Numbers 18 explained: Duties and Support for Priests

Guarding the holy place (vv. 1-7)

The people had just cried out that coming near God's tent meant death, so God places the priests and Levites as a guard between the people and the holy place. Only Aaron's family may serve at the altar and behind the inner curtain, the other Levites care for the tent, and both answer for it if anyone crosses the line.

The priests' food (vv. 8-13)

Priests had no farms, so they lived on set portions of what people offered to God. The holiest portions were for the male priests alone, while other gifts like the best first oil, wine and grain could feed their whole household, if each person was ritually clean, meaning fit under the purity rules.

Firstborn and salt covenant (vv. 14-19)

Firstborn sons were bought back for five silver shekels at a month old, and firstborn of animals unfit for sacrifice were bought back too, while firstborn cattle, sheep and goats were sacrificed and their meat went to the priests. A 'covenant of salt' meant a permanent agreement, since salt preserves food and sharing salt was a known way to seal a lasting bond.

No land, but the tithe (vv. 20-24)

Aaron's family get no share of the land, because God himself is called their share. The Levites receive the tithe, a tenth of Israel's produce, as wages for their work and for carrying responsibility for the tent.

A tenth of the tenth (vv. 25-32)

The Levites in turn give the best tenth of what they receive to the priests, and this counts as their own offering, as if they had harvested it. They may eat the rest anywhere, but holding back the best would treat holy gifts as ordinary, and the text warns this would cost them their lives.

Key verse: Numbers 18:20

Something to think about

What do you think is gained, or lost, when people in a trusted or sacred role are fully supported by others instead of earning their own living?