Numbers 8:14

"Thus shalt thou separate the Levites from among the children of Israel; and the Levites shall be mine. And after that shall the Levites go in to do the service of the tent of meeting: and thou shalt cleanse them, and offer them for a wave offering. For they are wholly given unto me from among the children of Israel; instead of all that openeth the womb, even all the first-born of all the children of Israel, have I taken them unto me. For all the first-born among the children of Israel are mine, both man and beast: on the day that I smote all the first-born in the land of Egypt I sanctified them for myself. And I have taken the Levites instead of all the first-born among the children of Israel. And I have given the Levites as a gift to Aaron and to his sons from among the children of Israel, to do the service of the children of Israel in the tent of meeting, and to make atonement for the children of Israel; that there be no plague among the children of Israel, when the children of Israel come nigh unto the sanctuary."

It seems to be significant that in this summary of the law of the Levites one finds the expression "the children of Israel" no less than eight times. A Jewish writer concluded from this that:

"Why this special emphasis upon the children of Israel in this particular section? Since only the Levites were chosen for service in the sanctuary, other Israelites might have been disturbed, wondering why they had not been deemed worthy to perform these functions ... This frequent mention of the children of Israel shows that God held all of His people in the utmost affection, not just the Levites.[15]

"And to make atonement ..." (Numbers 8:19). This is quite an unexpected place to find the word "atonement," for it cannot have its usual meaning in this place. As Wade pointed out, "The meaning is, `afford a covering, a screen.' The Hebrew here cannot mean `to expiate sin.' It has in view the prevention of sin, since it would have been sinful for unhallowed persons to approach the sanctuary."[16]