Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Numbers 18:32
And ye shall bear no sin by reason of it, when ye have heaved from it the best of it: neither shall ye pollute the holy things of the children of Israel, lest ye die.
32. profane the holy things ] i.e. the tithe of the tithe, which they would profane if they did not give it to the priests.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Neither shall ye pollute … – Rather, and by not polluting the holy things of the children of Israel, ye shall not die.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
The best of it; implying, that if they neglected this duty, they sinned in the use of such unhallowed food.
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, to wit, part to you, and part to the priests.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
32. ye shall bear no sin by reasonof it, &c.Neglect in having the best entailed sin in theuse of such unhallowed food. And the holy things would be polluted bythe reservation to themselves of what should be offered to God andthe priests.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
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 the priests; or otherwise they would be blameworthy, guilty, and liable to punishment:
neither shall ye pollute the holy things of the children of Israel; the gifts they have given for holy uses, and so are holy; which would be the case if they ate of them, or enjoyed them, without giving the priests the tenth part of them:
lest ye die; for it seems such a neglect was punishable with death.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
They would load no sin upon themselves by so doing (see Lev 19:17), if they only lifted off the best as tithe (for the priest), and did not desecrate the holy gifts, sc., by eating in all kinds of places, which was not allowed, according to Num 18:10, with regard to the most holy gifts. These regulations concerning the revenues of the priests and Levites were in perfect accordance with the true idea of the Israelitish kingdom of God. Whereas in heathen states, where there was an hereditary priestly caste, that caste was generally a rich one, and held a firm possession in the soil (in Egypt, for example; see at Gen 47:22), the Levites received no hereditary landed property in the land of Israel, but only towns to dwell in among the other tribes, with pasturage for their cattle (ch. 35), because Jehovah, the God of Israel, would be their inheritance. In this way their earthly existence as based upon the spiritual ground and soil of faith, in accordance with the calling assigned them to be the guardians and promoters of the commandments, statutes, and rights of Jehovah; and their authority and influence among the people were bound up with their unreserved surrender of themselves to the Lord, and their firm reliance upon the possession of their God. Now, whilst this position was to be a constant incitement to the Levites to surrender themselves entirely to the Lord and His service, it was also to become to the whole nation a constant admonition, inasmuch as it was a prerogative conferred upon them by the Lord, to seek the highest of all good in the possession of the Lord, as its portion and inheritance. – The revenue itself, however, which the Lord assigned to the Levites and priests, as His servants, consisting of the tenths and first-fruits, as well as certain portions of the different sacrificial gifts that were offered to Him, appears to have been a very considerable one, especially if we adopt the computation of J. D. Michaelis (Mos. Recht. i. 52) with reference to the tithes. “A tribe,” he says, “which had only 22,000 males in it (23,000 afterwards), and therefore could hardly have numbered more than 12,000 grown-up men, received the tithes of 600,000 Israelites; consequently one single Levite, without the slightest necessity for sowing, and without any of the expenses of agriculture, reaped or received from the produce of the flocks and herds as much as five of the other Israelites.” But this leaves out of sight the fact that tithes are never paid so exactly as this, and that no doubt there was as little conscientiousness in the matter then as there is at the present day, when those who are entitled to receive a tenth often receive even less than a twentieth. Moreover, the revenue of the tribe, which the Lord had chosen as His own peculiar possession, was not intended to be a miserable and beggarly one; but it was hardly equal, at any time, to the revenues which the priestly castes of other nations derived from their endowments. Again, the Levites had to give up the tenth of all the tithes they received to the priests; and the priests were to offer to Jehovah upon the altar a portion of the first-fruits, heave-offerings, and wave-offerings that were assigned to them. Consequently, as the whole nation was to make a practical acknowledgment, in the presentation of the tithe and first-fruits, that it had received its hereditary property as a fief from the Lord its God, so the Levites, by their payment of the tenth to the priests, and the priests, by presenting a portion of their revenues upon the altar, were to make a practical confession that they had received all their revenues from the Lord their God, and owed Him praise and adoration in return (see Bhr, Symbolik, ii. pp. 43ff.).
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
(32) And ye shall bear no sin . . . i.e., shall not incur any guilt, or become liable to any punishment. (See Note on Num. 18:22.)
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
32. Ye shall bear no sin In the free use of the tithed tithe the Levites would violate no ceremonial law nor expose themselves to penalty.
Neither shall ye pollute In this prohibition both priests and Levites are addressed. The holy things are to be exempt from profanation.
Mat 7:6, note.
Lest ye die The attention of the Hebrews was directed more to a judicial, physical death than to a punishment after death. Yet even in the Pentateuch, and , death, sometimes implies the perdition and misery of that exclusion from the presence and favour of God which in the New Testament is called the second death. See Deu 30:19.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
REFLECTIONS
Oh! thou Almighty Aaron of our Gospel profession, thou dearest JESUS! who hast indeed, in thine own precious body on the tree, borne the burden of the sins, and of the most holy things, of thy people! In what I read in this chapter of Aaron and his sons, I behold thine unequalled person represented. It is thou, and thou alone, who hast sustained the dreadful pressure of sin and transgression. It is thou alone to whom the LORD JEHOVAH could say, Thou shalt bear the iniquity of the sanctuary, and the iniquity of the priesthood: for when neither the blood of bulls nor of goats could take away sin; then did the Saviour cry, Lo! I come. Oh! do thou still bear for me, and all thy ministering servants, both our sins and sorrows: do thou bear, LORD, the care of all thy churches; do thou bear our names upon thine arm, and upon thine heart, when going in before the mercy-seat; and when thou hast borne all thy people safely through every temptation, do thou bear them home to thy throne of glory, that where thou art there they may be also. Amen.
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
bear: Num 18:22, Lev 19:8
pollute: Lev 22:2, Lev 22:15, Mal 1:7, 1Co 11:27, 1Co 11:29
Reciprocal: Lev 22:9 – bear sin for it Ezr 2:63 – should not
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Num 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. Thus we learn in what manner God regulated the offices of the priests and Levites, and how he provided for their subsistence. The tribe of Levi had no part nor inheritance in the land of Canaan as the other tribes had; but had for their share the tithes of the whole country; and the priests, in particular, had their portions of the sacrifices and offerings, and a tenth part of the tithes. By these means the ministers of religion were supported in a comfortable, decent manner, without being forced to neglect the duties of their function to provide for the necessities of the body. This proves that, in the Christian Church, provision should be made for the maintenance of those that serve in the sacred ministry, as St. Paul teaches: They which minister about holy things, live by the things of the temple; and they which wait at the altar are partakers with the altar; even so hath the Lord ordained that they which preach the gospel, should live by the gospel.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
18:32 And ye shall {f} bear no sin by reason of it, when ye have heaved from it the best of it: neither shall ye pollute the holy {t} things of the children of Israel, lest ye die.
(s) You shall not be punished therefore.
(t) The offerings which the Israelites have offered to God.