18:1–7 By being directly addressed (“The Lord said to Aaron,” vv. 1, 20; elsewhere only at Ex. 4:27; cf. “the Lord spoke to Aaron,” Num. 18:8; elsewhere only Lev. 10:8), Aaron’s sacerdotal prerogative is underscored. All three sections of chapter 18 (cf. Section Outline) are introduced by the Lord’s addressing only Aaron. “Your sons” (18:1) are Aaron’s, who are and will be priests (cf. 16:40; “descendants of Aaron”). Your “father’s house with you” (18:1) is a reminder of the Kohath-Amramite ancestry of Aaron (Ex. 6:18, 20), as distinct from the Kohath-Izharite descendance of Korah (Num. 16:1), but also a reaffirmation of their common Kohathite ancestry. To “bear iniquity connected with the sanctuary” (18:1) is to bear the responsibility and the penalty for allowing any desecration of the sacred by intrusion of impurity or sin. Aaron and his sons are to ensure that the Kohathites do not die due to priestly negligence in the sanctuary (3:10; 4:14, 17–20). “The sanctuary” (18:1; Hb. hammiqdash, “the holy [place]”) refers to the Most Holy Place and the Holy Place, along with their furnishings.
The priests bear the responsibility and the consequences of their personal infringements and ritual omission and commission violations (v. 1). Aaron’s sons died for their violation (3:4), as could a high priest who wrongly goes inside the veil (Lev. 16:2). Priests must also prevent encroachment by an unqualified, maimed, or unclean fellow priest (Lev. 21:23; Neh. 7:64–65; cf. Ex. 28:43; Lev. 10:9). The priest also bears iniquity by eating certain of the sin/purification offerings of the people, with which the priest makes atonement (Lev. 10:17). Given his mediatorial office, he performs the required blood ceremonies to make atonement (cf. comment on Num. 15:22–31 [at v. 25]).
“With you bring your brothers also” (Num. 18:2) emphasizes the mutual lineage of the priestly and nonpriestly Levites against the background of strained relations (ch. 16). “Tribe . . . tribe” renders synonyms, respectively matteh and shebet. The former is an echo of the “staff” (matteh) incident (17:2). “The tribe of Levi [lvyʾ] . . . shall join [lvhʾ] you” (18:2) emphasizes paronomastically the joint ministry of the Levites and the priests. For “minister to you” (v. 2; shrt) cf. comments on 1:47–54 [at v. 50]; 8:23–26). The Levites are to keep guard over the priests and the whole tabernacle complex (18:3). By making a physical barrier around it, whether stationary or in transit, the Levites are to keep any unauthorized person or thing outside. However, they are not to come near to the vessels of the sanctuary or to the altar (v. 3). The priests protect the Levites from death from encroachment by covering the sanctuary furnishings and the altar (cf. 4:12, 14). The priests too will die if they fail to prevent Levite encroachment (18:3).
That “they shall keep guard” and that “no outsider shall come near you” (v. 4) reiterate the Levites’ principal duty regarding the priests (1:51, 53; 3:10, 38). Encroachment will defile them (cf. Ezek. 44:19). The “service [ʿabodah] of the tent” is the physical labor involved in assisting the priests and transporting the tabernacle. The Levites must prevent the people with offerings from going beyond the altar in the court (Num. 18:22), although they themselves can, under certain conditions, assist the priests at the altar (cf. 2 Chron. 30:15, 17; 35:11).
To “keep guard over the sanctuary and over the altar” (Num. 18:5) refers to the duties of Aaron and his sons. Officiating in the sanctuary and at the altar is their exclusive prerogative. In addition they pack and cover the sanctuary furnishings, which the Kohathites can neither look upon nor directly touch as they transport them (4:15, 20). Eleazar supervises the Kohathites and all the chiefs of the Levitical clans (3:32). Ithamar supervises the Gershonites and the Merarites (4:28, 33).
