Numbers 18:2

2 and also thy brethren, the tribe of Levi, the tribe of thy father, bring near with thee, and they are joined unto thee, and serve thee, even thou and thy sons with thee, before the tent of the testimony.

Numbers 18:2 Meaning and Commentary

Numbers 18:2

And to thy brethren also of the tribe of Levi, the tribe of
thy father
For his father Amram was of that tribe, and so the Levites were his brethren, as he is directed to consider them; which might serve to conciliate their minds, and make them easy with respect to his enjoyment of the priesthood: bring them with thee;
into the court of the tabernacle, for further they might not go: that they maybe joined unto thee:
as their name of Levites signifies, persons joined and united to others, as they were to the priests: see reason of their patriarch's name Levi in ( Genesis 29:34 ) ; and minister unto thee:
be assisting to the priests in killing the sacrifices, receiving the blood, and flaying the beasts, and in other things about the sanctuary, ( Numbers 3:6 ) ; but thou, and thy sons with thee, [shall minister] before the
tabernacle of witness;
which was the most holy place, where were the ark of the testimony or witness, and the tables of the covenant; and they might be said to minister before that, when they ministered in the holy place, which was before it, when they burned incense upon the altar of incense, ordered the shewbread, and trimmed the lamps of the candlestick, which none but the priests the sons of Aaron might do.

Numbers 18:2 In-Context

1 And Jehovah saith unto Aaron, `Thou, and thy sons, and the house of thy father with thee, do bear the iniquity of the sanctuary; and thou, and thy sons with thee, do bear the iniquity of your priesthood;

2 and also thy brethren, the tribe of Levi, the tribe of thy father, bring near with thee, and they are joined unto thee, and serve thee, even thou and thy sons with thee, before the tent of the testimony.

3 `And they have kept thy charge, and the charge of all the tent; only, unto the vessels of the sanctuary and unto the altar they do not come near, and they die not, either they or you;

4 and they have been joined unto thee, and have kept the charge of the tent of meeting, for all the service of the tent; and a stranger doth not come near unto you;

5 and ye have kept the charge of the sanctuary, and the charge of the altar, and there is no more wrath against the sons of Israel.