Numberschapter 18
32 verses · Moses, by tradition · 15th to 13th century BC · The Law
Key verse
But only you and your sons shall attend to your priesthood for everything concerning the altar and what is inside the veil, and you are to perform that service. I am giving you the work of the priesthood as a gift, but any outsider who comes near the sanctuary must be put to death.”
It stands in You shall bear the guilt of the sanctuary, verses 1 to 7.
The chapter
Chapter summary
The priests' and Levites' portion. Aaron and his sons bear the iniquity of the sanctuary; their brethren the Levites are joined unto them. All the heave offerings of holy things, the best of the oil, the best of the wine and wheat, the firstfruits. Given to Aaron and his sons as a portion. The firstborn of man redeemed at five shekels; the firstborn of the unclean beast redeemed. ‘I am thy part and thine inheritance among the children of Israel’. The priesthood holds no land because it holds the LORD. All the tithe of Israel goes to the Levites; the Levites tithe the tithe to the priests. Economic fabric of a holy people.
Context
Law · Moses · Numbers overview
The world behind this chapter
Numbers 18The history
The chapter belongs to Aaron and his sons, and to the Levites set beside them. Aaron was the high priest whose office had just been challenged and confirmed.
The rest of the history, and what it meant to them
The time is the wilderness years, following the staff that budded in chapter 17. The chapter carries no date of its own, so the year is held loosely at about 1443 BC on the same chronology the other rows of this book use. The place is the tabernacle and the camp around it, and the occasion is the cry at the end of chapter 17, where Israel said that anyone who came near the tabernacle would die.
There was no coined currency in that world, so a priest's living is listed as food and produce. It runs to portions of the grain, sin and guilt offerings, the best of the fresh oil, the new wine and the grain given as firstfruits, everything devoted, and the firstborn of clean animals. Firstborn sons and the firstborn of unclean animals were bought back at five shekels of the sanctuary weight.
Eating salt together was a pledge of faithfulness in that part of the world, and salt kept food from spoiling, so the phrase at verse 19 said that the arrangement would last. Every other tribe would hold fields with boundary stones, and Levi would eat only what Israel brought in.
What it meant to them
For Israel this tied the worship of the LORD to the harvest basket. The Levites ate when the nation kept the tithe, and they went hungry when it did not. For the priests the arrangement was sober, since they lived on the offerings of the people they were charged to keep from wrath. The chapter also answered the fear the staff had left behind, by naming who carries the danger of the sanctuary and why the guard is set.
Sources cited
- Roland de Vaux, Ancient Israel: Its Life and Institutions
- Timothy R. Ashley, The Book of Numbers (NICOT)
- Jamieson, Fausset and Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible , 1871, on Numbers 18:19
- Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible , 1832, on Numbers 18:19
- Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament , on Numbers 18:15 to 19
Where the chapter sits
Numbers 18 falls in Wilderness rebellions and instruction (chapters 15–20). Korah's rebellion; Aaron's rod that budded; waters of Meribah; Moses' striking of the rock.
Before it: From Sinai to Kadesh, chapters 11–14. After it: Approach to Moab, chapters 21–25.
The whole shape of Numbers→The structure of this chapter
The heads below are this chapter's scenes. The numbered points under each are its verses.
A. You shall bear the guilt of the sanctuary
1. (vv. 1-4)
Numbers 18:1
“The iniquity of the sanctuary - i. e. the guilt of the offences which an erring people would be continually committing against the majesty of God, when brought into contact, through the ordinances, with the manifestations of His presence. Compare the marginal reference. The iniquity of your priesthood - As the priests themselves were but men, they were strengthened to bear the iniquity of their own unintentional offences, by being entrusted with the ceremonial means of taking it away (compare Lev. 16).”
1 more voice on this verseWhat preachers and commentators have said about this verse, in their own words.
Numbers 18:1
“The coherence of this chapter with that foregoing is very observable. The people, in the close of that chapter, had complained of the difficulty and peril that there were in drawing near to God, which put them under some dreadful apprehensions that the tabernacle in the midst of them, which they hoped would have been their joy and glory, would rather be their terror and ruin.”