The reason for this reiteration of the sacred service in response to the people’s fear is so that there will “never again be wrath on the people” (18:5; cf. 17:12–13). “Wrath” has recently taken the form of devastating fire and deadly plagues (e.g., 16:35, 49; cf. comment on 16:36–50).
To call the Levites “your brothers” (Num. 18:2, 6; 2 Chron. 29:34) reminds Aaron, and all priests, of God’s grace. Priests and Levites are “brothers” (Num. 8:26) not only physically but also in “service” (18:6; cf. Ps. 133:1). “They are a gift to you, given to the Lord” (Num. 18:6; cf. 3:9). The Levites belong to the Lord. Once purified, they are offered as a wave offering, substituted for Israelite firstborn, then given to Aaron and his sons (8:15–19, 21). This sovereign endowment is not nullified by Korah’s rebellion.
The four terms “Guard . . . altar . . . veil . . . serve” (18:7) are shorthand for priestly duties and service spheres (cf. 3:31; 4:28). The verbs, “guard” (shamar) and “serve” (ʿabad), label the priests’ primary responsibilities: preventing encroachment and performing ceremonial labor such as slaughtering, butchering, and flaying animal offerings. The “altar” in the court and the “veil” separating the Holy Place and the Most Holy Place delimit their ministry domains and the sacred furnishings involved. Priests enter the Holy Place morning and evening. The high priest enters the Most Holy Place once a year. If impurity breaches the court, the altar is defiled. Impurity also penetrates the Holy Place and pollutes the incense altar. It can penetrate the Most Holy Place and defile the mercy seat. “Any outsider” here is a Levite or a disqualified priest (cf. discussion on 18:1 above); one who comes near is to be “put to death” (cf. 3:10; 4:18–20) by man’s hand (cf. comment on 17:8–13, “shall die”).
18:8–19 The second section opens like the first and third, with the Lord addressing Aaron (v. 8; cf. vv. 1, 20). The “charge [mishmeret] of the contributions” (v. 8) now involves adhering to the regulations concerning sacred gifts, the measured “portion,” the “perpetual due.”
Priestly remuneration falls into two categories:
(1) “Contributions” (pl. terumah), some of which are “most holy,” here specified as the parts “reserved from the fire,” that is, removed from the rest of the sacrifice burned on the altar, of the “grain . . . sin . . . guilt offering[s]” that are partaken of by the officiating priest and his “sons” in a “most holy place” (Num. 18:8–10; cf. comment on 5:5–10 [at v. 9]).
(2) Less sacred “wave offerings” and “holy contributions,” which could be shared with the priest’s “sons and daughters” and “everyone who is clean” in his household (18:11, 19; cf. Lev. 22:4, 6–7). These offerings and contributions are listed in Numbers 18:12–19.
In addition to these, in Numbers “contributions” includes holy donations in general (5:9), the thigh of the Nazirite’s peace offering (6:20), the first dough (15:19–20), tithes (18:24–29), and plunder donated for the sanctuary (31:29, 41, 52). Apart from the offerings at the altar, the contributions are given directly to the priest (5:10). In addition, in Numbers “wave offerings” include the grain offering of the woman suspected of adultery (5:25), the ram’s shoulder and bread of the Nazirite’s peace offering (6:19–20), the breast and right thigh of the peace offering (6:20; 18:18), and the Levites themselves (8:11, 13, 15, 21). Wave offerings involve a ritual performed in the sanctuary before the offerings are given to priests.
The contributions are “made to me” from “the people of Israel” (18:8). The priest does not receive his revenue from the people; he receives a share of the people’s gifts first given to the Lord. A “portion” (moshkhah) is a measured, quantifiable allotment that could be, for example, the thigh contribution and the breast wave offering of the peace offering, each part of which could also be called a “portion” (manah; Lev. 7:33; 8:29). “Perpetual due” (hoq) comprises these same parts (cf. Lev. 7:34), or in general all of the remunerations (cf. hoq, “fixed allowance” of Egyptian priests; Gen. 47:22). Their being “perpetual” ensures that they will continue for the priests in the land (2 Chron. 31:3–7; cf. Ezra 2:62–63).
