Numbers 18:3-6 sits inside this longer paragraph.
1Yahweh said to Aaron, “You and your sons and your fathers’ house with you shall bear the iniquity of the sanctuary; and you and your sons with you shall bear the iniquity of your priesthood. 2Bring your brothers also, the tribe of Levi, the tribe of your father, near with you, that they may be joined to you, and minister to you; but you and your sons with you shall be before the Tent of the Testimony. 3They shall keep your commands and the duty of the whole Tent; only they shall not come near to the vessels of the sanctuary and to the altar, that they not die, neither they nor you. 4They shall be joined to you and keep the responsibility of the Tent of Meeting, for all the service of the Tent. A stranger shall not come near to you.
5“You shall perform the duty of the sanctuary and the duty of the altar, that there be no more wrath on the children of Israel. 6Behold, I myself have taken your brothers the Levites from among the children of Israel. They are a gift to you, dedicated to Yahweh, to do the service of the Tent of Meeting. 7You and your sons with you shall keep your priesthood for everything of the altar, and for that within the veil. You shall serve. I give you the service of the priesthood as a gift. The stranger who comes near shall be put to death.”
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv3–4 That is, the things which are committed to thee,…
That is, the things which are committed to thee, or, which thou dost enjoin them.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On v3 Num 18:3 And they shall keep thy charge, and…
Num 18:3 And they shall keep thy charge, and the charge of all the tabernacle: only they shall not come nigh the vessels of the sanctuary and the altar, that neither they, nor ye also, die.
Ver. 3. And you also die.] For your ‘other men’s sins’ which you have not prevented or prohibited. Qui non, cum potest, prohibet, iubet.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv3, 5, 6 Thy charge, i.e. that which thou shalt command them…
Thy charge, i.e. that which thou shalt command them and commit unto them.
Of all the tabernacle, i.e. of the boards and hangings and utensils of the tabernacle, to take them down, and carry them, and set them up again.
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The vessels, which therefore were to be covered by the priests before the Levites might meddle with them.
They, nor ye, they for presuming to touch them, and you for your negligence in not covering them well, or not looking to them.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv3–6 And they shall keep thy charge, and the charge…
And they shall keep thy charge, and the charge of all the tabernacle,.... That is, the Levites, whatever Aaron and his sons, the priests, should charge them to do, or commit to their care and charge, that they should observe; as to watch and keep out all unfit persons, to take down and set up the tabernacle when needful, &c.
only they shall not come nigh the vessels of the sanctuary; as the ark and mercy seat in the holy of holies, the shewbread table, and candlestick in the holy place; wherefore when these were removed from place to place in journeying, they were covered, that they might not touch them as they carried them:
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and the altar; both of incense and burnt offering, on neither of which might they offer:
that neither they nor you also die: the priests for suffering them to meddle with things that did not belong to them, and the Levites for intruding themselves.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv3, 5, 6 They charge - That is, that which thou shalt…
They charge - That is, that which thou shalt command them and commit unto them.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On v6 Num 18:6-7. To you they are given as a…
Num 18:6-7. To you they are given as a gift — We are to value it as a great gift of the divine bounty, to have those joined to us that will be helpful and serviceable to us in the service of God. The altar — Of burnt-offering. Within the veil — This phrase here comprehends both the holy and the most holy place. As a gift — Which I have freely conferred upon you, and upon you alone; and therefore let no man henceforth dare either to charge you with arrogance in appropriating this to yourselves, or to invade your office.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv4, 6 A stranger - i. e. every one not a…
A stranger - i. e. every one not a Levite. So in Num 18:7, it denotes each one who was not a priest: compare Num 3:10; Num 16:40.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On v4 Stranger; even born of a woman of the tribe…
Stranger; even born of a woman of the tribe of Levi. (Maimonides)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On v6 6. Given as a gift — See Num_3:9; Num_8:16,…
6. Given as a gift — See Num_3:9; Num_8:16, note. The duties of the priests were liturgical, those of the Levites were martial. At a later period the Levites were organized entirely in a military manner. It must be borne in mind that their functions, as described in the book of Numbers, refer only to the time of the people’s wandering, and not to their duties after their settlement in the Holy Land.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv3–6 3. keep thy charge, &c.] see on Num_3:7.
3. keep thy charge, &c.] see on Num_3:7.
the vessels] The Heb. word is capable of wider use than the Engl. ‘vessel’; it includes all the sacred utensils and furniture.
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For the prohibition to come into contact with the sacred things cf. Num_4:15.
neither they, nor ye] they, for breaking the law, and ye for permitting it.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv4–5 (4) And keep the charge . . . —See…
(4) And keep the charge . . . —See Num_1:53; Num_3:7.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv3–6 They shall keep thy charge, &c. ; See on…
They shall keep thy charge, &c. ; See on Num_3:7, Num_3:8. That neither they, nor ye also, die. This warning does not seem to refer to the danger of the Kohathites seeing the sacred things, (Num_4:15) but of the other Levites coming near them; the further warning, "nor ye also," is added because if the carelessness or profanity of the priest led to sacrilege and death in the case of the Levite, it would be laid to his charge. (cf. Num_4:18)
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv3, 6 Connecting Statement:
Connecting Statement:
Yahweh continues speaking to Aaron.
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They must serve you ... They must join you
"They" refers to members of the tribe of Levi; the word "you" is singular and refers to Aaron. (See: Forms of You)
or they and also you will die
Here "they" refers to any member of the tribe of Levi who comes "near to anything in the sanctuary;" the word "you" is plural and refers to both Aaron and the rest of the Levites who are serving in approved roles. (See: Pronouns)
not come near you. You must take responsibility
Here "you" is plural and refers to both Aaron and the rest of the Levites. (See: Forms of You)
so that my anger does not come on the people of Israel again
Possible meanings are 1) this represents God being extremely angry with his people. AT: "so that I do not become very angry with the people of Israel again" or 2) this represents God punishing them because of his anger. AT: "so that I do not punish the people of Israel again" (See: Metonymy)
translationWords
altar
die
tent of meeting
works
alien
anger
people group
Israel
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv3, 5, 6 18:3-4 all their assigned duties: See 1:47-53; 3:5-38; 4:1-33.…
18:3-4 all their assigned duties: See 1:47-53; 3:5-38; 4:1-33. • they must be careful: The Levites could go near only when the sacred objects were covered for transport.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.