Old Testament Commentary - Numbers 18

Don R. Hender

Scriptural Text [& Editorial]
Commentary & Explanation
Footnotes ~ References ~ JST
            CHAPTER 18           

Aaron and his sons called to minister in priest's office—Levites called to minister in service of tabernacle—Levites receive no land inheritance, but are supported by tithes of people.

  1 And the LORD said unto Aaron, Thou and thy sons and thy father's house with thee shall bear the iniquity of the sanctuary: and thou and thy sons with thee shall abear the iniquity of your priesthood.
  2 And thy brethren also of the tribe of Levi, the tribe of thy father, bring thou with thee, that they may be ajoined unto thee, and minister unto thee: but thou and thy sons with thee shall minister before the tabernacle of witness.
  3 And they shall keep thy charge, and the acharge of all the tabernacle: only they shall not come bnigh the cvessels of the sanctuary and the altar, that neither they, nor ye also, ddie.
  4 And they shall be joined unto thee, and akeep the charge of the tabernacle of the congregation, for all the service of the tabernacle: and a bstranger shall not come nigh unto you.
  5 And ye shall akeep the bcharge of the sanctuary, and the charge of the altar: that there be no wrath any more upon the children of Israel.
  6 And I, behold, I have taken your brethren the aLevites from among the children of Israel: to you they are given as a gift for the LORD, to do the service of the tabernacle of the congregation.
  7 Therefore thou and thy sons with thee shall keep your apriest's office for every thing of the altar, and within the bvail; and ye shall serve: I have given your priest's office unto you as a service of gift: and the stranger that cometh nigh shall be put to death.
  8 ¶ And the LORD spake unto Aaron, Behold, I also have given thee the charge of mine heave aofferings of all the hallowed things of the children of Israel; unto thee have I bgiven them by reason of the canointing, and to thy sons, by an ordinance for ever.
  9 This shall be thine of the most holy things, reserved from the fire: every oblation of theirs, every ameat offering of theirs, and every bsin offering of theirs, and every ctrespass offering of theirs, which they shall render unto me, shall be most holy for thee and for thy sons.
  10 In the most aholy place shalt thou beat it; every male shall eat it: it shall be holy unto thee.
  11 And this is thine; the aheave offering of their gift, with all the wave offerings of the children of Israel: I have given them unto thee, and to thy sons and to thy daughters with thee, by a statute for ever: every one that is bclean in thy house shall eat of it.
  12 All the best of the oil, and all the best of the wine, and of the wheat, the afirstfruits of them which they shall offer unto the LORD, them have I given thee.
  13 And whatsoever is afirst ripe in the land, which they shall bring unto the LORD, shall be thine; every one that is clean in thine house shall eat of it.
  14 Every thing adevoted in Israel shall be thine.
  15 Every thing that openeth the amatrix in all flesh, which they bring unto the LORD, whether it be of men or beasts, shall be thine: nevertheless the bfirstborn of man shalt thou surely redeem, and the firstling of unclean beasts shalt thou redeem.
  16 And those that are to be redeemed from a month old shalt thou redeem, according to thine estimation, for the money of five shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary, which is twenty gerahs.
  17 But the afirstling of a cow, or the firstling of a sheep, or the firstling of a goat, thou shalt not redeem; they are holy: thou shalt bsprinkle their blood upon the altar, and shalt burn their fat for an offering made by fire, for a sweet savour unto the LORD.
  18 And the flesh of them shall be thine, as the wave breast and as the right shoulder are thine.
  19 All the heave offerings of the holy things, which the children of Israel offer unto the LORD, have I given thee, and thy sons and thy daughters with thee, by a statute for ever: it is a acovenant of bsalt for ever before the LORD unto thee and to thy seed with thee.
  20 ¶ And the LORD spake unto Aaron, Thou shalt have no ainheritance in their land, neither shalt thou have any bpart among them: I am thy part and thine cinheritance among the children of Israel.
  21 And, behold, I have given the children of Levi all the tenth in Israel for an ainheritance, for their service which they serve, even the service of the tabernacle of the congregation.
  22 Neither must the achildren of Israel henceforth come nigh the tabernacle of the congregation, lest they bear sin, and die.
  23 But the aLevites shall do the service of the tabernacle of the congregation, and they shall bear their iniquity: it shall be a statute for ever throughout your generations, that among the children of Israel they have no inheritance.
  24 But the tithes of the children of Israel, which they offer as an heave offering unto the LORD, I have given to the Levites to inherit: therefore I have said unto them, Among the children of Israel they shall have no ainheritancea.
 24a they shall have no inheritance Each of the tribes of Israel would receive lands, for they were a land based society in that they all worked the land with agriculture and farming and craftmens and the like which lived on the resourses of the land, they were not acustom to having a large part of their society as being housed and supported by others for merely 'administrative' functions. True the Levites would have cities to dwell in, but there's was not a society of those who depended directly upon the land, rether they would rely upon the tithes and offerings of the people which they would given, even a tenth part for the support of the Lord and those who performed service unto the Lord, the Levites. And though the Levites would perform some of these functions in those lots given them to live among the whole of Israel, they would receive sustenance for the time of their work unto the Lord accordingly, this was the only whay such a society could free up such lots of time for someone to merely perform the 'rites' of the Lord. They were a 'supported clergy to that extent. So for their administerings of the ordinances and the laws of the Lord, so were they paid. And they would have an interest in seeing that their 'time' of service increased, and so did the extent of the traditional law accordingly, even to 613 commandments to be so administered.
  25 ¶ And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
  26 Thus speak unto the Levites, and say unto them, When ye take of the children of Israel the tithes which I have given you from them for your inheritance, then ye shall offer up an heave offering of it for the LORD, even a tenth part of the tithe.
  27 And this your heave offering shall be reckoned unto you, as though it were the corn of the threshingfloor, and as the fulness of the winepress.
  28 Thus ye also shall offer an heave offering unto the LORD of all your tithes, which ye receive of the children of Israel; and ye shall give thereof the LORD's heave offering to Aaron the priest.
  29 Out of all your gifts ye shall offer every heave offering of the LORD, of all the best thereof, even the hallowed part thereof out of it.
  30 Therefore thou shalt say unto them, When ye have heaved the best thereof from it, then it shall be counted unto the Levites as the increase of the threshingfloor, and as the increase of the winepress.
  31 And ye ashall eat it in every place, ye and your households: for it is your breward for your service in the tabernacle of the congregation.
  32 And ye shall bear no sin by reason of it, when ye have heaved from it the best of it: neither shall ye apollute the holy things of the children of Israel, lest ye die.