Bible Commentaries

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.

The Lord said unto Aaron. Security is here given to the people from the fears expressed, Numbers 17:12, by the responsibility of attending to all sacred things being devolved upon the priesthood, together with the Penalties incurred through neglect; and thus the solemn responsibilities annexed to their high dignity, of having to answer not only for their own sins, but also for the sins of the people, were calculated in a great measure to remove all feeling of envy at the elevation of Aaron's family, when the honour was weighed in the balance with its burdens and dangers.

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.

Thy brethren also of the tribe of Levi. The departments of the sacred office to be filled respectively by the priests and Levites are here assigned to each. To the priests were committed the charge of the sanctuary and the altar, while the Levites were to take care of everything else about the tabernacle. The Levites were to attend the priests as servants-bestowed on them as 'gifts' to aid in the service of the tabernacle-while the high and dignified office of the priesthood was a "service of gift."

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.

No JFB commentary on this verse.

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.

A stranger - i:e., one neither a priest nor a Levite, who should intrude into any department of the sacred office, should incur the penalty of death.

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.

No JFB commentary on these verses.

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.

I also have given thee the charge of mine heave offerings. A recapitulation is made in this passage of certain perquisites specially appropriated to the maintenance of the priests. They were parts of the votive and free-will offerings, including both meat and bread, wine and oil, and the first-fruits, which formed a large and valuable item.

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.

No JFB commentary on this verse.

In the most holy place shalt thou eat it; every male shall eat it: it shall be holy unto thee.

In the most holy place shalt thou eat it. This name is here applied to the whole sanctuary. Afterward it was extended to the city of Jerusalem (cf. Numbers 9:10-13; Leviticus 10:14; Deuteronomy 16:11-14; John 11:55; 2 Chronicles 30:18; Josephus, 'Wars of the Jews,' b. 6:, ch. 9:, sec. 3).

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.

No JFB commentary on these verses.

Every thing devoted in Israel shall be thine.

Every thing devoted in Israel shall be thine - provided it was adapted for food or consumable by use; because the gold and silver vessels that were dedicated as the spoils of victory were not given to the priests, but for the use and adornment of the sacred edifice.

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.

No JFB commentary on this verse.

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.

Those that are to be redeemed from a month old shalt thou redeem. With a view of perpetuating the remembrance of the claim, which, although commuted, was not repealed, it was ordained that "the firstborn should nevertheless be redeemed, and the redemption was estimated at "five shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary, which is twenty gerahs." Thus the Levites took the place of the firstborn. But they did not necessarily become priests: they were only the servants of the priests; and even to this station they had to be qualified by a special form of consecration.

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.

No JFB commentary on these verses.

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.

It is a covenant of salt - i:e., a perpetual ordinance. This figurative form of expression was evidently founded on the conservative properties of salt, which keeps meat from corruption; and hence, it became an emblem of inviolability and permanence. It is a common phrase among Oriental people, who consider the eating of salt a pledge of fidelity, binding there in a covenant of friendship; and hence, the partaking of the altar meats, which were appropriated to the priests on condition of their services, and of which salt formed a necessary accompaniment, was naturally called a covenant of salt (Leviticus 2:13).

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.

The Lord spake unto Aaron, Thou shalt have no inheritance in their land ... In the institutions of the Levitical hierarchy there were several points of close resemblance to the priestly establishment in Egypt; but at the same time there were many differences, and in no respect more striking than in the perpetual exclusion of the Israelite priesthood from patrimonial possessions, (Pritchard's 'Egyptian Mythology,' p. 409, etc.)

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.

I have given the children of Levi. Neither the priests nor the Levites were to possess any allotments of land, but to depend entirely upon Him who liberally provided for them out of His own portion; and this law was subservient to many important purposes-such as, that, being exempted from the cares and labours of worldly business, they might be exclusively devoted to His service; that a bond of mutual love and attachment might be formed between the people and the Levites, who, as performing religious services for the people, derived their subsistence from them; and further, that being the more easily dispersed among the different tribes: they might be more useful in instructing and directing the people.

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.

They shall bear their iniquity. They were to be responsible for the right discharge of those duties that were assigned to them, and consequently to bear the penalty that was due to negligence or carelessness in the guardianship of the holy things.

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.

No JFB commentary on these verses.

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.

The Levites ... offer ... a tenth part of the tithe. Out of their own they were to pay tithes to the priests equally as the people gave to them. The best of their tithes was to be assigned to the priests, and afterward they enjoyed the same liberty to make use of the remainder that other Israelites had of the produce of their threshing-floors and wine-presses.

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.

No JFB commentary on these verses.

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.

Ye shall bear no sin ... - neglect in having the best, entailed sin in the use of such unhallowed food, and the holy things would be polluted by the reservation to themselves of what should be offered to God and the priests.