The “most holy things” (Num. 18:9) in Hebrew is simply the “most holy” (qodesh haqqodashim), which elsewhere generally signifies “a most holy place” or “the Most Holy Place” (e.g., Ex. 26:34), its furnishings (Num. 4:4, 19), and food from sacrifices (2 Chron. 31:6; Ezra 2:63; Neh. 7:65). Here it qualifies priests’ food, the designated portions of “every grain offering . . . every sin offering . . . and every guilt offering” (Num. 18:9; cf. Lev. 6:14–17; Ezek. 42:13). “Render to me” (shub) implies that these first belong to the Lord, who gives them to the offeror, who then returns them to the Lord by giving them to the priest.
Given the offerings’ highest sacred status, they can be eaten only by a priest and his sons, “every male,” in “a most holy place” (Num. 18:10; cf. Lev. 6:17–18, 25–26), that is, between the altar and the tent of meeting (Lev. 6:25–26; cf. Ezek. 42:13), whose status is perhaps elevated from holy to “most holy” by contact with these sacrifices (Ex. 29:37; Matt. 23:19). In Ezekiel’s vision, the priests eat these offerings in the north and south chambers (Ezek. 42:17–18).
Numbers 18:11–19 treats gifts of a lesser sacred status—“holy” (v. 19) but not most holy—that the priest and his entire household can enjoy. “Gifts” also refer to “every contribution” in verse 29. All “wave offerings” (tenuphah) are beforehand dedicated as a “contribution” (terumah) by the offeror. This apparently explains why some offerings are both contributions and wave offerings (cf. Ex. 29:22–24, 27; 35:24; Lev. 9:18, 21; 10:14).
As stated above (cf. comment on Num. 15:1–21 [at v. 20]), the word “contribution” (terumah) is drawn from “lift up, raise” (rum), leading to the familiar translation “heave offering” (KJV), suggesting an up-and-down movement. But it would be impossible to lift some contributions (Ex. 35:24; cf. Ex. 38:25, 26; Num. 31:32–41, 52). A contribution is generally a portion lifted (removed) from a whole, like the tithe (18:24; cf. “lift an offering”), or bread made from a large lump of dough. For the peace offering, the right thigh contribution is removed and given to the priest (Lev. 7:32). The tithe and the tithed tithe are separated from the total that has been collected and is presented (rum) as a contribution (terumah; Num. 18:24, 26) to the Levites and priests, respectively. The cognate verb (ramam) also has this meaning (16:45, “get away”; i.e., “remove yourself,” “separate”). Meanwhile, the denominative of “wave offering” (tenuphah; Num. 18:11) is “wave” (nuph; cf. comment on 8:5–22 [at v. 15]). If it involves a back-and-forth gesture, “wave” may stem from the ritual practice of the priest, who, after receiving the offering, places it back in the hands of the offeror (cf. Num. 5:25; 6:19; cf. Ex. 29:24). As a wave offering, the Levites (Num. 8:15) would be impossible to move physically.
The new “oil” (yitshar), new “wine” (tirosh), and whole “grain” (dagan) are to be distinguished from the oil (shemen), wine (yayin), and ground grain (soleth) accompanying the regular burnt offerings (Lev. 23:12–13) and those offered at the Feast of Weeks (Num. 28:26–31). The former group of three is called reʾshith (“firstfruits”; Num. 18:12; Deut. 18:4) and the latter group bikkurim (“first ripe fruits,”; cf. discussion on Num. 18:13 above). The best of all of these belongs to the priests. “The firstfruits” (v. 12; reʾshitham) involves the first processed produce of those three crops—oil (olives), wine (grapes), and grain (barley)—the latter coming from the threshing floor (v. 27) and thus being a hard grain separated from the head and chaff. These are a sign of God’s blessing (Deut. 7:13; Jer. 31:12). Firstfruits (reʾshith) include leaven, dough, wool (Lev. 2:12; Num. 15:20–21; Deut. 18:4), honey, and “all the produce of the field” (2 Chron. 31:5). Firstborn are also called firstfruits (Gen. 49:3; Ps. 105:36).
