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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadPaul Kretzmann Commentary - Numbers 18:8 - 18:19
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The Priests' Share of the Sacrifices
v. 8. And the Lord spake unto Aaron, Behold, I also have given thee the charge of mine heave-offerings of all the hallowed things of the children of Israel, whatever they set aside for the Lord, either by the Law or in the form of a free-will offering; unto thee have I given them by reason of the anointing and to thy sons by an ordinance forever. These were priestly revenues, Num_5:9.
v. 9. This shall be thine of the most holy things, reserved from the fire: every oblation of theirs, every meat-offering of theirs, and every sin-offering of theirs, and every trespass-offering of theirs which they shall render unto Me shall be most holy for thee and for thy sons. Falling to the lot of the priests out of the sacrificial fire, they were to be regarded as being strictly set apart from profane and common use.
v. 10. In the most holy place, in the place reserved for that purpose in the court of the Tabernacle, Lev_6:9; Lev_6:19; Lev_7:6, shalt thou eat it; every male shall eat it; it shall be holy unto thee. The burnt offering is not included in this list, since only the hide of such sacrifices became the portion of the priests.
v. 11. And this is thine: the heave-offering of their gift, all the offerings of the people that were made in this manner, with all the wave-offerings of the children of Israel; I have given them unto thee, and to thy sons and to thy daughters with thee, by a statute forever; every one that is clean in thy house shall eat of it. Lev_22:2-13.
v. 12. All the best of the oil and all the best of the wine and of the wheat, the first-fruits of them which they shall offer unto the Lord, them have I given thee. Cf Deu_26:2-10; Deu_8:8; Lev_19:23-24.
v. 13. And whatsoever is first ripe in the land, which they shall bring unto the Lord, Num_15:19; Exo_22:29; Exo_23:19; Exo_34:26; Lev_2:14, shall be thine; every one that is clean in thine house shall eat of it.
v. 14. Everything devoted in Israel, consecrated to God by a vow, shall be thine, Lev_27:28.
v. 15. Everything that openeth the matrix in all flesh, which they bring unto the Lord, whether it be of men or beasts, shall be thine, Exo_13:2; Exo_22:29; Lev_27:26; nevertheless the first-born of man shalt thou surely redeem, and the firstlings of unclean beasts shalt thou redeem, Exo_13:13; Exo_34:20.
v. 16. And those that are to be redeemed from a month old shalt thou redeem, according to thine estimation, for the money of five shekels, after the shekel of the Sanctuary, which is twenty gerahs. Cf Num_3:47; Lev_27:2 ff.
v. 17. But the firstling of a cow, or the firstling of a sheep, or the firstling of a goat thou shalt not redeem; they are holy. Being clean animals, they could be consecrated as sacrifices to the Lord. Thou shalt sprinkle their blood upon the altar, and shalt burn their fat for an offering made by fire, for a sweet savor unto the Lord, Lev_3:2-5.
v. 18. And the flesh of them shall be thine; as the wave-breast and as the right shoulder, the heave-shoulder, are thine.
v. 19. All the heave-offerings of the holy things which the children of Israel offer unto the Lord have I given thee, and thy sons and thy daughters with thee, by a statute forever; it is a covenant of salt forever before the Lord unto thee and to thy seed with thee, an indissoluble covenant, an inviolable agreement. Cf Lev_2:13. In this manner the priesthood of Aaron and his family was once more firmly established in Israel, to serve the people in upholding the fellowship between them and Jehovah.