Numbers 18

Nu 18:1-7.

THE

CHARGE OF THE

PRIESTS AND

LEVITES.

1. the Lord said unto Aaron, Thou and thy sons and thy father's house

with thee shall bear the iniquity of the sanctuary--Security is here

given to the people from the fears expressed

(Nu 17:12),

upon the priesthood, together with the penalties incurred through

neglect; and thus the solemn responsibilities annexed to their high

dignity, of having to answer not only for their own sins, but also for

the sins of the people, were calculated in a great measure to remove

all feeling of envy at the elevation of Aaron's family, when the honor

was weighed in the balance with its burdens and dangers.

2-7. thy brethren also of the tribe of Levi--The departments of the

sacred office, to be filled respectively by the priests and Levites,

are here assigned to each. To the priests was committed the charge of

the sanctuary and the altar, while the Levites were to take care of

everything else about the tabernacle. The Levites were to attend the

priests as servants--bestowed on them as "gifts" to aid in the service

of the tabernacle--while the high and dignified office of the

priesthood was a "service of gift." "A stranger," that is, one, neither

a priest nor a Levite, who should intrude into any departments of the

sacred office, should incur the penalty of death.

Nu 18:8-20.

THE

PRIESTS'

PORTION.

8-13. the Lord spake unto Aaron, Behold, I also have given thee the

charge of my heave offerings--A recapitulation is made in this passage

of certain perquisites specially appropriated to the maintenance of the

priests. They were parts of the votive and freewill offerings,

including both meat and bread, wine and oil, and the first-fruits,

which formed a large and valuable item.

14. Every thing devoted in Israel shall be thine--provided it was

adapted for food or consumable by use; for the gold and silver vessels

that were dedicated as the spoils of victory were not given to the

priests, but for the use and adornment of the sacred edifice.

19. it is a covenant of salt--that is, a perpetual ordinance. This

figurative form of expression was evidently founded on the conservative

property of salt, which keeps meat from corruption; and hence it became

an emblem of inviolability and permanence. It is a common phrase among

Oriental people, who consider the eating of salt a pledge of fidelity,

binding them in a covenant of friendship. Hence the partaking of the

altar meats, which were appropriated to the priests on condition of

their services and of which salt formed a necessary accompaniment, was

naturally called "a covenant of salt"

(Le 2:13).

Nu 18:21-32.

THE

LEVITES'

PORTION.

21, 22. I have given the children of Levi all the tenth in Israel for

an inheritance, for their service which they serve--Neither the priests

nor the Levites were to possess any allotments of land but to depend

entirely upon Him who liberally provided for them out of His own

portion; and this law was subservient to many important purposes--such

as that, being exempted from the cares and labors of worldly business,

they might be exclusively devoted to His service; that a bond of mutual

love and attachment might be formed between the people and the Levites,

who, as performing religious services for the people, derived their

subsistence from them; and further, that being the more easily

dispersed among the different tribes, they might be more useful in

instructing and directing the people.

23. But the Levites shall do the service of the tabernacle of the

congregation: they shall bear their iniquity--They were to be

responsible for the right discharge of those duties that were assigned

to them, and consequently to bear the penalty that was due to

negligence or carelessness in the guardianship of the holy things.

26. the Levites . . . offer . . . a tenth of the tithe--Out of their

own they were to pay tithes to the priests equally as the people gave

to them. The best of their tithes was to be assigned to the priests,

and afterwards they enjoyed the same liberty to make use of the

remainder that other Israelites had of the produce of their

threshing-floors and wine-presses.

32. ye shall bear no sin by reason of it, &c.--Neglect in having the

best entailed sin in the use of such unhallowed food. And the holy

things would be polluted by the reservation to themselves of what

should be offered to God and the priests.