“The first ripe fruits” (bikkurim; Num. 18:13) are associated with the Feast of Weeks and the wheat harvest and are brought at the end of the agricultural year during the Feast of Booths (Ex. 34:22). As such, they are wave offerings (tenuphah), since the Israelites bring them “to the Lord” (Num. 18:13), that is, at the sanctuary (cf. Ex. 23:19; 34:26). The reʾshith, as “contributions” (terumah), are given directly to the priest (Lev. 23:10–11). In Second Temple times reʾshit and bikkurim were brought to the temple and stored in chambers for the priests and the Levites (Neh. 10:35, 37 [v. 36 MT], 38; 12:44). These gifts could be consumed by all the priest’s family members (Num. 18:11) if they were ceremonially “clean” (v. 13), since they involved “holy contributions” (v. 19), not “most holy things” (v. 9).
“What they give to the Lord, I give to you” (Num. 18:12; cf. vv. 8, 11) is echoed in 2 Corinthians 8:5 concerning the Macedonian churches’ offering: “They gave themselves first to the Lord and then by the will of God to us.” Paul often describes service in the church in priestly language.
A “devoted thing” (kherem; Num. 18:14) is something voluntarily and irrevocably devoted to the Lord, in this case for the priests’ revenue. It is transferred from the profane (common) to the sacred domain by the offeror and is most holy (Lev. 27:28), even though the devoting is not done in the sanctuary (cf. Acts 5:1–4). Several close connections can be seen between the Leviticus kherem law (27:28) and the Numbers law, including their contexts. The Leviticus law includes fields as kherem donations, which would no doubt include their produce for sanctuary use. In Numbers the kherem law comes immediately after the firstfruits gifts (18:12–13), which is followed by tithes, including those on those very products (vv. 27, 30). In Numbers the kherem law is immediately followed by the firstborn redemption laws (18:15–18), whereas in Leviticus they precede it (Lev. 27:26–27). As with the most holy devoted things in Leviticus (Lev. 27:28), Numbers delimits most holy offerings of grain, sin, and guilt offerings (Num. 18:9). These same three are summarized as priestly gifts in Ezekiel 44:29, to which is added “every devoted thing” (kol kherem).
“Everything that opens the womb” (Num. 18:15) refers to a mother’s male firstborn of both “man or beast,” which the people “offer to the Lord.” Underlying the firstborn law here and elsewhere (Ex. 13:12–13; 22:29–30; 34:19–20; Lev. 27:26–27; Deut. 15:19–23) is a threefold division: clean male sacrificial animals, unclean male animals, and human males. The firstborn neither of man nor of unclean animals (Num. 18:16) could be offered on the altar. Therefore, “you shall redeem” (padah; vv. 15, 16) them. The “redemption price” (from padah; v. 16) belongs to the priests (cf. Lev. 27:27; Num. 3:41, 45, 47–51). This term for “redeem” (18:15, 16, 17; cf. 3:49) implies purchasing something not originally possessed by the owner—since it first belonged to the Lord (Lev. 27:26)—whereas another term also translated “redeem” (gaʾal) refers to buying something back originally owned (e.g., Lev. 25:25).
Being intrinsically clean animals and holy as firstborn, the “firstborn of a cow . . . sheep . . . or a goat” irrevocably belonged to the sacred domain and were to be sacrificed (Num. 18:17). “Cow” (shur) here refers to a female cow giving birth for the first time (cf. Lev. 22:28); the same distinction applies to sheep and goats. Shur generally refers to cattle collectively or to an ox when used individually. However, it also appears as “ox” when listed with the two other animals being offered as sacrifices (Lev. 17:3; 27:23), which may explain why shur is used here rather than the usual term for cow (parah; e.g., 1 Sam. 6:10; Job 21:10).
