The duties and the dues of priests and Levites



1. thy sons] i.e. the priests. The expression was due to the post-exilic practice of all priests of tracing their descent genealogically to Aaron.

thy fathers’ house] Here it means the whole tribe of Levi, exclusive of Aaron and the priests.

bear the iniquity of the sanctuary … of your priesthood] i.e. bear the consequences of the iniquity of allowing your priesthood, or the sanctuary committed to your charge, to be profaned.

1–7. The duties of priests and Levites. The priests are to have charge of the sanctuary, and the Levites are to help them; the latter, however, may not come into contact with the sacred utensils or the altar. No layman may approach on pain of death. The subject has already been treated in Numbers 1:50-53, Numbers 3:5-10; Numbers 3:38; and the principle of the disabilities of laymen has been illustrated in ch. 14.

2. that they may be joined] This is a play on words, similar to that in Genesis 29:34, the verb lâwâh (לוה) being employed to explain the word Lçwî ‘Levite,’ so that the latter is understood to denote ‘one who is joined to the priests as a servant.’ Whether this was the original meaning and derivation is doubtful.

shall be before the tent] shall preside over the tent. The preposition is not local, but comprises sacred duties both within the tent and outside in the court.

3. keep thy charge, &c.] see on Numbers 3:7.

the vessels] The Heb. word is capable of wider use than the Engl. ‘vessel’; it includes all the sacred utensils and furniture.

For the prohibition to come into contact with the sacred things cf. Numbers 4:15.

neither they, nor ye] they, for breaking the law, and ye for permitting it.

4. a stranger] Heb. zâr; anyone who is not a priest. See on Numbers 1:51.

5. ye shall keep the charge &c.] It ye includes both priests and Levites, then ‘the sanctuary’ is used in its widest sense to include the tent and the court and everything contained in them, which are to be guarded from the approach of laymen. But on the other hand ye may denote the priests only, and ‘the sanctuary’ will in that case mean everything from which the Levites were debarred; cf. Numbers 18:3; Numbers 18:7.

6. a gift, given unto Jehovah] See on Numbers 3:9.

7. shall keep your priesthood] i.e. perform its distinctive duties.

within the veil] viz. the first hanging, at the entrance to the Holy Place. The Levites were debarred from entering any part of the tent, and from contact with the altar of burnt-offering in the court.

as a service of gift] The expression (if the text be correct) emphasizes the fact that the priests had done nothing to deserve these privileges; they were a free gift. The LXX. suggest a different reading—‘Ye shall perform the acts of service (as a) gift of your priesthood’; but the meaning is substantially the same. S. Paul gives similar teaching with regard to Christian privileges, 1 Corinthians 4:7.

8. A general statement that all the holy things of Israel are the property of the priests. This is afterwards limited by the regulations in the following verses.

the charge of my contributions] i.e. the contributions made to me. See on Numbers 18:9. If ‘the charge’ (the ordinary rendering of the Heb. mishmereth) is correct, the expression must mean ‘the duty of taking care that the contributions are not profaned through being eaten by non-priestly persons.’ But it is better to render that which is kept of my contributions, i.e. that portion of the sacrifice which is not burnt, but reserved to be eaten. This concrete force of the word mishmereth is unique, but not impossible.

by reason of the anointing] The marg. for a portion is correct. In Leviticus 7:35 a word from the same root is rendered ‘anointing-portion,’ but it is doubtful if it has any connexion with the root mâshaḥ which signifies ‘anoint.’

8–20. The priests’ dues. These are as follows: (a) All meal-, sin-, and guilt-offerings, with the exception of those parts which are burnt on the altar, i.e. given to God. These may be eaten by any male member of the priestly families ‘in a very holy place’ (Numbers 18:9-10). (b) Those portions of a ‘gift’ (i.e. a peace-offering) which are not eaten by the worshipper himself, nor given to God by being burnt on the altar; the priests’ portions thus consisted of the ‘contribution,’ including that part of it called the ‘wave-offering.’ These may be eaten by any member, male or female, of the priestly families, who is free from ceremonial pollution (Numbers 18:11). The fact that females might eat it implies that it might be eaten anywhere outside the sacred precincts, into which no female was admitted, (c) All the best of the fresh oil, wine, and corn (further defined as ‘the first’ of them), and the first-ripe fruits. These may be eaten by the same persons as in (b) (Numbers 18:12-13). (d) Every ‘devoted’ thing (Numbers 18:14). (e) The first-born of all clean cattle (Numbers 18:15 a), with the exception of the blood and fat which were given to God (Numbers 18:17). (f) The five shekels paid for the redemption of the first-born of men, and the redemption price (amount not stated) of the first-born of unclean beasts (Numbers 18:15 b, Num 18:16).

9. The portions ‘[reserved] from the fire’ on the altar were a ‘handful’ or a small undefined quantity of the meal-offerings (Leviticus 2:2; Leviticus 2:9; Leviticus 2:16; Leviticus 5:12; Leviticus 6:15), and in the case of animal offerings certain portions of the fat (described in Leviticus 3:3-5; Leviticus 7:3-5). The blood, which represented the sacred life of the animal, was never eaten, but was poured out.

