמב״ן]. Together, they also symbolically encompass the entire animal, representing the head, body, and limbs [שד״ל].
On a deeper level, these portions serve as a symbolic reward for the priests' dedicated service. The foreleg corresponds to their hands, which are raised in blessing and used for sacred slaughter. The jaws and tongue mirror the prayers and blessings they offer on behalf of the Israelites to turn away divine wrath. The stomach represents either the blessing God places within the priests' own sustenance, or their physical sacrifice, as they restrict their sleep to serve in the Temple through the night while the body digests its food [כלי יקר, שפתי כהן, חזקוני]. A widespread historical approach traces these specific gifts to the heroic actions of Phinehas the priest, who zealously defended God's honor. The foreleg is a reward for taking the spear in his hand, the jaws correspond to his urgent prayer to halt the plague, and the stomach reflects his decisive strike through the Midianite woman's belly. The sequential order of the gifts perfectly mirrors the historical sequence of his actions: grasping the weapon, offering a prayer, and delivering the strike [רש״י, רבנו בחיי, ברכת אשר].