Numbers 18:1-7

The Duties of the Priests and Levities

1 Yahweh said to Aaron, "You, your sons, and your family with you will bear the guilt of the sanctuary, and you and your sons with you will bear the guilt of your priesthood.
2 Moreover, bring your brothers with you, the tribe of Levi the tribe of your father, that they may be joined to you and minister [to] you, you and your sons with you before the tent of testimony.
3 They will keep your responsibility and the responsibility of all the tent, only they may not come near the vessels of the sanctuary and the altar, so both you and they will not die.
4 They will be joined to you, and they will keep the responsibility of the tent of assembly for the entire service of the tent; a stranger may not come near you.
5 You will keep the responsibility of the sanctuary and the responsibility of the altar, and there will no longer be wrath on the {Israelites}.
6 Look, I myself have chosen your brothers the Levites from the midst of the children. They are a gift to you given from Yahweh to perform the work of the tent of assembly.
7 But you with your sons will keep your priesthood to perform your priestly duties for everything at the altar and for {the area behind the curtain}. I give you the priesthood as a gift, but the stranger who approaches will be put to death."

Numbers 18:1-7 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.

Footnotes 3

  • [a]. Literally "sons/children of Israel"
  • [b]. Or "for all the things of the altar"
  • [c]. Literally "the house of the curtain"
Scripture quotations marked (LEB) are from the Lexham English Bible. Copyright 2012 Logos Bible Software. Lexham is a registered trademark of Logos Bible Software.