Matthew Henry· Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Numbers 18:2
“Thy brethren also of the tribe of Levi - may be joined unto thee - There is a fine paronomasia, or play upon words, in the original. לוי Levi comes from the root לוה lavah, to join to, couple, associate: hence Moses says, the Levites, ילוו yillavu, shall be joined, or associated with the priests; they shall conjointly perform the whole of the sacred office, but the priests shall be principal, the Levites only their associates or assistants.”
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
1 more voice on this verse
Numbers 18:2
“Unto thee - About sacrifices and offerings and other things, according to the rules I have prescribed them. The Levites are said to minister to Aaron here, to the church, chap. xvi, 9, and to God, Deut. x, 8.”
John Wesley· Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)evangelical
Numbers 18:3
“And they shall keep thy charge, and the charge of all the tabernacle,....”
Numbers 18:4
“A stranger - i. e. every one not a Levite. So in Num 18:7, it denotes each one who was not a priest: compare Num 3:10; Num 16:40.”
Chapter 17 closes with Israel crying that every one who comes near the tabernacle dies. This chapter answers that cry by fixing where the danger is carried, and it lays it on Aaron and his sons. Adam Clarke points out the play on the name in verse 2, since Levi comes from a root meaning to be joined, and the Levites are the tribe joined to the priests as their assistants. The word here comes to Aaron directly rather than through Moses, which happens three times in this chapter and rarely anywhere else in the Torah.
2. (vv. 5-7)
Numbers 18:5
“And ye shall keep the charge of the sanctuary,....”
Numbers 18:6
“And I, behold, I have taken your brethren the Levites, from among the children of Israel,.... See Gill on Num 3:12; where the same is said, only they, are here called the brethren of the priests for the reason given, Num 18:2, to you they are given as a gift for the Lord, to do the service of the tabernacle of the congregation; See Gill on Num 3:7, Num 3:8, and See Gill on Num 3:9.”
2 more voices on this verse
Numbers 18:6
“The Lord instructs here the priests that the office which they fill, and the help which they enjoy, are gifts from Him, and are to be viewed as such.”
Numbers 18:6
“To you they are given as a gift - We are to value it as a great gift of the divine bounty, to have those joined to us, that will be helpful and serviceable to us, in the service of God.”
John Wesley· Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)evangelical
Numbers 18:7
“Not, "You shall rule" (it was never intended that they should lord it over God's heritage), but "You shall serve God and the congregation." Note, The priesthood is a service. If any desire the office of a bishop he desires a good work. Ministers must remember that they are ministers, that is, servants, of whom it is required that they be humble, diligent, and faithful.”
Matthew Henry· Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
1 more voice on this verse
Numbers 18:7
“Therefore thou and thy sons with thee shall keep your priest's office,....”
Verse 5 gives the purpose of the guard, that there be no wrath any more upon the children of Israel, so the barrier around the holy things is stated as protection for the people outside it. Verse 7 calls the priesthood a service of gift, which describes the office Korah demanded at 16:10 as something handed over. Matthew Henry reads the same verse as ruling out lordship, since what is given is service to God and to the congregation. The sentence on a stranger who comes near repeats 3:10, and 16:35 had just carried it out on the two hundred and fifty men with censers.
B. I am your portion and your inheritance
1. (vv. 8-14)
Numbers 18:8
“Godliness has the promise of the life that now is. And from this plentiful provision here made for the priests the apostle infers that it is the duty of Christian churches to maintain their ministers; those that served at the altar lived upon the altar. So those that preach the gospel should live upon the gospel, and live comfortably, 1 Cor. ix.”
Matthew Henry· Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Numbers 18:9
“Most holy - Such as were to be eaten only by the priests, and that in the sanctuary. Reserved - That is, such sacrifices or parts of sacrifices as were not burnt in the fire. Render unto me - By way of compensation for a trespass committed against me, in which case a ram was to be offered, which was a most holy thing, and may be particularly designed here.”
