Verse 1
The principal subject of this chapter is the prescription of tithes and their use as the support of the priests and Levites. There are three different sections of the Word of God that deal with the same subject:
(1) the passage before us
There is considerable variation in the laws which has been explained in various ways. This chapter gives a much more extensive list of the things to be tithed than the other accounts, and, of course, the critics immediately assign it to the post-exilic era, seeing it as an "insertion" by the priests of some later period when the greed and avarice of the priestly families had become more acute. This "explanation" is totally unacceptable, because, as Levertoff said, "There is no relation between Numbers 18 and post-exilic times when the priests were numerous (they were few here), and the Levites a mere handful (they numbered at this point many thousands).[1] The Jewish scholars explained the variations as due to three different tithes: the First Tithe, the Second Tithe, and the Third Tithe (also called the Poor Tithe).[2]
As a matter of fact, there is no fully satisfactory way of resolving the many questions that come up about these tithes. However, a number of observations are in order.
(1) One of the problems is that the tithes in this chapter are far more valuable than the ones listed in Deuteronomy, which is resolved in the supposition that this is the Master Law in Numbers, and that in Deuteronomy Moses scaled them down in anticipation of the hardships and poverty of Israel during the period of conquest.
(2) Late changes in the tithing laws, as cited by some of the prophets, derived from "changes" which the disobedient Israelites had made. These changes were most conspicuously noted by Christ himself with his reference to the "tithing of mint, anise, and cummin" (Matthew 23:23).
(3) This entire very complicated subject is one of considerable obscurity, "which with our present information cannot easily be cleared away."[3] The most practical "solution" of questions about all of these tithes is doubtless that of the Jews themselves who understood "three different tithes" in the instructions and enforced that view of the matter for centuries. After all, an apostle stated that, "The Jews were entrusted with the oracles of God" (Romans 3:2). It is uniquely their problem, and there is no better solution available than theirs.
"And Jehovah said unto Aaron, Thou and thy sons and thy fathers' house with thee shall bear the iniquity of the sanctuary; and thou and thy sons with thee shall bear the iniquity of your priesthood. And thy brethren also, the tribe of Levi, the tribe of thy father, bring thou near with thee, that they may be joined unto thee, and minister unto thee: but thou and thy sons with thee shall be before the tent of the testimony. And they shall keep thy charge, and the charge of all the Tent: only they shall not come nigh unto the vessels of the sanctuary and unto the altar, that they die not, neither they, nor ye. And they shall be joined unto thee, and keep the charge of the tent of meeting, for all the service of the Tent; and a stranger shall not come nigh unto you. And ye shall keep the charge of the sanctuary, and the charge of the altar; that there be wrath no more upon the children of Israel. And I, behold, I have taken your brethren the Levites from among the children of Israel: to you they are a gift, given unto Jehovah, to do the service of the tent of meeting. And thou and thy sons with thee shall keep your priesthood for every thing of the altar, and for that within the veil; and ye shall serve: I give you the priesthood as a service of gift: and the stranger that cometh nigh shall be put to death."
"Bear the iniquity ..." (Numbers 18:1). "This means take the responsibility of preserving the ritual requirements, and to bear the responsibility for any violations."[4] In connection with this, note that in case any Levite touched the vessels of the sanctuary, not only would they die, but also would Aaron for not preventing it, "neither they nor ye" (Numbers 18:3). As Whitelaw said, however, this clause is very "difficult"[5] to understand and probably has a more extended meaning than that of merely guarding the sacred area and vessels from pollution. Adam Clarke thought that it also included the responsibility for performing all the prescribed "atonements and expiations"[6] that were required by the sins of the people brought before them. They were to understand that by Divine intervention they had received a most high and important office, but that it also carried the gravest responsibility, and that "They should not be high-minded, but fear."[7]
"These verses are a summary"[8] of several instructions given in Leviticus, including those regarding the services of the Day of Atonement. The general trend of the passage "is in accord with Numbers 1:49-54; 3:5-10."[9]
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