Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Numbers 18:21
And, behold, I have given the children of Levi all the tenth in Israel for an inheritance, for their service which they serve, [even] the service of the tabernacle of the congregation.
21 24. The Levites’ dues. These consisted in tithe levied on agricultural produce only (cf. Num 18:27 ; Num 18:30).
This was similarly assigned to the Levitical priests in the earlier law contained in Deu 14:22-29; Deu 26:12-15. But the present regulation is in advance of that in Dt. in that it assigns the tithe to the Levites absolutely. According to Dt. the Levite shared it, in two years out of three, with the offerer and his household, and in the third year with the poor ‘sojourners, widows, and orphans.’ This variety led in post-Biblical times to the imposition of two tithes (cf. Tob 1:7 ff.). In Lev 27:30-33, 2Ch 31:6 (which are probably later than the present passage) mention is made of a fresh demand, viz. a tithe on cattle, which is found nowhere else in the O.T. In early days the ‘clergy’ were poor and humble persons who needed support from the charity of the rich. The contributions paid to them were at first small, and probably variable; the officials at the important sanctuaries, for example, would receive larger dues than those in country villages. But when, after the Exile, the priests and Levites advanced to a high position in the community, their demands gradually increased, until they became the grasping and avaricious rulers that we see in the asmoneans and the Sadducees.
In Heb 7:5 the payment of tithes by Israel is part of the argument that the Aaronic priesthood is inferior to that of Christ.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Abraham paid tithes to Melchizedek: Jacob had promised the tithe of all wherewith God blessed him if he should return in peace to his fathers house. But now first the Lords 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.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 21. Behold, I have given the children of Levi all the tenth]
First, the Levites had the tenth of all the productions of the land.
2. They had forty-eight cities, each forming a square of 4,000 cubits.
3. They had 2,000 cubits of ground round each city.
Total of the land they possessed, 53,000 acres.
4. They had the first-fruits and certain parts of all the animals killed in the land.
Canaan contained about 11,264,000 acres; therefore the portion possessed by the Levites was rather less than as one to two hundred and twelve; for 11,264,000 divided by 53,000, quotes only 212 28/53. – See Lowman, Dodd, c. But though this was a very small proportion for a whole tribe that had consented to annihilate its political existence, that it might wait upon the service of God, and labour for the people’s souls yet let it be considered that what they possessed was the best of the land: and while it was a slender remuneration for their services, yet their portion was such as rendered them independent, and kept them comfortable; so that they could wait on the Lord’s work without distraction. This is a proper pattern for the maintenance of the ministers of God: let them have a sufficiency for themselves and families, that there may be no distracting cares; and let them not be encumbered with riches or worldly possessions, that they may not be prevented from taking care of souls.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
For the tithes were all given to the Levites, and out of their tithes the tenth was given to the priests, here Num 18:26, & C, and Neh 10:37,38.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
21, 22. I have given the children ofLevi all the tenth in Israel for an inheritance, for their servicewhich they serveNeither the priests nor the Levites were topossess any allotments of land but to depend entirely upon Him wholiberally provided for them out of His own portion; and this law wassubservient to many important purposessuch as that, being exemptedfrom the cares and labors of worldly business, they might beexclusively devoted to His service; that a bond of mutual love andattachment might be formed between the people and the Levites, who,as performing religious services for the people, derived theirsubsistence from them; and further, that being the more easilydispersed among the different tribes, they might be more useful ininstructing and directing the people.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
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 increase of the land, and that without any labour or expense; the other having but nine parts among them all, and at the charge and labour of manuring, cultivating, c. and this they were to have
for their service which they serve, even the service of the tabernacle of the congregation see Nu 18:3.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Revenues of the Levites. – For ( , instead of, for) their service at the tabernacle God assigns them “ every tenth in Israel as an inheritance.” On the tenth, see at Lev 27:30-33. The institution and description of their service in Num 18:22 and Num 18:23 is the same as that in Num 1:53 and Num 8:19. “Lest they bear sin:” see at Lev 19:17.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
(21) All the tenth in Israel.The reference here is to the first tithe, or tenth of the whole of the produce of the land.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
THE REVENUES OF THE LEVITES, Num 18:21-24.