John Wesley· Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)evangelical
Numbers 18:10
“In the most holy place - Rather, “among the most holy things;” as in Num 4:4: i. e. “As the most holy of things shalt thou eat it.” Accordingly, only the males of the priestly families could eat of the things here specified.”
1 more voice on this verse
Numbers 18:10
“In the most holy place - In the court of the priests, where there were places for this use, which is called the most holy place, not simply and absolutely, but in respect of the thing he speaks of because this was the most holy of all the places appointed for eating holy things, whereof some might be eaten in any clean place in the camp, or in their own house.”
John Wesley· Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)evangelical
Numbers 18:12
“All the best of the oil, and all the best of the wine, and of the wheat,....”
1 more voice on this verse
Numbers 18:12
“Note, We must always serve and honour God with the best we have, for he is the best, and best deserves it; he is the first, and therefore must have the first ripe. Those that think to save charges by putting God off with the refuse do but deceive themselves, for God is not mocked.”
Matthew Henry· Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Numbers 18:13
“And whatsoever is first ripe in the land,.... Of any other sort of fruit, figs, pomegranates, apples, plums, pears, &c. besides olives and vines: which they shall bring unto the Lord, shall be thine; which they shall bring in a basket to the tabernacle, where it was, or to the temple, when built: this the priests were to have, see Deu 26:2, everyone that is clean in thine house shall eat of it; See Gill on Num 18:11.”
1 more voice on this verse
Numbers 18:13
“Whatsoever is first ripe - Not only the first-fruits of the oil and wine, and wheat now mentioned, but all other first-fruits of all other grains, and all fruit trees.”
John Wesley· Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)evangelical
Numbers 18:14
“Every thing devoted in Israel shall be thine. Fields, houses, cattle, &c. if absolutely devoted to the Lord, they were the priest's; but if devoted to certain uses, they were appropriated to those uses, as the repairs of the temple, &c. see Lev 27:1.”
1 more voice on this verse
Numbers 18:14
“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.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown· Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
The portions are sorted by two rules and the text marks the difference without explaining it. The most holy things of verses 9 and 10 are eaten by the males of the priestly families inside the sanctuary, while the heave offerings, the wave offerings and the firstfruits of verses 11 to 13 are eaten by every clean person in the priest's house, daughters included. Albert Barnes reads the phrase in the most holy place at verse 10 as among the most holy things, which turns the sentence from a place into a class. Paul cites this arrangement by name at 1 Corinthians 9:13, that they which minister about holy things live of the things of the temple.
2. (vv. 15-19)
Numbers 18:15
Every only child is a firstborn child; but not every firstborn is an only child. A firstborn child is not only one after whom other children are also born but also one before whom no other child is born. "All that opens the womb," says the Lord to Aaron, "of all flesh that are offered to the Lord, of men and beasts, shall belong to you; only the firstborn of men shall be redeemed with a price and the firstborn of beasts that are unclean." The Word of God defined what was meant by a "firstborn."
Jerome· written before 420· AGAINST HELVIDIUS 10patristic
Numbers 18:16
“Shalt thou redeem - for the money of five shekels - Redemption of the first-born is one of the rites which is still practiced among the Jews. According to Leo of Modena, it is performed in the following manner: - When the child is thirty days old, the father sends for one of the descendants of Aaron: several persons being assembled on the occasion, the father brings a cup containing several pieces of gold and silver coin. The priest then takes the child into his arms, and addressing himself to the mother, says: Is this thy son? Mother. Yes. Priest.”
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
1 more voice on this verse
Numbers 18:16
“Those that are to be redeemed - Namely, of men only, not of unclean beasts, as is manifest from the time and price of redemption here mentioned, both which agree to men; the time, ver. 16, the price, chap. iii, 46, 47, but neither agree to unclean beasts, which were to be redeemed with a sheep, Exod. xiii, 13, and that after it was eight days old.”
