Numbers 18:8-24

8 Then the LORD spoke to Aaron, "Behold, 1I have given you charge of the contributions made to me, all the consecrated things of the people of Israel. I have given them to you 2as a portion and to your sons as a perpetual due.
9 This shall be yours of the most holy things, reserved from the fire: every offering of theirs, every grain offering of theirs and every 3sin offering of theirs and every 4guilt offering of theirs, which they render to me, shall be most holy to you and to your sons.
10 In a most holy place shall you eat it. Every male may eat it; it is holy to you.
11 This also is yours: the contribution of their gift, all the 5wave offerings of the people of Israel. I have given them to 6you, and to your sons and daughters with you, as a perpetual due. 7Everyone who is clean in your house may eat it.
12 8All the best of the oil and all the best of the wine and of the grain, 9the firstfruits of what they give to the LORD, I give to you.
13 The first ripe fruits of all that is in their land, 10which they bring to the LORD, shall be yours. 11Everyone who is clean in your house may eat it.
14 12Every devoted thing in Israel shall be yours.
15 13Everything that opens the womb of all flesh, whether man or beast, which they offer to the LORD, shall be yours. Nevertheless, 14the firstborn of man you shall redeem, and the firstborn of unclean animals you shall redeem.
16 And their redemption price 15(at a month old you shall redeem them) you shall fix at five shekels[a] in silver, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, 16which is twenty gerahs.
17 17But the firstborn of a cow, or the firstborn of a sheep, or the firstborn of a goat, you shall not redeem; they are holy. You shall sprinkle their blood on the altar and shall burn their fat as a food offering, with a pleasing aroma to the LORD.
18 But their flesh shall be yours, as 18the breast that is waved and as the right thigh are yours.
19 19All the holy contributions that the people of Israel present to the LORD I give to you, and to your sons and daughters with you, as a perpetual due. 20It is a covenant of salt forever before the LORD for you and for your offspring with you."
20 And the LORD said to Aaron, "You shall have no inheritance in their land, neither shall you have any portion among them. 21I am your portion and your inheritance among the people of Israel.
21 22"To the Levites I have given every tithe in Israel for an inheritance, in return for their service that they do, their service in the tent of meeting,
22 23so that the people of Israel do not come near the tent of meeting, 24lest they bear sin and die.
23 But 25the Levites shall do the service of the tent of meeting, 26and they shall bear their iniquity. It shall be a perpetual statute throughout your generations, and among the people of Israel they shall have no inheritance.
24 For the tithe of the people of Israel, which 27they present as a contribution to the LORD, I have given to the Levites for an inheritance. Therefore I have said of them that they shall have no inheritance 28among the people of Israel."

Numbers 18:8-24 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO NUMBERS 18

This chapter gives an account of the distinct work and service of the priests and Levites, Nu 18:1-7; and of several things given to the priests for their maintenance, Nu 18:8-19; and of the tithes the Levites should have to live upon, since they were to have no inheritance in the land of Israel, Nu 18:20-24; and of the tenth out of those tithes they were to give to the high priest, Nu 18:25-32.

Cross References 28

  • 1. Numbers 5:9; Leviticus 7:32
  • 2. Exodus 29:29; Exodus 40:13, 15
  • 3. Leviticus 4:22, 27; Leviticus 6:25, 26
  • 4. Leviticus 7:7; Leviticus 14:13
  • 5. Exodus 29:27, 28; Leviticus 7:30, 34
  • 6. Leviticus 10:14; [Deuteronomy 18:3]
  • 7. [Lev. 22:2, 3, 11-13]
  • 8. Deuteronomy 18:4
  • 9. Exodus 23:19; Exodus 34:26; Nehemiah 10:35, 36
  • 10. Exodus 22:29; Leviticus 2:14; Deuteronomy 26:2
  • 11. [See ver. 11 above]
  • 12. Leviticus 27:28
  • 13. See Exodus 13:2
  • 14. Exodus 13:13; Exodus 34:20
  • 15. Numbers 3:47; Leviticus 27:2, 6
  • 16. See Exodus 30:13
  • 17. Deuteronomy 15:19
  • 18. Exodus 29:26, 28; Lev. 7:31, 32, 34
  • 19. ver. 11
  • 20. Leviticus 2:13; 2 Chronicles 13:5
  • 21. ver. 23, 24; Deuteronomy 10:9; Deuteronomy 12:12; Deuteronomy 14:27; Deuteronomy 18:1, 2; Joshua 13:33; Joshua 14:3; Joshua 18:7; Ezekiel 44:28
  • 22. ver. 24, 26; Leviticus 27:30, 32; Deuteronomy 14:22; Nehemiah 10:37; Nehemiah 12:44; Heb. 7:5, 8, 9; [Genesis 14:20; Genesis 28:22]
  • 23. See Numbers 1:51
  • 24. Leviticus 22:9
  • 25. Numbers 3:7
  • 26. ver. 1
  • 27. ver. 19, 26, 29
  • 28. ver. 20, 21, 26

Footnotes 1

  • [a]. A shekel was about 2/5 ounce or 11 grams
The English Standard Version is published with the permission of Good News Publishers.