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The Pulpit Commentary on Numbers 18:6
I have taken your brethren the Levites. See on Numbers 3:9; Numbers 8:19.
The Pulpit Commentary on Numbers 18:7
Shall keep your priests' office for everything of the altar, and within the vail. That the Levites were made over to Aaron and his sons to relieve them of a great part of the mere routine and drudgery of their service w…
Matthew Henry on Numbers 18:8-19
All believers are spiritual priests, and God has promised to take care of them. Godliness has the promise of the life that now is. And from the provision here made for the priests, the apostle shows that it is the duty…
Matthew Henry on Numbers 18:8-19
The priest's service is called a warfare; and who goes a warfare at his own charges? As they were well employed, so they were well provided for, and well paid. None shall serve God for nought. All believers are spiritua…
The Pulpit Commentary on Numbers 18:8-20
THE PROVISION FOR THE PRIESTS Already, upon different occasions, something has been said as to parts of certain offerings being reserved for Aaron and his sons (Exodus 29:28, Exodus 29:31-33; Le Exodus 2:3, Exodus 2:10;…
The Pulpit Commentary on Numbers 18:8
And the Lord spake unto Aaron. The charge and responsibility of the priests having been declared, the provision for their maintenance is now to be set forth. The charge, מִשְׁמֶרֶת, as in Numbers 18:5, &c.; but here it…
The Pulpit Commentary on Numbers 18:9
Reserved from fire, i.e; from the sacrificial altar. Every oblation of theirs. As specified in the following clauses. The burnt offering is not mentioned because it was wholly consumed, and only the skin fell to the pri…
The Pulpit Commentary on Numbers 18:10
In the most holy place thou shalt eat it. בְּקֹדֶשׁ הַדָקֹּשִׁים. Septuagint, ἐν τῷ ἀγίῳ τῶν ἁγίων. This expression is somewhat perplexing, because it stands commonly for the holy of holies (Exodus 26:33). As i…
The Pulpit Commentary on Numbers 18:11
And this is thine. Here begins a second list of holy gifts which might be eaten at home by all members of the priestly families who were clean; they included
The Pulpit Commentary on Numbers 18:12
All the best. Literally, "all the fat" (cf. Genesis 45:18).
The Pulpit Commentary on Numbers 18:14
Everything devoted. כָּל־חֵרֶם. Septuagint, πᾶν ἀνατεθεματισμένον, all deodands, or things vowed (see on Le 27:28).
The Pulpit Commentary on Numbers 18:16
From a month old. Literally, "from the monthly child," as soon as they reach the age of one month. According to thine estimation. See on Le Numbers 5:15; Numbers 27:2-7. It would seem that the priest was to make the val…
The Pulpit Commentary on Numbers 18:17
But the firstling of a cow, &c. Only those things which were not available for sacrifice could be redeemed; the rest must be offered to him that claimed them. The first-born of men belonged partially to both classes: on…
The Pulpit Commentary on Numbers 18:18
The flesh of them shall be thine, as the wave breast and as the right shoulder are thine. This is on the face of it inconsistent with the direction given in Deuteronomy 15:19, Deuteronomy 15:20, that the flesh of the fi…
The Pulpit Commentary on Numbers 18:19
All the heave offerings of the holy things. Those, viz; enumerated from Numbers 18:9. It is a covenant of salt for ever. Septuagint, διαθήκη ἀλὸς αἰωνίου (cf. 2 Chronicles 13:5). Salt was the natural emblem of that…
The Pulpit Commentary on Numbers 18:19
A COVENANT OF SALT God has defined the provisions for the priesthood, and indicated in what certainty and sufficiency they would come. He also indicates the permanency of the supply. The things given would be given to A…
Matthew Henry on Numbers 18:20-32
As Israel was a people not to be numbered among the nations, so Levi was a tribe to be distinguished from the rest. Those who have God for their Inheritance and their Portion for ever, ought to look with holy contempt a…
The Priests and Levites Provided For. (b. c. 1490.)
THE PRIESTS AND LEVITES PROVIDED FOR. (B. C. 1490.) Here is a further account of the provision that was made both for the Levites and for the priests, out of the country. I. They must have no inheritance in the land; on…
The Pulpit Commentary on Numbers 18:20
GOD, THE BEST INHERITANCE The tribe of Levi was left out in the division of the land. Some of its members might have wished to be landowners rather than Levites. Yet their loss was a special privilege, for they were sel…
The Pulpit Commentary on Numbers 18:20
Thou shalt have no inheritance in their land. The priests had of necessity homes wherein to live when not on duty, but they had no territory of their own in the same sense as Jews of other tribes. I am thy part and thin…
The Pulpit Commentary on Numbers 18:21
All the tenth. The tithe of all fruits and flocks had been already claimed absolutely by the Lord (Le 27:30, 32). It is probable indeed that the giving of tithes had been more or less a matter of obligation from time im…
The Pulpit Commentary on Numbers 18:22
Lest they boar sin, and die. לָשֵׂאת חֵטְא לָמוּת. Septuagint, λαβεῖν ἀμαρτίαν θανατηφόρον. In the sense of incurring sin, and the consequent wrath and death.
The Pulpit Commentary on Numbers 18:23
And they shall bear ( יִשְׂאוּ) their iniquity. The Levites were to take the responsibility of the general iniquity so far as approach to the tabernacle was concerned. They have no inheritance. Like the priests, they ha…
The Pulpit Commentary on Numbers 18:24
As an heave offering. This means nothing more than an "offering" apparently. It is not to be supposed that any ritual was observed in the giving of tithes.