Numbers 3:9

9 Assign the Levites to Aaron and his sons; they have been given exclusively to him ^[a] from among the Israelites.

Numbers 3:9 Meaning and Commentary

Numbers 3:9

And thou shalt give the Levites unto Aaron and to his sons,
&c.] To be their ministers and servants:

they [are] wholly given unto him out of the children of Israel:
even all of them entirely, none excepted; the whole tribe which were not in the priestly office; those were separated from the rest of the tribes of Israel, and appointed for the service of the priests: or they were "given, given" ^F17; which is repeated not only to show that they were wholly given, as we render it, but to denote the certainty of it, that they were really given; and especially to declare the freeness of the gift; the priests had them as free gifts, nor did they pay them any thing for, their service; they were maintained another way, namely, by the tithes of the people; and indeed the priests received a tithe out of the tithe of the Levites; so far were they from contributing any thing to their support, or in consideration of the service they did them.

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FOOTNOTES:

F17 (Mynwtn Mynwtn) "dati, dati", Pagninus, Montanus, Vatablus, Drusius.

Numbers 3:9 In-Context

7 They are to perform duties for him and for the whole congregation before the Tent of Meeting, attending to the service of the tabernacle.

8 They shall take care of all the furnishings of the Tent of Meeting and fulfill obligations for the Israelites by attending to the service of the tabernacle.

9 Assign the Levites to Aaron and his sons; they have been given exclusively to him from among the Israelites.

10 So you shall appoint Aaron and his sons to carry out the duties of the priesthood; but any outsider who approaches the tabernacle must be put to death.”

11 Again the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

Footnotes

• [a] Most MT manuscripts; some MT manuscripts, SP, and LXX (see also Numbers 8:16) to Me