2<\/strong>. that they may be joined<\/em> ] This is a play on words, similar to that in Gen 29:34<\/span>, the verb lwh<\/em> ( ) being employed to explain the word Lw<\/em> ‘Levite,’ so that the latter is understood to denote ‘one who is joined<\/em> to the priests as a servant.’ Whether this was the original<\/em> meaning and derivation is doubtful.<\/p>\n shall be before the tent<\/em> ] shall preside over the tent. The preposition is not local, but comprises sacred duties both within the tent and outside in the court.<\/p>\n Verse 2<\/span>. Thy brethren also of the tribe of Levi – may be joined<\/B><\/I> <\/B>unto thee<\/B><\/I>] There is a fine paronomasia, or play upon words, in the original. Levi<\/I> comes from the root lavah, to join<\/I> to, couple, associate<\/I>: hence Moses says, the Levites<\/I>, yillavu, shall be joined<\/I>, or associated<\/I> with the priests; they shall conjointly perform the whole of the sacred office, but the priests shall be principal<\/I>, the Levites only their associates<\/I> or assistants<\/I>. For an explanation of many parts of this chapter, see the notes on several of the passages referred to in the margin<\/I>.<\/P> <\/p>\n Minister unto thee, <\/B>about sacrifices and offerings and other things, according to the rules and limits I have prescribed them. The Levites are said to minister to Aaron here, to the church, Num 16:9<\/span>, and to God, Deu 10:8<\/span>. They shall not contend with thee for superiority, as they have done, but they shall be subordinate and servants to thee. <\/P> Thou and thy sons with thee, <\/B>or, both to thee<\/I>, and to thy sons with thee<\/I>; which translation may seem to be favoured by the following words, <\/P> before the tabernacle, <\/B>which was the proper place where the Levites ministered, whereas the priests did minister to God both before and in the tabernacle. Besides, both the foregoing words, and the two following verses, do entirely speak of the ministry of the Levites, and the ministry of the priests is distinctly spoken of Num 18:5<\/span>. <\/P> <\/p>\n 2-7. thy brethren also of the tribeof Levi<\/B>The departments of the sacred office, to be filledrespectively by the priests and Levites, are here assigned to each.To the priests was committed the charge of the sanctuary and thealtar, while the Levites were to take care of everything else aboutthe tabernacle. The Levites were to attend the priests asservantsbestowed on them as “gifts” to aid in theservice of the tabernaclewhile the high and dignified office ofthe priesthood was a “service of gift.” “A stranger,”that is, one, neither a priest nor a Levite, who should intrude intoany departments of the sacred office, should incur the penalty ofdeath. <\/P> Nu18:8-20<\/span>. THE PRIESTS’PORTION.<\/P><\/p>\n And to thy brethren also of the tribe of Levi, the tribe of thy father<\/strong>,…. 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:<\/p>\n bring them with thee<\/strong>; into the court of the tabernacle, for further they might not go:<\/p>\n that they maybe joined unto thee<\/strong>: as their name of Levites signifies, persons joined and united to others, as they were to the priests: see reason of their patriarch’s name Levi in Ge 29:34<\/span>;<\/p>\n and minister unto thee<\/strong>: be assisting to the priests in killing the sacrifices, receiving the blood, and flaying the beasts, and in other things about the sanctuary, Nu 3:6<\/span>;<\/p>\n but thou, and thy sons with thee, [shall minister] before the tabernacle of witness<\/strong>; which was the most holy place, where were the ark of the testimony or witness, and the tables of the covenant; and they might be said to minister before that, when they ministered in the holy place, which was before it, when they burned incense upon the altar of incense, ordered the shewbread, and trimmed the lamps of the candlestick, which none but the priests the sons of Aaron might do.<\/p>\n 2. And thy brethren also. He here assigns their duties to the Levites, that they also may minister, but, as it were, under the hand of the priests, viz., that they may be ruled by their commands. Thus the authority was in the hands of the priests, but the Levites afforded them their assistance. On this ground they are prohibited from approaching the altar, or entering the greater sanctuary; in fact, a lower degree is assigned to them, half-way between the priests and the people. Hence did all learn how reverently God’s majesty must be served; for although He had adopted the whole people, yet so far was it from being lawful that any of the multitude should penetrate to the altar, that the Law even kept back the Levites from thence, although they were God’s peculiar ministers. Moreover, in this figure, we perceive how necessary is a Mediator for us to conciliate God’s favor towards us; for, if it was not allowable for the holy and chosen seed of Abraham to approach the typical sanctuary, how should we, who were aliens, (200) now penetrate to heaven, unless a way of access were opened to us through Christ? Finally, when He forbids strangers from meddling with holy things, He does not mean only foreigners, but all the people, except the tribe of Levi; for here a distinction is drawn, not between the Church and heathen nations, but between the ministers of the sanctuary and the rest of the people. <\/p>\n (200) “ Qui estions estrangers, et rejettez au pris d’eux.” — Fr. <\/p>\n (2) That they may be joined unto thee.