John Wesley· Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)evangelical
Numbers 18:17
“But the firstling of a cow, or the firstling of a sheep, or the firstling of a goat, thou shalt not redeem,....”
Numbers 18:19
“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).”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown· Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
The claim on the firstborn made at Exodus 13:2 comes back here as income for the priests, and the five shekels of verse 16 is the price Numbers 3:46-51 set when the Levites were counted against the firstborn of Israel. Clean and unclean are separated in the payment, since a clean firstling is killed with its blood sprinkled and its flesh given to the priest, while a man and an unclean beast are bought back with money. Verse 19 calls the arrangement a covenant of salt, a phrase used of the meat offering at Leviticus 2:13 and of the throne of David at 2 Chronicles 13:5. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown tie it to the eating of salt as a pledge of fidelity in the East, which makes the shared meal the sign of the bond.
3. (v. 20)
Numbers 18:20
Indeed, do you wish to know what the difference is between the priests of God and the priests of Pharaoh? Pharaoh grants lands to his priests. The Lord, on the other hand, does not grant his priests a portion in the land but says to them, "I am your portion."
Origen of Alexandria· written before 253· HOMILIES ON GENESIS 16:5patristic
1 more voice on this verse
Numbers 18:20
“I am thy part and thine inheritance - The principal part of what was offered to God was the portion of the priests, therefore they had no inheritance of land in Israel; independently of that they had a very ample provision for their support. The rabbins say twenty-four gifts were given to the priests, and they are all expressed in the law. Eight of those gifts the priests ate nowhere but in the sanctuary: these eight are the following: - 1. The flesh of the Sin-Offering, whether of beasts or fowls, Lev 6:25, Lev 6:26.”
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Numbers 18:20-24
Every portion listed above this verse exists because of it. Aaron is told he will hold no ground in the land, and the portion named in its place is God himself, I am thy part and thine inheritance among the children of Israel. Joshua 13:14 and 13:33 record the rule being kept when the land was actually divided, and Deuteronomy 18:1-2 repeats it to the next generation. Albert Barnes observes that Abraham paid tithes to Melchizedek long before this at Genesis 14:20, and that verse 21 is where the tithe is first assigned to the Levites, which Hebrews 7:5 takes up by name.
C. The tithe of Israel belongs to Levivv. 21-24
Numbers 18:21
“Abraham paid tithes to Melchizedek: Jacob had promised the tithe of all wherewith God blessed him if he should return in peace to his father’s house. But now first the Lord’s tithes are assigned to the Levites for their support (compare Lev 27:30). The payment of tithes to them is recognized in Neh 10:37; Neh 12:44; Tobit 1:7.”
Numbers 18:22
“Neither must the children of Israel henceforth come nigh the tabernacle of the congregation,....”
1 more voice on this verse
Numbers 18:22
“The Levites have the honour of attending the tabernacle, which is denied the Israelites; but then the Israelites have the honour of inheritances in Canaan, which is denied the Levites; thus each is kept from either envying or despising the other, and both have reason to rejoice in their lot.”
Matthew Henry· Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Numbers 18:23
“Bear their iniquity - The words probably refer to the iniquity of the people; who would, had they approached the tabernacle have fallen, from their proneness to transgress, into overt acts of offence. Against such a result they were, through the ministrations of the Levites, mercifully protected. Compare Num 18:1.”
2 more voices on this verse
Numbers 18:23
“Their iniquity - The punishment due not only for their own, but also for the people's miscarriage, if it be committed through their connivance or negligence. And this was the reason why the priests withstood King Uzziah, when he would have burnt incense to the Lord.”
John Wesley· Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)evangelical
Numbers 18:23
“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.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown· Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
Numbers 18:24
“Here the tithes (and in Num 18:26 the priestly tithes) are to be dedicated to their purpose by the ceremony of heaving them to the Lord. The tithes, being solemnly set apart for sacred purposes, became virtually a heave-offering, like the gifts for the tabernacle Exo 25:2.”
