Deuteronomy 18:1

1 "And there shall not be for the Levitical priests, the whole tribe of Levi, a plot of ground and an inheritance with Israel, [rather] they may eat an offering made by fire [as] their inheritance, for Yahweh.

Deuteronomy 18:1 Meaning and Commentary

Deuteronomy 18:1

The priests, the Levites, and all the tribe of Levi, shall have
no part nor inheritance with Israel
That is, in the land of Canaan, in the division of it among the tribes:

they shall eat the offerings of the Lord made by fire, and his
inheritance;
the meat offerings, see ( Leviticus 2:2 Leviticus 2:3 ) ( Leviticus 6:17 Leviticus 6:18 ) , and whatsoever of the sin offerings and peace offerings which were the Lord's; so Ben Melech says, the flesh of the offerings which belonged to the priests was called fire offerings, after part of it was consumed by fire. All these, with other things, ( Numbers 18:8 Numbers 18:9 ) , were given, as the Targum of Jonathan expresses it, for their inheritance, in lieu of their having none in the land of Canaan.

Deuteronomy 18:1 In-Context

1 "And there shall not be for the Levitical priests, the whole tribe of Levi, a plot of ground and an inheritance with Israel, [rather] they may eat an offering made by fire [as] their inheritance, for Yahweh.

2 And there shall not be for them an inheritance [of land] in the midst of his brothers; [rather] Yahweh is his inheritance, [just] as he {promised} to them.

3 Now this shall be the share of the priest from the people, from {those who sacrifice the sacrifice}, [whether it is] an ox, sheep, or goat, and they shall give the priest the shoulder and the jawbones and the stomach.

4 The firstfruits of your grain, your wine, and your olive oil and the firstfruits of the fleece of your sheep you shall give to him.

5 For Yahweh your God has chosen him from [among] all your tribes to stand to minister in the name of Yahweh, he and his sons {forever}.

Footnotes

• [a]. The meaning of the Hebrew text here is uncertain; possibly it reads: "[rather] an offering by fire then they will eat as [their] inheritance/patrimony"