🔢WEB · Numbers 18:26
What does Numbers 18:26 mean?
"“Moreover you shall speak to the Levites, and tell them, ‘When you take of the children of Israel the tithe which I have given you from them for your inheritance, then you shall offer up a wave offering of it for Yahweh, a tithe of the tithe."
— Numbers 18:26 (World English Bible)
Surrounding context
But the Levites shall do the service of the Tent of Meeting, and they shall bear their iniquity. It shall be a statute forever throughout your generations. Among the children of Israel, they shall have no inheritance.
For the tithe of the children of Israel, which they offer as a wave offering to Yahweh, I have given to the Levites for an inheritance. Therefore I have said to them, ‘Among the children of Israel they shall have no inheritance.’”
Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,
“Moreover you shall speak to the Levites, and tell them, ‘When you take of the children of Israel the tithe which I have given you from them for your inheritance, then you shall offer up a wave offering of it for Yahweh, a tithe of the tithe.
Your wave offering shall be credited to you, as though it were the grain of the threshing floor, and as the fullness of the wine press.
Thus you also shall offer a wave offering to Yahweh of all your tithes, which you receive of the children of Israel; and of it you shall give Yahweh’s wave offering to Aaron the priest.
Out of all your gifts, you shall offer every wave offering of Yahweh, of all its best parts, even the holy part of it.’
Explanation
Numbers 18:26 addresses the Levites directly, instructing them about their responsibility once they receive the tithe from the rest of Israel. In plain terms, God tells Moses to inform the Levites that when they collect the tenth (the tithe) that the Israelites give them as their inheritance, the Levites themselves must then set apart a tenth of that tithe as an offering to Yahweh. So there is a tithe within the tithe—a portion given from what they received.
The context is the wilderness period after the Exodus, when Israel's tribal inheritance system was being established. Unlike the other eleven tribes, the tribe of Levi received no territorial land inheritance in Canaan (Numbers 18:20-24). Instead, God appointed the tithes of the other Israelites as the Levites' means of support, since they were devoted to serving at the tabernacle and assisting the priests. This chapter, spoken through Moses to Aaron and by extension the Levitical family, lays out the practical arrangements for sustaining those who ministered on behalf of the whole community. Verse 26 specifically addresses what the Levites must do with what they receive—they are not simply recipients but are themselves obligated to give back a portion to God.
Theologically, this verse reinforces the principle that no one, not even those set apart for sacred service, stands outside the obligation to honor God with what they have received. The Levites lived off the generosity of Israel, but they were not exempt from offering worship and gratitude to God through their own giving. This reflects a broader biblical pattern: all provision
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