Numbers 3

No. 3 5 AND the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Bring the tribe of Levi near, and set them before Aaron the priest, that they may minister unto him. And they shall keep his charge, and the charge of the whole congregation before the tent of meeting, to do the service of the tabernacle. And they shall keep all the furniture of the tent of meeting, and the charge of the children of Israel, to do the service of the tabernacle. And thou shalt give the Levites unto Aaron and to his sons : they are wholly given unto him on the behalf of the children of Israel. And thou shalt appoint Aaron and his sons, and they shall keep their priesthood : and the stranger that cometh nigh shall be put to death.

No. 8 5 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Take the Levites from among the children of Israel, and cleanse them. And thus shalt thou do unto them, to cleanse them : sprinkle the water of expiation upon them, and let them cause a razor to pass over all their flesh, and let them wash their clothes, and cleanse themselves. Then let them take a young bullock, and its meal offering, fine flour mingled with oil, and another young bullock shalt thou take for a sin offering. And thou shalt present the Levites before the tent of meeting : and thou shalt assemble the whole congregation of the children of Israel : and thou shalt present the Levites before the LORD : and the children of Israel shall lay their hands upon the Levites : and Aaron shall offer the Levites before the LORD for a wave offering, on the behalf of the children of Israel, that they may be to do the service of the LORD. And the Levites shall lay their hands upon the heads of the bullocks : and offer thou the one for a sin offering, and the other for a burnt offering, unto the LORD, to make atonement for the Levites. And thou shalt set the Levites before Aaron, and before his sons, and offer them for a wave offering unto the LORD. 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 the firstborn of all the children of Israel, have I taken them unto me. For all the firstborn among the children of Israel are mine, both man and beast : on the day that I smote all the firstborn in the land of Egypt I sanctified them for myself. And I have taken the Levites instead of all the firstborn 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. Thus did Moses, and Aaron, and all the congregation of the children of Israel, unto the Levites : according unto all that the LORD commanded Moses touching the Levites, so did the children of Israel unto them. And the Levites purified themselves from sin, and they washed their clothes ; and Aaron offered them for a wave offering before the LORD ; and Aaron made atonement for them to cleanse them. And after that went the Levites in to do their service in the tent of meeting before Aaron, and before his sons : as the LORD had commanded Moses concerning the Levites, so did they unto them.

And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, This is that which belongeth unto the Levites : from twenty and five years old and upward they shall go in to wait upon the service in the work of the tent of meeting : and from the age of fifty years they shall cease waiting upon the work, and shall serve no more ; but shall minister with their brethren in the tent of meeting, to keep the charge, and shall do no service. Thus shalt thou do unto the Levites touching their charges.

No. 18 21 And unto the children of Levi, behold, I have given all the tithe in Israel for an inheritance, in return for their service which they serve, even the service of the tent of meeting. And henceforth the children of Israel shall not come nigh the tent of meeting, lest they

23 bear sin and die. But the Levites shall do the service of the tent of meeting, and they shall bear their iniquity : it shall be a statute for ever throughout your generations, and among the 24 children of Israel they shall have no inheritance. For the tithe of the children of Israel, which they offer as an heave offering unto the LORD, I have given to the Levites for an inheritance : therefore I have said unto them, Among the children of Israel they shall have no inheritance.

De. 18 1 The priests the Levites, even (or, and) all the tribe of Levi, shall have no portion nor inheritance with Israel : they shall eat the offerings of the LORD made by fire, and his inheritance. And they shall have no inheritance among their brethren : the LORD is their inheritance, as he hath spoken unto them.

6. And if a Levite come from any of thy gates out of all Israel, where he sojourneth, and come

7 with all the desire of his soul unto the place which the LORD shall choose ; then he shall minister in the name of the LORD his God, as all his brethren the Levites do, which stand there

8 before the LORD. They shall have like portions to eat, beside that which cometh of the sale of his patrimony.

[Nu. 3 : 11-13 ; 18 : 6 and De. 10 : 8, 9 omitted as repetitions.]

The Levites Set apart from the Tribes by Jehovah, and Assigned to Aaron “to do Service.”

8 : 17. When the destroying angel smote the first-born of the Egyptian families, the symbolic blood on the lintel of every Hebrew house protected the eldest born from the plague of death. In consequence, every eldest son was reckoned as a thing devoted to the Lord—redeemed, and therefore set apart. The word here and elsewhere used to express this devotion is sanctify. By this subsequent arrangement these first-born were exchanged for the Levites. Instead of the eldest son in each family, a whole tribe was taken, and reckoned as set apart and devoted to Jehovah. F. W. R.

“Purification” or Ordination of the Levites.