10. As the most holy things] An improbable rendering, since the sacrifices in question have just been described (Numbers 18:9) by the term ‘the most holy things.’ Render: in a most holy place. This evidently denotes the court of the tabernacle (cf. Leviticus 6:16; Leviticus 6:26; Leviticus 7:6), though it usually stands for the innermost shrine.

11. the contribution from their gift] The portions of the peace-offering which were contributed to the priest, i.e. the breast and the right thigh.

and all the wave-offerings] i.e. including that part of the contribution—the breast—which was waved. For the ceremony of waving see on Numbers 18:25.

12. the best] lit. ‘the fat’ (as marg.). Cf. Deuteronomy 32:14, Psalm 81:16. This vague expression is explained by the more technical term the firstfruits, or the first (Heb. rêshîth); cf. Deuteronomy 18:4. The amount which the priest is to receive is not stated; but in later times fixed proportions were laid down by the chiefs of the Rabbinic schools.

13. The firstripe fruits … which they bring unto Jehovah] The latter clause shews that only a part of the firstfruits was offered; but the proportions, as in the case of the rêshîth, are not stated. For a full discussion of the subject reference may be made to Gray, Numbers, pp. 224–9.

14. Every thing devoted] Heb. ḥçrem. An object placed under a ḥçrem or ban was wholly given up to God and could not be redeemed. Gold and silver or other valuable articles might be captured in war, and similarly animals and human beings. The last are obviously excluded in the present regulation. Possibly the regulation is confined to such objects as were ‘devoted’ voluntarily by private individuals.

15. of all flesh which they offer] i.e. clean animals, for they alone could be offered.

16. And as to his redemption money, from a month, &c.] The pronoun ‘his’ refers to the firstborn of men, who were redeemed from death by 5 shekels. The price for the firstborn of unclean animals varied according to the priests’ valuation (Leviticus 27:11 f., Lev 27:27).

from a month old] i.e. directly the age of a month has been reached, and so it practically means ‘at a month old.’

the shekel of the sanctuary] See on Numbers 3:47.

18. the flesh of them shall be thine] Aaron is to receive the whole of their flesh, as he had received the breast and thigh of the peace-offering.

19. a covenant of salt] In primitive days the eating of salt, or of the smallest portion of food belonging to another man, constituted a sacred bond of friendship. So the expression denotes ‘a covenant which cannot be broken.’ On the Hebrew ideas of a covenant see the writer’s Exodus, pp. 150–4.

20. The reason why the priests are to receive all these dues is that they are to possess no landed property in Canaan. Cf. Numbers 26:62, Joshua 14:3. This ordinance, however, did not exclude the assignment of certain cities, with their surrounding land, to the priests and Levites (Numbers 35:1-8, Joshua 21:1-42).

21–24. The Levites’ dues. These consisted in tithe levied on agricultural produce only (cf. Numbers 18:27; Numbers 18:30).

This was similarly assigned to the Levitical priests in the earlier law contained in Deuteronomy 14:22-29; Deuteronomy 26:12-15. But the present regulation is in advance of that in Dt. in that it assigns the tithe to the Levites absolutely. According to Dt. the Levite shared it, in two years out of three, with the offerer and his household, and in the third year with the poor—‘sojourners, widows, and orphans.’ This variety led in post-Biblical times to the imposition of two tithes (cf. Tob 1:7 ff.). In Leviticus 27:30-33, 2 Chronicles 31:6 (which are probably later than the present passage) mention is made of a fresh demand, viz. a tithe on cattle, which is found nowhere else in the O.T. In early days the ‘clergy’ were poor and humble persons who needed support from the charity of the rich. The contributions paid to them were at first small, and probably variable; the officials at the important sanctuaries, for example, would receive larger dues than those in country villages. But when, after the Exile, the priests and Levites advanced to a high position in the community, their demands gradually increased, until they became the grasping and avaricious rulers that we see in the Ḥasmoneans and the Sadducees.

In Hebrews 7:5 the payment of tithes by Israel is part of the argument that the Aaronic priesthood is inferior to that of Christ.

25–32. A further payment to the priests. The tithe of the crops belongs so entirely to the Levites that it is considered a source of property from which they in turn must pay a tithe to the priests.

27. your heave-offering] your contribution, which you must make to the priests.

as the corn of the threshing-floor] In the same way that all Israel give to you a tithe of com and wine, so shall ye give a tithe of that tithe to the priests.

30. The regulation may be paraphrased as follows: When ye shall have contributed [as a tithe] the best part from it [i.e. from the tithe which you have received], then it [the remaining nine-tenths] shall be for your own use, just as the rest of Israel use their corn and wine after contributing a tithe of it to you.

31. in every place] Not in a holy place, but anywhere, as ordinary food for your households.

32. profane the holy things] i.e. the tithe of the tithe, which they would profane if they did not give it to the priests.