The terms “sprinkle [zaraq, or “throw”] their blood on the altar . . . burn their fat . . . pleasing aroma . . . breast . . . waved . . . right thigh” (Num. 18:17–18) apply to the peace offering (Lev. 7:29–32, 34; 10:14; 17:6; Num. 6:18, 20), of which the thigh contribution and waved breast belong to the officiating priest (Lev. 7:34). Normally, the remaining flesh of the peace offering would be eaten by the offeror (Lev. 7:15–18). If it is a firstborn sacrifice, however, “their flesh shall be yours” (Num. 18:18), that is, the priest’s.
Verse 19, forming an inclusio (cf. v. 11), summarizes all the holy contributions mentioned above, which are for “you,” the priests, and “your sons and daughters.” The “salt of the covenant” (melakh [hab]berit; Lev. 2:13) is added to unleavened grain offerings. Salt is also added to burnt offerings and sin offerings (Ezek. 43:24; cf. Ezra 6:9). In secular contexts, partaking of salt is synonymous with longstanding loyalty (Ezra 4:14), a covenant requisite. Mention of this “covenant of salt” anticipates the covenant of peace made with Aaron’s son, Phinehas, a covenant of perpetual priesthood (Num. 25:12). Divine covenants are corporate and transgenerational (e.g., Gen. 9:9; 17:7; Ps. 105:8–10), as are the promises they seal: “For you and for your offspring” (Num. 18:19; cf. Gen. 28:14; Acts 2:39; Gal. 3:14). Like the “everlasting [ʿolam] covenant” (Gen. 9:16; 17:19; 2 Sam. 23:5; Jer. 32:40), these holy gifts are a “perpetual [ʿolam] due” (Num. 18:19), that is, for as long as the law covenant is in effect.
18:20–32 Unlike the other tribes, the priests and Levites have no inheritance in the land (v. 20). Rather than a land inheritance, they have the Lord, with the gifts for priests for their sanctuary service and now tithes for the Levites and priests as their financial recompense (vv. 20, 23–24, 25–32; Deut. 18:2). “Portion” (heleq; v. 20) is not the same Hebrew word as in verse 8 (moshkhah). Heleq and “inheritance” (nakhalah) are often paired, referring to a heritage passed on to children (Gen. 31:14), Israel’s inheritance of Canaan (1 Chron. 16:18; Ps. 105:11), the territory of a tribe (Josh. 17:14), and here the territory denied the tribe of Levi (cf. Deut. 10:9; 18:1). It can refer to land lots or fields (Josh. 18:5, 9; Mic. 2:4, “fields”). When land inheritance is the object, the cognate verb means “divide/allot” (halaq; Num. 26:53, 55, 56; Mic. 2:4).
The Levites’ tithes (Num. 18:21) are treated first, since the priests’ tithes depend on them. “Every tithe” (maʿaser) is a “one-tenth” unit (cf. ʿeser, “ten”). Livestock, grain, wine, and oil are tithed (Lev. 27:30, 32; Num. 18:30; Deut. 14:23; cf. 2 Chron. 31:5–6 for more tithed produce). In addition to vegetable and animal tithes, the Levites receive agricultural and pasturelands around their forty-eight cities (Num. 35:2–8; cf. Josh. 21:13–19; Ezek. 45:4). “In return” (Num. 18:21, heleph; only elsewhere in v. 31) is cognate with “to substitute” (halaph; Lev. 27:10). “Service” (ʿabodah; Num. 18:21) is physical labor, such as maintaining and transporting the tent of meeting (v. 21), measuring grain, wine and oil, and flaying animals for offerings (1 Chron. 23:29; 2 Chron. 35:11; Ezek. 44:11; cf. comment on Num. 8:23–26 and note on v. 26). The tithe is given by the people to the Lord (18:24), who in turn gives it to the Levites. This restates the principle concerning the priests’ gifts (vv. 8, 11, 19).