1 more voice on this verse
Numbers 18:24
“An heave-offering - An acknowledgment that they have all their land and the fruits of it from God's bounty. Note the word heave-offering, which is for the most part understood of a particular kind of offerings heaved or lifted up to the Lord, is here used for any offering.”
John Wesley· Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)evangelical
D. Levi tithes too: the best of the bestvv. 25-32
This word goes to Moses rather than to Aaron, and John Gill records the reason Aben Ezra gives, that the order concerned a payment into Aaron's own house. The Levites hand over a tenth of the tithe they receive, and verses 27 and 30 say it is reckoned to them as though it were the corn of their own threshingfloor and the fulness of their own winepress, so men with no fields are credited with a harvest. What they give up is the best of it, the standard verse 12 had already set for Israel. The last verse warns them against polluting the holy things, and calls what they eat a reward for their service in the tabernacle.
Numbers 18:25
“And the Lord spake unto Moses,.... And not unto Aaron, because a tithe out of the tithe was to be given to Aaron, as Aben Ezra observes, and it was not so proper that he should have this order to deliver to the Levites, in which he and his sons were so much concerned, and therefore it was given to Moses to acquaint them of it: saying; as follows.”
Numbers 18:26
“Assuredly it is not probable that in the same year double tithes were exacted and paid. Let this twofold division, therefore, be enough for us. A larger portion was given to the priests, not only as an honorable distinction, but. because greater holiness and integrity in expending them was expected from them; and also that they might meet many peculiar burdens.”
John Calvin· Commentaries (1554)reformed
Numbers 18:27
“Reckoned unto you - Or, by you. The Levites were, of their tithes, to pay tithe to the priests, just as other Israelites paid tithe to the Levites.”
Numbers 18:28
“It is the probable conjecture of the learned bishop Patrick that the tenth of this last tenth was reserved for the high priest himself, to support his state and dignity; for otherwise we read not of any peculiar provision made for him.”
Matthew Henry· Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Numbers 18:29
“Out of all your gifts ye shall offer every heave offering of the Lord,....”
2 more voices on this verse
Numbers 18:29
“Out of all your gifts - The spirit of this law would extend to all the revenues of the Levites; of the increase of their cattle, as well as of their tithes, a tithe would be paid by them for the Lord’s service.”
Numbers 18:29
“As many gifts, so many heave-offerings; you shall reserve a part out of each of them for the priest. The hallowed part - the tenth part, which was the part or proportion that God hallowed or sanctified to himself as his proper portion.”
John Wesley· Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)evangelical
Numbers 18:30
“Therefore thou shalt say unto them,....”
Numbers 18:31
“But since by God's command they were scattered over the whole land, and did not cease to be ministers of the tabernacle on account of the distance of their residence, it was justly permitted that, wherever they might be, they should eat of the meat appointed them by God.”
John Calvin· Commentaries (1554)reformed
Numbers 18:32
“Neither shall ye pollute the holy things - As you will do, if you abuse their holy offerings, by reserving that entirely to yourselves, which they offer to God to be disposed as he hath appointed, namely, part to you, and part to the priests.”
John Wesley· Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)evangelical
3 more voices on this verse
Numbers 18:32
“Neither shall ye pollute ... - Rather, and by not polluting the holy things of the children of Israel, ye shall not die.”
Numbers 18:32
“It is your reward for your service; that meat is the best eating that is first earned; but, if any will not work, neither shall he eat, 2 Thess. iii. And that seems to be spoken of as having a particular comfort and satisfaction in it which is the reward of faithful service done in the tabernacle of the congregation. [2.] We must be sure that God has his dues out of it.”
Matthew Henry· Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Numbers 18:32
“And ye shall bear no sin by reason of it,....”
This page carries no textual note on Numbers 18. Where this site has examined a place the manuscripts differ, the examination is in the manuscripts room. Every place this site examines →
Sources for this chapter
The summary
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory; John Calvin, Commentaries; John Wesley, Notes on the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Complete Commentary.
The exposition
Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Calvin, Commentary on the Four Last Books of Moses Arranged in the Form of a Harmony; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: The Pentateuch and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.
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