In order that the tribe of Levi might be withdrawn from the common calling of life, which in the theocratic state was agricultural, and might give itself completely to its sacred vocation, no inheritance as a tribe was assigned to it.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
21. All the tenth in Israel A tenth of all the earnings of twelve tribes a revenue greater than the average of each was an ample maintenance for the tribe set apart for sub-priestly service. “Yet this was not a splendid endowment. Even when the tithe was conscientiously handed over, it was no certain income. Moreover, if the people showed themselves averse to this tax, the tribe of Levi was subjected to unavoidable poverty. Deu 12:19; Deu 14:27; Deu 14:29.” Oehler.
Provision For the Levites – the Tithes Are to Be Their Inheritance ( Num 18:21-24 ).
We are now informed of the fact that the tithe, one tenth of all produce whether of domestic animals, grain, olive oil, or vintage, was to belong to Yahweh and be given to the Levites. During the period in the wilderness this would all be necessary in order to ensure that the Levites had a reasonable supply of food. Thus here the command is that the whole tithe be given to the Levites, although even then as a small tribe they would have sufficient and to spare. Thus it is probable that they made some of the tithe available at the regular feasts. Once they were in the land this one tenth would become so much that the Levites would have overabundance. Then it would be made official that a portion of the tithe could be used at the feasts to provide food for the people who attended. And every third year the tithe would be set aside for the Levites and for the needy of the land, the fatherless, the widows and resident aliens, probably stored by and distributed by the Levites (Deu 14:28-29).
Analysis.
a The tithe of Israel to be the Levites’ inheritance in return for their service (Num 18:21).
b The children of Israel not to come near to the Tent of meeting from now on lest they bear sin (Num 18:22)
b The Levites are to do service in the Tent of meeting, and bear their iniquity (Num 18:23). Among the children of Israel they shall have no inheritance.
a The tithe is to be their inheritance. Among the children of Israel they shall have no inheritance (num 18 24).
Note within the chiastic order the ‘out of harmony’ double reference to ‘among the children of Israel they shall have no inheritance’. This parallels the same feature earlier with regard to ‘no stranger coming near’ in Num 18:4; Num 18:7; (also see Exo 18:21-22 a with Exo 18:25-26 a; Deu 2:21 with Deu 2:22) and is clearly intended.
Num 18:21
“ And to the children of Levi, behold, I have given all the tithe in Israel for an inheritance, in return for their service which they serve, even the service of the tent of meeting.”
This is the first specific reference to the fact that the tithe should be given to the Levites. Lev 27:30-33 regulates the tithing but does not name its recipient. Tithing was an ancient custom in the Ancient Near East and we only have to turn to Genesis 14 to see it in operation. There Abraham had to pay a tithe to the King of Salem as feudal dues, or possibly as a kind of rental for the use of land for grazing, and as fealty while dwelling on his land. In return he received use of the land and provisioning after the battle which had just been fought. But Yahweh was Israel’s Overlord and in Israel that tithe was due to Yahweh. It was His and at His disposal. Here He declared that it should then go to the Levites as His servants, as their inheritance from Him.
Num 18:22
“ And from now on the children of Israel shall not come near the tent of meeting, lest they bear sin, and die.”
And because the Levites now served the Dwellingplace of Yahweh, where He met with His people, instead of the firstborn sons of Israel, no children of Israel could come near the Tent of meeting in order to serve there lest they come under judgment (bear sin) and die. They could, of course, approach the court of the Tent with their offerings, but they came as approved suppliants and not as those who had a right of entry.
Num 18:23
“ But the Levites shall do the service of the tent of meeting, and they shall bear their iniquity. It shall be a statute for ever throughout your generations. And among the children of Israel they shall have no inheritance.”
For now it was the Levites who were to do the service of the Tent of meeting, guarding the approach and entry, assisting the people when they brought their offerings, erecting, dismantling and carrying it on its travels, supervising the collection of the tithes and ensuring that the priests received their portion.
“They shall bear their iniquity.” Their work carried with it certain dangers. If it was carried out carelessly or without due regard to the sanctity of what they carried they might well find themselves in peril. It was because they had to be well enough experienced not to make foolish or blasphemous errors that they could not bear the Dwellingplace and its furniture and accessories until they were thirty. We can understand why five years training connected with it was necessary before they actually physically participated (compare Num 4:3-39; Num 4:47 with Num 8:24).
Num 18:24
“ For the tithe of the children of Israel, which they offer as a contribution/heave-offering to Yahweh, I have given to the Levites for an inheritance. Therefore I have said to them, Among the children of Israel they shall have no inheritance.”
