Numbers 18:31

31 You and your households are free to eat the rest of it anytime and anyplace - it's your wages for your work at the Tent of Meeting.

Numbers 18:31 Meaning and Commentary

Numbers 18:31

And ye shall eat it in every place
In any of their tents or dwelling houses, not being obliged to eat it in the tabernacle, where the priests, were obliged to eat many of their holy things, and second tithes were only to be eaten at Jerusalem, ( Deuteronomy 14:22 Deuteronomy 14:23 ) ; but the Levites might eat theirs any where, in any place, clean or unclean, according to Jarchi; for, he says, it might be eaten even in a graveyard; but Aben Ezra much better, in a clean place, be that where it would:

ye, and your households;
they and their wives, their sons and daughters, their servants, whether bought or hired; and they might sell it to strangers, to purchase other necessaries with. The Targum of Jonathan interprets this of the priests; but the Levites only are plainly spoken of:

for it [is] your reward for your service in the tabernacle of the
congregation;
which is said to encourage them in their work, and animate them to it, as well as to clear their right to such a maintenance against all objections; for the labourer is worthy of his reward, as those that labour in the word and doctrine are of theirs, ( 1 Timothy 5:17 1 Timothy 5:18 ) .

Numbers 18:31 In-Context

29 Make sure that God's portion is the best and holiest of everything you get.
30 "Tell the Levites, When you offer the best part, the rest will be treated the same as grain from the threshing floor or wine from the wine vat that others give.
31 You and your households are free to eat the rest of it anytime and anyplace - it's your wages for your work at the Tent of Meeting.
32 By offering the best part, you'll avoid guilt, you won't desecrate the holy offerings of the People of Israel, and you won't die."
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.