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Numbers 18

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Duties and Responsibilities of Priests and Levites 1–7

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 bear 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 joined 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 charge of all the tabernacle: only they shall not come nigh the vessels of the sanctuary and the altar, that neither they, nor ye also, die.
4
And they shall be joined unto thee, and keep the charge of the tabernacle of the congregation, for all the service of the tabernacle: and a stranger shall not come nigh unto you.
5
And ye shall keep the charge 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 Levites 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 priest's office for every thing of the altar, and within the vail; 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.

Provisions for the Priests (The Sacred Offerings) 8–19

8
And the LORD spake unto Aaron, Behold, I also have given thee the charge of mine heave offerings of all the hallowed things of the children of Israel; unto thee have I given them by reason of the anointing, 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 meat offering of theirs, and every sin offering of theirs, and every trespass offering of theirs, which they shall render unto me, shall be most holy for thee and for thy sons. ​
10
In the most holy place shalt thou eat it; every male shall eat it: it shall be holy unto thee.
11
And this is thine; the heave 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 clean 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 firstfruits of them which they shall offer unto the LORD, them have I given thee. ​
13
And whatsoever is first 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 devoted in Israel shall be thine.
15
Every thing that openeth the matrix in all flesh, which they bring unto the LORD, whether it be of men or beasts, shall be thine: nevertheless the firstborn 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 firstling of a cow, or the firstling of a sheep, or the firstling of a goat, thou shalt not redeem; they are holy: thou shalt sprinkle 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 covenant of salt for ever before the LORD unto thee and to thy seed with thee. ​

The Levites' Inheritance and Tithes Defined 20–24

20
And the LORD spake unto Aaron, Thou shalt have no inheritance in their land, neither shalt thou have any part among them: I am thy part and thine inheritance among the children of Israel. ​
21
And, behold, I have given the children of Levi all the tenth in Israel for an inheritance, for their service which they serve, even the service of the tabernacle of the congregation. ​
22
Neither must the children of Israel henceforth come nigh the tabernacle of the congregation, lest they bear sin, and die. ​
23
But the Levites 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 inheritance.

The Tithe of the Levites (The Tithe of the Tithe) 25–32

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 shall eat it in every place, ye and your households: for it is your reward 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 pollute the holy things of the children of Israel, lest ye die. ​

Bible text: King James Version (1769 Blayney text) · Public domain

Study Notes for Numbers 18

Verse 1

bear the iniquity of the sanctuary — The verb nasa, to bear, is used twice here and again in vv.22, 23 and 32. Aaron already wears the sign on his forehead 'that Aaron may bear the iniquity of the holy things' (Ex 28:38), and the priests are given the sin offering 'to bear the iniquity of the congregation' (Lev 10:17). The sanctuary's guilt falls on those who serve it.

Verse 2

that they may be joined unto thee — 'Joined' is lavah, the verb in Leah's naming of Levi: 'Now this time will my husband be joined unto me… therefore was his name called Levi' (Gen 29:34). It is used of the Levites again in v.4. The Levites minister to Aaron's house, but only Aaron and his sons serve 'before the tabernacle of witness'.

Verse 5

that there be no wrath any more — The Levites already pitched round the tabernacle 'that there be no wrath upon the congregation' (Num 1:53). Qetseph, wrath, is the word of 16:46, where the plague began. The charge is mishmereth, the same word as the rod 'to be kept' in 17:10. The duty is kept so that the plague does not return.

Verse 6

as a gift for the LORD — The Levites were first 'wholly given' to Aaron and his sons (Num 3:9) and taken 'instead of all the firstborn' of Israel (3:12). 'Gift' is mattanah, a present, beside the verb 'given' (nathan) in this verse. Num 8:19 states the purpose again: 'that there be no plague among the children of Israel'.

Verse 8

by reason of the anointing — The Hebrew mishchah is a consecrated share: 'the portion of the anointing of Aaron, and of the anointing of his sons' (Lev 7:35). The 'heave offerings' (terumah) are what Israel lifts up to the LORD, and he gives them to the priests 'by an ordinance for ever'.

Verse 9

most holy things — The Hebrew doubles the word, qodesh qodashim, 'holy of holies'. 'Oblation' is qorban, the offering brought near, the 'Corban' of Mark 7:11. The portion is eaten 'in the most holy place' by 'every male' (v.10). 'Trespass offering' is asham, the word of Isa 53:10, 'an offering for sin'.