And that is why the tithe, which was a ‘contribution offering’ to Yahweh, was then given to the Levites. It was their inheritance from Yahweh. And that is why it was doubly stressed that they had no inheritance among the people. Yahweh was their inheritance.
Num 18:21. I have given the children of Levi all the tenth, &c. The enemies of religion, availing themselves of some minute descriptions given by commentators of the revenue assigned to the tribe of Levi, have been forward to remark, that this revenue was excessive, and that the Levites were blood-suckers to their brethren; but a little attention will serve to convince us, that the constitutions of the law of Moses, upon this subject, were wise and just.
I. God, willing to be served suitable to his majesty, and having made choice of the tribe of Levi, and consecrated it to this service, thought it proper, on the one hand, that it should possess nothing as its own, in order that it might be solely occupied in the care of his worship; and on the other, that the members of that tribe might be dispersed over the country, in order to their being thereby better enabled to teach his law to his whole people. Nothing, therefore, was more just, than to furnish elsewhere the subsistence of the Levites; nothing more so, than to oblige the Israelites to provide it. This was an amends due to the Levites in return for their relinquishing a thirteenth part of the country which fell to them; a salary for their instructions; a recompense of their cares, in the daily service of the tabernacle. The whole question is, whether that which Moses assigned with these several views, was excessive? And we insist that it was not so.
II. What extremely enlarges the object in the eye of persons who stop at the surface of things, is, that some imagine, that all that the Levites received from the people was for themselves, and that they made a purse of it; not considering, that one part of the sacred revenues was employed for their frugal entertainment in the house of God, when they came, in their turns, to perform their regular service; that another part was appropriated to the use of the tabernacle, in keeping up its utensils and vessels; and that what remained served only to subsist the Levites in their families; 1. The first-fruits were an inconsiderable duty, being brought in a basket, Deu 26:2; Deu 26:19. These fruits were designed for feeding the Levites in waiting. They ate them in a holy place, in the presence of God, as was the designation of several other offerings. 2. The first-born, both of men and beasts, were another considerable revenue of the tabernacle. The first-born of clean beasts were sacrificed, and their flesh, with the first-fruits, served as the food of the priests in waiting, in the same manner as the lamb for the redemption of unclean beasts. As to the first-born of men, they were redeemed at five shekels a head; and these five shekels no way belonged to the Levites, but were put into the treasury, and employed to defray the expences of the tabernacle. The half shekel which the Israelites paid at the time of their numbering, had the like designation. Besides, the Levites paid it, as well as the rest; and those who think it was continued to be paid annually, are agreed, that it was always put to public use. We see then, 3. What were the means of subsistence for the priests and Levites when they were out of waiting. First, they had forty-eight cities, each of them forming a square of 4000 cubits, with 2000 cubits of ground round each: this was in all about 53,000 acres of ground. Now, upon the lowest calculation of the extent of the land of Canaan, it contained 11,264,000 acres of ground; so that the portion of the Levites was not as one to two hundred. Secondly, besides the cities and circumjacent grounds abovementioned, the Levites had the tenth of all the fruits; but there was hardly more than a thirtieth part of the country which produced things subject to the tenth; the rest consisted of pastures, woods, &c. So that the Levites did not gather the tenth for more than a third of the country. As to the beasts, of which they had also the tenth, those which had been once tithed, were never tithed again; so that this tenth, respecting only the cattle brought forth in the year, was not very considerable. Lastly, the two other sorts of tenths, employed at some sacred meals, did not enrich the Levites; they profited by them only as the friends of their inviters. Let us now see, therefore, whether the tribe of Levi had too great advantages. It was naturally to have the thirteenth part of the country, and from every 100. to receive 6. 10s. Instead of this, it received 10. by levying the tythe; i.e. a little less than three and a half per cent. more than would otherwise have belonged to them. Was this too much for what they otherwise lost? The Levites had given up the advantage of independent government, which each of the other tribes enjoyed. They had nearly renounced all personal property; they had likewise renounced the profit they might have made by the cultivating of their own lands; they had trusted solely to the national faith, and the hazard of being ill paid; because, whatever misfortune befel their country, and in whatsoever quarter it happened, they must always feel it. Let any one estimate all this, and then judge whether the trifling advantage of three and a half per cent. could indemnify them for the losses we have been just hinting. It will be objected, perhaps, that they gathered the tenth without any trouble: but this advantage was fully counterbalanced, in other respects, by the charge of the tabernacle, and the care they bestowed to make themselves capable of instructing their brethren, as well as in giving them that instruction.
