🔢WEB · Numbers 18:4
What does Numbers 18:4 mean?
"They 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."
— Numbers 18:4 (World English Bible)
Surrounding context
Yahweh 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.
Bring 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.
They 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.
They 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.
“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.
Behold, 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.
You 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.”
Explanation
Numbers 18:4 comes right after God tells Aaron that he, his sons, and his father's household will bear the responsibility for the sanctuary and the priesthood. In this verse, God specifies that the Levites—the broader tribe descended from Levi, of which Aaron's family was one branch—will be "joined" to Aaron and his sons to assist them in the work of the Tent of Meeting, the portable tabernacle where God's presence dwelt among Israel. The Levites would handle the practical labor: setting up and taking down the tent, transporting its furnishings, guarding it, and supporting the priests in their duties. But the verse draws a firm line: "a stranger," meaning anyone outside the tribe of Levi, was forb
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