Numbers 18:20

_AND THE LORD SPAKE UNTO AARON, THOU SHALT HAVE NO INHERITANCE IN THEIR LAND, NEITHER SHALT THOU HAVE ANY PART AMONG THEM: I AM THY PART AND THINE INHERITANCE AMONG THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL._ The Lord spake unto Aaron, Thou shalt have no inheritance in their land ... In the institutions of the Levitical hierarchy there were several points of close resemblance to the priestly establishment in Egypt; but at the same time there were many differences, and in no respect more striking than in the perpetual exclusion of the Israelite priesthood from patrimonial possessions, (Pritchard's 'Egyptian Mythology,' p. 409, etc.)...

20_And the Lord spake unto Aaron. _This passage only refers in general to the payment of those tithes which were common to all the Levites. We shall soon afterwards see that the Levites, by God’s command, paid other tithes to the priest; and a third sort will be added, which were only offered every third year. As to the present passage, God requires tithes of the people for the maintenance of the tribe of Levi. It is indeed certain that the custom had existed of old among the ancient patriarchs before the Law, that they should vow or offer tithes to God, as appears from the example of Abraham and Jacob. Moreover, the Apostle infers that the priesthood of Melchisedec was superior to that of the Law, because, when Abraham paid him tithes, he also received tithes of Levi himself. (Genesis 14:20; Genesis 28:22;...

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 and indifference upon the possessions of this world. The Levites were to give God his dues out of their tithes, as well as the Israelites out of their increase. See, in ver. Numbers 18:31, the way to have comfort in all our worldly possessions, so as to bear no sin by reason of them. 1. We must be sure that what we have is got honestly and in the service of God. That meat is best eaten which is first earned; but if any will not work, neither shall he eat, 2 Thessalonians 3:10. 2 Thessa...

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, Leviticus 6:25-3. 2. The flesh of the TRESPASS-OFFERING, Leviticus 7:1;...

I AM THY PART AND THINE INHERITANCE - Compare the marginal references....

EXPOSITION STATUS AND REVENUES OF PRIESTS AND LEVITES (Numbers 18:1). NUMBERS 18:1 THE LORD SPAKE UNTO AARON. This clear and comprehensive instruction as to the position and support of the sons of Aaron on the one hand, and of the Levites on the other, may very naturally have been given in connection with the events just narrated. There is, however, no direct reference to those events, and it is quite possible that the only connection was one of subject-matter in the mind of the writer. That the regulations which follow were addressed to Aaron directly is a thing unusual, and indeed unexampled. The ever-recurring statement elsewher

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: NEITHER SHALT THOU HAVE ANY PART AMONG THEM; any part of the land when it is divided by lot, as it was in the times of Joshua, when taken from the Canaanites; no tract of land was peculiarly assigned to them as were to the other tribes, as fields, nor vineyards; they had cities appointed them, and they had houses and fields devoted to the Lord which fell to them, and others they had by gift or legacy, or by purchase, as had Jeremiah the priest and Barnabas the Levite, Jeremiah 32:9 Act

8. PRIESTHOOD AND INIQUITY AND THE RECOMPENSE OF THE PRIESTHOOD CHAPTER 18 _ 1. The iniquity borne by the priesthood (Numbers 18:1)_ 2. The recompense of the priests (Numbers 18:8) 3. The inheritance of the priests (Numbers 18:20) “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 is evidently in answer to the question, “Shall we be consumed with dying?” (Numbers 17:13) The ministry of the priests and the Levites keeping the charge of the tabernacle and the charge of

THE DUES TO BE RECEIVED BY THE PRIESTS FROM THE PEOPLE. These embrace all those portions of the things offered unto the Lord which are not required to be burnt; and in detail are (_a)_ the meal offerings, less a handful or other small quantity (Leviticus 2:2 f., Leviticus 2:9 f., Leviticus 6:15 f.); (_b_) the sin offerings (except those for the high priest and the congregation), less the fat (Leviticus 4:26; Leviticus 4:31; Leviticus 4:35); (_c_) th

_The priests" dues_. These are as follows: (_a_) All meal-, sin-, and guilt-offerings, with the exception of those parts which are burnt on the altar, i.e. given to God. These may be eaten by any _male_member of the priestly families -in a very holy place" (Numbers 18:9). (_b_) Those portions of a -gift" (i.e. a peace-offering) which are not eaten by the worshipper himself, nor given to God by being burnt on the altar; the priests" portions thus consisted of the -contribution," including that part of it called the -wave-offering." These may be eaten by any member, male _or female_, of the priestly families, who is free from ceremonial pollution (Numbers 18:11). The fact that females might eat it implies that it might be eaten anywhere outside the sacred precincts, into which no female was a