“So that the people of Israel do not come near the tent of meeting” (v. 22) probably means they cannot go beyond the altar in the court (cf. Ex. 40:29; Lev. 1:5). The primary Levitical service is to prevent encroachment. By their encampments and their service ceremonially clean Levites make a hedge separating the sanctuary and the secular tribes’ camps (Num. 1:50, 53), like the hangings around the tabernacle court and the wall around the temple (Ezek. 42:20). “Lest they bear sin and die” (Num. 18:22) restates the consequence of encroachment for the people (1:51, 53), which the Levite guards must prevent. If someone trespasses, the Levites “shall bear [the people’s] iniquity [guilt consequences]” (18:23). Their lives, as a ransom substitute, “make atonement” (8:19). For encroachment the people bear sin (18:22), whereas priests and Levites bear iniquity (18:1, 23). Although sin and iniquity are sometimes synonyms (e.g., Pss. 32:5; 51:2, 5), iniquity here may involve a greater offense, given the high office of those accountable. On the Day of Atonement blood atonement is made for the Holy Place because of the peoples’ transgressions and sins (Lev. 16:16). But their iniquities are laid on the scapegoat, who bears them outside the camp (Lev. 16:21). Concerning the abased and exalted servant of the Lord, “the Lord laid on him the iniquities of us all”; regarding those he would make righteous, “he shall bear their iniquities” (Isa. 53:11; cf. Isa. 53:5, 6). He also deals with their transgressions and sins (Isa. 53:5, 12).
The Lord now addresses Moses (Num. 18:25). Aaron is spared from telling his brothers how and what they should give to him and his sons (vv. 26–32). “You shall present [rum] a contribution [terumah]” (v. 26) involves presenting a part of a whole (cf. comment on 15:1–21 [at v. 20]), here a “tithe of the tithe,” which delimits “contribution.” The Levites’ tithe for the priests is “as” (ke-) the people’s firstfruits offering (18:27). Once the Levites tithe to the priests, they can use the rest just as the Israelites can, consuming or selling the remainder of their produce. “Fullness” (meleʾah) occurs only twice elsewhere (Ex. 22:29; Deut. 22:9). It may substitute for the expression “best of” (lit., “fat of”) in connection with firstfruits (Num. 18:12). A related term (meloʾ) signifies what the earth produces (Deut. 33:16). The “winepress” (yeqeb) is used for wine and oil (cf. Joel 2:24, “vats”; cf. Isa. 5:2; 16:10). It has two cavities hewn in the rock and joined by a narrow channel, the higher cavity for pressing and the lower for collecting. This verse has in view the principal agricultural firstfruits: grain, wine, oil (Num. 18:12). The people tithe this produce for the Levites (Neh. 13:5, 12; cf. Deut. 12:17; 14:23). The Levites tithe it for the priests (Neh. 10:39).
The tithe is holy (Lev. 27:30; Deut. 26:13). The “contribution” (Num. 18:29) from it, “its best part” (v. 29; cf. comment on 18:8–19 [at v. 12]), is “dedicated” (miqdesho; v. 29), that is, the tenth of the tithe. “The rest” (v. 30) involves the nine-tenths remaining after the one-tenth tithe contribution. The term “any place” (v. 31) assumes such a place is ritually clean, since the people’s tithe they will “eat” is holy. The food supply is for everyone in the household (“you and your households”). “Reward” (sakar) could also be rendered “wage” (e.g., Gen. 30:28, 32). The Levites incur no punishment when they eat the remainder (Num. 18:32); however, they are not to “profane the holy things” (v. 32) by eating of the tithe before the one-tenth contribution is lifted or by eating the remainder in a state of uncleanness. Otherwise they will die like Nadab and Abihu (3:4) and like Korah and his followers (ch. 16).