Verse 11

thy sons and… thy daughters — The wave offering and heave offering of the people's gifts, like 'the wave breast and the heave shoulder' (Lev 7:34), may be eaten by the whole priestly household. Daughters are named here, unlike v.10 where 'every male' eats the most holy. The only condition is that each be 'clean in thy house'.

Verse 12

the best of the oil — Chelev, 'fat', stands for the choicest part, as in 'the fat of the land' (Gen 45:18); it is the 'fat' burned in v.17. Oil (yitshar), wine (tirosh) and wheat (dagan) are the three firstfruits, named together in Deut 18:4, 'the firstfruit also of thy corn, of thy wine, and of thine oil'.

Verse 15

shalt thou surely redeem — The Hebrew doubles the verb padah, to ransom: 'redeem, thou shalt redeem'. The law is that of Ex 13:2, 'Sanctify unto me all the firstborn', and 13:13, 'all the firstborn of man among thy children shalt thou redeem'. The price follows in v.16, 'five shekels'. Luke 2:23 cites the same law for Jesus.

Verse 17

they are holy — Clean firstlings of cow, sheep and goat are not redeemed. Their blood is sprinkled on the altar and 'their fat' (chelev, as in v.12) is burned 'for a sweet savour unto the LORD', the savour Noah's offering gave (Gen 8:21). Eph 5:2 uses the same phrase of Christ, 'an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour'.

Verse 19

a covenant of salt — Every offering was to be seasoned with salt, and 'the salt of the covenant of thy God' was never to be lacking (Lev 2:13). The phrase occurs elsewhere in 2 Chr 13:5, where the LORD gave David the kingdom 'by a covenant of salt'. The priests' share is as lasting, 'for ever before the LORD unto thee and to thy seed'.

Verse 20

I am thy part and thine inheritance — Cheleq, 'part', and nachalah, 'inheritance', are the two words of Levi's lot: 'the LORD is his inheritance' (Deut 10:9). David uses both words of himself: 'The LORD is the portion of mine inheritance' (cheleq, Ps 16:5) and 'I have a goodly heritage' (nachalah, Ps 16:6). Aaron's family is to hold no share of the land.

Verse 21

all the tenth in Israel for an inheritance — The tenth (ma'aser) is the LORD's own: 'all the tithe of the land… is the LORD'S: it is holy unto the LORD' (Lev 27:30). He gives it to the Levites in place of land, 'for their service which they serve'. Heb 7:5 notes that the sons of Levi 'have a commandment to take tithes of the people'.

Verse 22

lest they bear sin, and die — This answers the cry of 17:12–13, 'we die, we perish… shall we be consumed with dying?' The 'bear' (nasa) is the verb of v.1. Israel is not to come near, as 'the stranger that cometh nigh shall be put to death' (Num 3:10); the Levites do the service and 'bear their iniquity' (v.23).

Verse 26

a tenth part of the tithe — The Levites receive tithes and in turn lift up 'an heave offering of it for the LORD', a tenth of what they take. Neh 10:38 shows the practice kept: 'the Levites shall bring up the tithe of the tithes unto the house of our God'. The priests, who are of Levi, receive no inheritance of their own (v.20).

Verse 27

shall be reckoned unto you — Chashab, to count or reckon, is the verb of Gen 15:6, 'he counted it to him for righteousness'. The Levites' lifted portion is counted to them 'as though it were the corn of the threshingfloor, and as the fulness of the winepress', as if they had grown it themselves.

Verse 29

of all the best thereof — The Levites' portion is to be the choicest as well, chelev as in v.12, 'even the hallowed part thereof out of it'. They give from what they receive, and are to set apart the best of it. V.30 adds that once this is done, the remainder is counted to them as the increase of the threshingfloor.

Verse 32

ye shall bear no sin by reason of it — 'Bear' is the nasa of v.1. 'Pollute' is chalal, to profane, the verb of Lev 22:15, 'they shall not profane the holy things'. The Levites eat their share 'in every place' (v.31) without guilt once they have lifted the best of it to the LORD. The chapter ends with the warning, 'lest ye die'.