<\/strong>There is an allusion here to the meaning of the name Levi, which was given to Leahs third son. (See Gen. 29:34<\/span>.) The Hebrew verb is the same as that which occurs in the speech of Leah.<\/p>\n And minister unto thee: but thou and thy sons . . . <\/strong>Or, and they shall minister unto thee, both unto thee and to thy sons with thee, before the tent of witness. <\/em>The service of the Levites was executed before the tenti.e., <\/em>in the court; that of the priests was in the holy place, as well as in the court (Num. 18:7<\/span>).<\/p>\n 2-5<\/strong>. <\/strong> Thy brethren <\/strong> The Gershonites and Merarites might serve before the tabernacle<\/strong>, but not within it, nor near the vessels <\/strong> and the altar<\/strong>, lest both they and the priests should die<\/strong>. See Num 4:18<\/span>, note. “While the Levitical law does not define the sanctuary duties of the Levites, but leaves them, as they might naturally be left at the outset, to perform such services as the priest might require of them, long usage gradually assigned to them specific tasks, as the charge of the gates, slaying the sacrifices, boiling or roasting their flesh, etc. 2Ch 23:4<\/span>; 2Ch 30:17<\/span>.” Dr. W.H. Green. <\/em> These directions are made in view of the judgment fires which had already burned around the divine altars in the cases of the irreverent sons of Aaron (Leviticus x) and of Korah and his company. Chap. 16.<\/p>\n Let not the Reader overlook here the very striking distinction made between the high priest and the Levites. Though the Levites were to be joined in one and the same service, yet it was the high priest only who was to come in before the tabernacle of witness. It is JESUS our great high priest who alone goeth in before the mercy-seat: though his people are joined with him in the offerings of prayer and praise, yet all can only be accepted in the beloved. Eph 1:6<\/span> .<\/p>\n tribe = matteh = staff. <\/p>\n Levi . . . joined. Figure of speech Paronomasia. App-6. Hebrew. Levi . . . veyillavu. <\/p>\n tribe = shebet = rod. <\/p>\n tabernacle = tent. Hebrew. ‘ohel. App-40. <\/p>\n joined unto thee: There is a fine paronomasia in the original. Levi is desired from lawah, to join, couple, associate; hence Moses says, the Levites yillawoo, “shall be joined,” or associated, with the priests: they shall conjointly perform the sacred office, but the priests shall be principal, the Levites their associates or assistants. Num 18:4, Gen 29:34 <\/p>\n minister: Num 3:6-9, Num 8:19, Num 8:22 <\/p>\n but thou: Num 3:10-13, Num 4:15, Num 16:40, Num 17:7, 1Ch 16:39, 1Ch 16:40, 2Ch 30:16, Eze 44:15 <\/p>\n Reciprocal: Exo 38:21 – tabernacle of testimony Num 16:9 – separated 2Ch 24:6 – tabernacle 2Ch 29:11 – the Lord Neh 10:35 – General Act 7:44 – the tabernacle<\/p>\n Num 18:2-3. Minister unto thee About sacrifices, and offerings, and other things, according to the rules I have prescribed them. The Levites are said to minister to Aaron here; to the church, Num 16:9; and to God, Deu 10:8. They shall not contend with thee for superiority, as they have done, but shall be subordinate to thee. Thy sons with thee Or, both to thee and to thy sons with thee Which translation seems to be favoured by the following words, before the tabernacle; which was the proper place where the Levites ministered. Besides, both the foregoing words and the two following verses entirely speak of the ministry of the Levites, and the ministry of the priests is distinctly spoken of, Num 18:5. Thy charge That which thou shalt command them and commit unto them.<\/p>\n And thy brethren also of the tribe of Levi, the tribe of thy father, bring thou with thee, that they may be joined unto thee, and minister unto thee: but thou and thy sons with thee [shall minister] before the tabernacle of witness. 2. that they may be joined ] This is a play on … Continue reading “Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Numbers 18:2”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4268","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-commentary"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4268","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4268"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4268\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4268"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4268"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4268"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible <\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"