Numbers 3:7

7. Charge of the… congregation As the Levites were subordinated to Aaron, it was proper that he should address them concerning their duties. As they were substituted for the firstborn of the people, the whole people were interested in their faithful discharge of their duties, and might with propriety be said to charge the Levitical body with these duties, which they themselves in the persons of their firstborn would have performed if the Levites had not been consecrated. In Numbers 8:11 Aaron is directed to “offer the Levites before the Lord for an offering of the children of Israel, that they may execute the service of the Lord.” The Hebrew for bring near, in Numbers 3:6, is a sacrificial word, used when an offering is presented to Jehovah.