This chapter gives an account of the distinct work and service of the priests and Levites, Num. 18:1–7; and of several things given to the priests for their maintenance, Num.

And the Lord spake unto Aaron As the things spoken were such as concerned Aaron, he might be only and immediately spoken unto: thou, and thy sons, and thy father’s house with thee; meaning both priests and Levites, the priests by him and his sons, and the Levites by his father’s house: shall bear…

And to thy brethren also of the tribe of Levi, the tribe of thy father For his father Amram was of that tribe, and so the Levites were his brethren, as he is directed to consider them; which might serve to conciliate their minds, and make them easy with respect to his enjoyment of the priesthood:…

And they shall keep thy charge, and the charge of all the tabernacle That is, the Levites, whatever Aaron and his sons, the priests, should charge them to do, or commit to their care and charge, that they should observe; as to watch and keep out all unfit persons, to take down and set up the…

And they shall be joined unto thee As assistants in the sacred service: and keep the charge of tabernacle of the congregation, for all the service of the tabernacle; (See Gill on Num. 3:7) and (See Gill on Num.

And ye shall keep the charge of the sanctuary That is, the priests, Aaron and his sons; the high priest was to keep the charge of the most holy place particularly, and do what was to be done in that on the day of atonement; and the common priests to keep the charge of the holy place, and do…

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, ; to you they are given as a gift for the Lord, to do the service of the tabernacle…

Therefore thou and thy sons with thee shall keep your priest’s office Observe all the duties of it, and keep out others from intruding into it: for everything of the altar: both of incense and of burnt offering with respect to burning incense on the one, and offering sacrifices on the other; both…

And the Lord spake unto Aaron Having pointed out to him the duty of his office, he now informs him of the perquisites of it; or having told him what was his work, now what his wages, or what was his service, and now his maintenance: behold, I also have given thee the charge of my heave offerings,…

This shall be thine of the most holy things For, as observed, there were some lighter and lesser holy things or sacrifices, and others superlatively so: and those are begun with, such as were reserved from the fire; those parts of sacrifices which were not burnt with fire on the altar of burnt…

In the most holy place shalt thou eat it Not in the holy of holies, eminently so called, nor in the holy place, for they were neither of them places to eat in; but in the tent of the congregation, as Aben Ezra, or court, as Jarchi; called most holy, in distinction from and in comparison of the camp…

And this is thine What follow, which appertained to the priests, are the less or lighter holy things: the heave offering of their gift: the right shoulder, given to the priest for an heave offering of the sacrifices of peace offerings, ; according to Jarchi, it was what was lifted up or heaved from…

All the best of the oil, and all the best of the wine, and of the wheat Or the “fat” [[8]] of them; the fat of anything being the best, see ; the firstfruits of them: the oil, and wine, and wheat: which they shall offer unto the Lord, them have I given thee; this Jarchi calls the great heave…

And whatsoever is first ripe in the land Of any other sort of fruit, figs, pomegranates, apples, plums, pears 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…

Every thing devoted in Israel shall be thine. ] Fields, houses, cattle 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 see .

Every thing that openeth the matrix in all flesh The firstborn of every creature: which they bring unto the Lord; as they were obliged, he claiming it as his own, ; whether it be of men or beasts, shall be thine; every firstborn of either, being the Lord’s, became the priest’s by his gift:…

And those that are to be redeemed Which is to be understood not of unclean beasts last mentioned, for they were redeemed with lambs and not with money; and after they were eight days and not a month old, as follows, ; but of the firstborn of men: from a month old shalt thou redeem, according to…

But the firstling of a cow, or the firstling of a sheep, or the firstling of a goat, thou shalt not redeem That is, shalt not take the redemption price for them, but the creatures themselves; which they, the priests, were to take for their own use: they are holy; separated to the Lord, and…

And the flesh of them shall be thine For him and his family to eat of, whether blemished or perfect the Jews say [[10]]: as the wave breast and as the right shoulder are thine: which were his part of the peace offerings, for him and his sons to eat of, ; and the Jews observe [[11]], that as the…

All the heave offerings of the holy things All before mentioned, and whatsoever comes under that name: which the children of Israel offer unto the Lord; either by his commandment, or of their own freewill; have I given thee, and thy sons, and thy daughters with thee, by a statute for ever: so…

And the Lord spake unto Aaron What is said, being what concerned the tribe of Levi, at the head of which Aaron was, even concerning the maintenance of the Levites: thou shalt have no inheritance in their land; in the land of Israel when they come to possess it, as the rest of the tribes had:…

And, behold, I have given the children of Levi all the tenth in Israel for an inheritance The tenth part of the produce of the land; of the wheat, barley, oil, and wine; the tenth part of their harvest and vintage; so that though they were the least of the tribes, they had the greatest share of the…

Neither must the children of Israel henceforth come nigh the tabernacle of the congregation To do any part of the priest’s office, as to burn incense, as Korah and his company had done; or to do any part of the work of the Levites, by watching in the tabernacle, by taking it down and setting it up,…

But the Levites shall do the service of the tabernacle of the congregation In guarding the tabernacle, that no unclean persons enter into it, or any others take anything out of it, and in assisting the priests in their service, and carrying the vessels of the sanctuary when required: and they shall…

But the tithe of the children of Israel The tenth of the produce of their land, as before: which they offer as an heave offering unto the Lord: by way of gratitude to him for giving them the land, and for making it so fruitful to them, and as an acknowledgment of his being the sovereign Lord and…

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…

Thus speak unto the Levites, and say unto them Aaron was to tell them what a provision would be made for them on account of their service, but Moses was to inform them what part Aaron was to have out of it: when ye take of the children of Israel the tithes which I have given you from them for your…

And this your heave offering The tithe of the tithe, which though not properly heaved or lifted up, as the heave offerings, strictly so called, were, any more than the tithe itself, ; yet is so called, because separated to the use and service of the Lord, as they were: shall be reckoned unto you,…

Thus you also shall offer an heave offering unto the Lord, &c.] As the Israelites did when they paid tithes to them, ; of all your tithes which ye receive of the children of Israel; which heave offering was a tenth part of them: and ye shall give thereof the Lord’s heave offering to Aaron the…

Out of all your gifts ye shall offer every heave offering of the Lord Not only out of their tithes, but out of whatsoever gifts were given by the Israelites to them, and out of the produce of the fields which belonged to their cities, ; the Levites were to take a tenth, and bring it to the Lord as…

Therefore thou shalt say unto them The Targum of Jonathan is, “thou shalt say to them the priests;” but the words seem manifestly spoken to the Levites: when ye have heaved the best thereof from it; taken out the tenth part of it, and that the best: then it shall be counted unto the Levites as the…

And ye shall eat it in every place In any of their tents or dwelling houses, not being obliged to eat it in the tabernacle, where the priests, were obliged to eat many of their holy things, and second tithes were only to be eaten at Jerusalem, (Deut. 14:22, Deut.

And ye shall bear no sin by reason of it Shall have no blame laid upon them, or guilt imputed to them, or punishment inflicted on them, on account of their having and enjoying their tithes and gifts: when ye have heaved from it the best of it; took out the tenth, and that the best, and given it to…