Numbers 18:1
in Numbers 18So the LORD said to Aaron, “You and your sons and your father’s house must bear the iniquity involving the sanctuary. And you and your sons alone must bear the iniquity involving your priesthood.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And Jehovah said unto Aaron, Thou and thy sons and thy fathers’ house with thee shall bear the iniquity of the sanctuary; and thou and thy sons with thee shall bear the iniquity of your priesthood.
KJV
And the Lord said unto Aaron, Thou and thy sons and thy father’s house with thee shall bear the iniquity of the sanctuary: and thou and thy sons with thee shall bear the iniquity of your priesthood.
⋯
This verse in Numbers 18
Commentary
7 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
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).
This site's exposition
shall bear the iniquity of the sanctuary
on Numbers 18:1-4
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.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening4 voices
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.
Thus the people are in good measure secured against their fears. Also they are informed that Aaron's high dignity was attended with great burdens, having not only his own, but the people's sins to answer for; and therefore they had no such reason to envy him, if the benefits and dangers were equally considered.
And the Lord spake unto Aaron,....
Note, The greater the trust is of work and power that is committed to us the greater is our danger of contracting guilt, by falsifying and betraying that trust.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
Thou and thy sons - shall bear the iniquity of the sanctuary, etc. - That is, They must be answerable for its legal pollutions, and must make the necessary atonements and expiations. By this they must feel that though they had got a high and important office confirmed to them by a miraculous interference, yet it was a place of the highest responsibility; and that they must not be high-minded, but fear.
The words behind it
20 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיֹּ֤אמֶר | vaiyomer | and he said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| יְהוָה֙ | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| אֶֽל־ | ʾel- | to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| אַהֲרֹ֔ן | ʾaharon | Aaron | H175 → | 347 times |
| אַתָּ֗ה | ʾatah | you | H859 → | 1094 times |
| וּבָנֶ֤יךָ | uvaneikha | and sons your | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| וּבֵית־ | uveit- | and [the] house of | H1004 → | 2046 times |
| אָבִ֙יךָ֙ | ʾavikha | ancestor your | H1 → | 1212 times |
| אִתָּ֔ךְ | ʾitakh | with you | H854 → | 929 times |
| תִּשְׂא֖וּ | tisu | you will bear | H5375 → | 656 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| עֲוֹ֣ן | ʾavon | [the] guilt of | H5771 → | 233 times |
| הַמִּקְדָּ֑שׁ | hamikdash | the sanctuary | H4720 → | 75 times |
| וְאַתָּה֙ | veatah | and you | H859 → | 1094 times |
| וּבָנֶ֣יךָ | uvaneikha | and sons your | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| אִתָּ֔ךְ | ʾitakh | with you | H854 → | 929 times |
| תִּשְׂא֖וּ | tisu | you will bear | H5375 → | 656 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| עֲוֹ֥ן | ʾavon | [the] guilt of | H5771 → | 233 times |
| כְּהֻנַּתְכֶֽם׃ | kehunatkhem | priesthood your | H3550 → | 14 times |
וַיֹּ֤אמֶרand he said
vaiyomerH559 →5305 times
יְהוָה֙Yahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
אֶֽל־to
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
אַהֲרֹ֔ןAaron
ʾaharonH175 →347 times
אַתָּ֗הyou
ʾatahH859 →1094 times
וּבָנֶ֤יךָand sons your
uvaneikhaH1121 →4930 times
וּבֵית־and [the] house of
uveit-H1004 →2046 times
אָבִ֙יךָ֙ancestor your
ʾavikhaH1 →1212 times
אִתָּ֔ךְwith you
ʾitakhH854 →929 times
תִּשְׂא֖וּyou will bear
tisuH5375 →656 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
עֲוֹ֣ן[the] guilt of
ʾavonH5771 →233 times
הַמִּקְדָּ֑שׁthe sanctuary
hamikdashH4720 →75 times
וְאַתָּה֙and you
veatahH859 →1094 times
וּבָנֶ֣יךָand sons your
uvaneikhaH1121 →4930 times
אִתָּ֔ךְwith you
ʾitakhH854 →929 times
תִּשְׂא֖וּyou will bear
tisuH5375 →656 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
עֲוֹ֥ן[the] guilt of
ʾavonH5771 →233 times
כְּהֻנַּתְכֶֽם׃priesthood your
kehunatkhemH3550 →14 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
1 Peter 2:24He Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. “By His stripes you are healed.”
it leads to
- Isaiah 53:4–6
Surely He took on our infirmities and carried our sorrows; yet we considered Him stricken by God, struck down and afflicted.
- Matthew 8:17
This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah: “He took on our infirmities and carried our diseases.”
- Romans 6:11
So you too must count yourselves dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus.
- Revelation 22:2
down the middle of the main street of the city. On either side of the river stood a tree of life, bearing twelve kinds of fruit and yielding a fresh crop for each month.…
- 1 John 2:29
If you know that He is righteous, you also know that everyone who practices righteousness has been born of Him.
- Isaiah 53:4–6
Through
Hebrews 4:15For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who was tempted in every way that we are, yet was without sin.
it leads to
- Hebrews 2:17–18
For this reason He had to be made like His brothers in every way, so that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, in order to make atonement…
- 2 Corinthians 5:21
God made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.
- Isaiah 53:4–5
Surely He took on our infirmities and carried our sorrows; yet we considered Him stricken by God, struck down and afflicted.
- Hebrews 2:17–18
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Numbers
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.