III. All that was really to be feared from this disposition, was, that the tribe of Levi, composed of persons who instructed others and were better versed than they in the study of the law, should gain too great an ascendancy over the rest of the tribes, and exercise an authority among them fatal to the nation. But God prevented this inconveniency: by dispersing the Levites, he made them dependant upon the tribe amidst whom they lived: by giving them no district of their own, and obliging them to receive their substance from all the other tribes, he caused them to preserve a proper respect: by this means, if they became refractory, they were constantly to be punished, either by withholding their tenths, or by seizing upon their persons. We are indebted for these reflections to Mr. Chais, who has abridged them from Mr. Lowman’s excellent Dissertation on the Civil Government of the Hebrews, chap. 6:
REFLECTIONS.The priests and Levites are forbidden all secular concerns, and can hold no inheritance, only the houses of the cities appointed them for a habitation. God was their portion; and he who has him for a portion, need not wish a better, and may well account all besides to be dung and loss. As the Levites’ business is to keep charge of the tabernacle, and to prevent all profane intruders, they have their wages in the tenths of the produce of every kind; and out of these, a tenth of the best was offered for the priest’s maintenance and accepted of God, as if the produce of their own lands; after which, the remainder was free for the use of the Levites and their families. Note; (1.) Out of the portion the Lord allots his ministers, they must be careful to honour him with a part. (2.) When we have dedicated to God a part of our substance, we may hope for his blessing and comfort in the use of the remainder.
Num 18:21 And, behold, I have given the children of Levi all the tenth in Israel for an inheritance, for their service which they serve, [even] the service of the tabernacle of the congregation.
Ver. 21. For their service which they serve. ] No man did so much as shut the doors of God’s sanctuary, or kindle a fire on his altar for nought. Mal 1:10
Give God the Best
Num 18:21-32
The inner service of the Tabernacle was assigned to the priests, who must be of the house of Aaron. The Levites were joined to the house of Aaron for the more menial service. In the earlier portion of this chapter, Num 18:5-20, the maintenance of the priests is provided for; and in this part, Num 18:21-32, the maintenance of the Levites. A tithe of the heave-offerings of Israel was assigned to them. It had been Levis doom to be scattered in Israel, Gen 49:7. But the curse was transmuted to blessing. They were summoned to perform the priestly office of the first-born, and God was not unmindful to reward them for their arduous labors. He Himself became their inheritance.
But though the Levites sustenance was assured from the gifts of Israel, he was not absolved from the privilege and duty of contributing to the service of God. He, too, must offer a tithe for the support of the priests. We are members one of another.
the tenth: Num 18:24-26, Lev 27:30-32, Deu 12:17-19, Deu 14:22-29, 2Ch 31:5, 2Ch 31:6, 2Ch 31:12, Neh 10:37-39, Neh 12:44, Neh 13:12
even the service: Num 18:6, Num 3:7, Num 3:8, 1Co 9:13, 1Co 9:14, Gal 6:6
Reciprocal: Num 31:47 – the Levites 2Ch 11:14 – their possession Neh 12:47 – and they Neh 13:5 – which was commanded to be given to the Mal 3:8 – In Heb 7:2 – a tenth Heb 7:5 – who
Num 18:21-22. The tenth For the tithes were all given to the Levites, and out of their tithes the tenth was given to the priests. Come nigh the tabernacle So nigh as to do any proper act to the priests or Levites.
Num 18:21-24. The Dues to be Received by the Levites from the People.These are here confined to the tithes (p. 99) of all vegetable produce: but in Lev 27:32 f. reference is also made to a tithe of cattle. The dedication of tithes (p. 99) to religious purposes was propably a more highly regulated form of the dedication on firstfruits, originating at a time when the organisation of religion became more costly. The principle of tithing was not confined to religious purposes, but was adopted in the contributions exacted from the people by their rulers (1Sa 8:15).
The tithes of the Israelites became the Levites’ possession (Num 18:21-24; cf. Lev 27:30-33). God gave the instructions for receiving the tithes to Moses (Num 18:25).
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Fuente: F.B. Meyer’s Through the Bible Commentary
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Fuente: Peake’s Commentary on the Bible
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)