Deuteronomy 18:5

18:1-8 Care is taken that the priests entangle not themselves with the affairs of this life, nor enrich themselves with the wealth of this world; they have better things to mind. Care is likewise taken that they want not the comforts and conveniences of this life. The people must provide for them. He that has the benefit of solemn religious assemblies, ought to give help for the comfortable support of those that minister in such assemblies.

For the Lord thy God hath chosen him out of all thy tribes,.... That is, has chosen the tribe of Levi out of all the other tribes of Israel: to stand to minister in the name of the Lord; the priests to minister to the Lord by offering sacrifices, and the Levites to minister to the priests in assisting them in their service; and both their ministry were in the name of the Lord, and for his glory, and done standing; for there was no sitting in the sanctuary (w); the priestly ministry was only performed standing (x), whatever was done sitting was rejected (y); see Hebrews 10:11, him and his sons for ever; Levi and his posterity, or the posterity of the tribe of Levi, were chosen by the Lord to this service, to be employed in it as long as the ceremonial law continued, on which stood the Levitical priesthood; but both are now abolished by Christ, having their accomplishment in him, Hebrews 7:11. (w) Maimon. in Misn. Zebachim, c. 2. sect. 1.((x) Bartenora in ib. (y) Misn. ib.

Verse 5. - The reason assigned for the enactment is that God had chosen the priest to stand and minister in the Name of Jehovah, i . e . not only by his appointment and authority, but with full power to act as mediator between the people and God. Him and his sons forever; referring to the establishment of the priesthood in the family of Aaron. Deuteronomy 18:5

For "maw" read stomach, which was regarded as one of the richest and choicest parts. As the animal slain may be considered to consist of three principal parts, head, feet, and body, a portion of each is by the regulation in question to be given to the priest, thus representing the consecration of the whole; or, as some ancient commentators think, the dedication of the words, acts, and appetites of the worshipper to God. The text probably refers to peace-offerings, and animals killed for the sacrificial meals held in connection with the peace-offerings.

3. this shall be the priest's due from the people—All who offered sacrifices of thanksgiving or peace offerings (Le 7:31-33) were ordered to give the breast and shoulder as perquisites to the priests. Here "the two cheeks" or head and "the maw" or stomach, deemed anciently a great dainty, are specified. But whether this is a new injunction, or a repetition of the old with the supplement of more details, it is not easy to determine.

CHAPTER 18 De 18:1-8. The Lord Is the Priests' and the Levites' Inheritance. 1. The priests the Levites … shall eat the offerings—As the tribe of Levi had no inheritance allotted them like the other tribes but were wholly consecrated to the priestly office, their maintenance was to arise from tithes, first-fruits, and certain portions of the oblations presented on the altar, which God having by express appointment reserved to Himself made over, after being offered, to His ministers.

1 . The priests the Levites ] This double title, peculiar to D, is found both in the Code, Deuteronomy 17:9 ; Deuteronomy 17:18 , Deuteronomy 24:8 (cp. Deuteronomy 21:5 : the priests the sons of Levi ) and in Deuteronomy 27:9 (edit.?), cp. Deuteronomy 31:9 . By God’s appointment ( Deuteronomy 18:5 ) all members of the tribe of Levi were priests de jure , but in consequence of the law abolishing the rural altars and rendering priestly functions impossible except in the Temple, a member of the tribe while resident in the country is called Levite alone— the Levite within thy gates —and can secure the name and the rights of a priest only when he removes to Jerusalem ( Deuteronomy 18:6 ); where however he does not cease to be called Levite ( Deuteronomy 18:7 ). With this distinction the priests and the Levites are to D synonymous. This is further emphasised by the addition— all the tribe of Levi ] The and prefixed by the A.V. and R.V. Marg. is not in the Heb., in which the phrase stands in apposition to the priests the Levites . There is therefore no possibility in the interpretation that D intended by Levites ‘all other members of the tribe of Levi.’ This interpretation is a forced attempt to reconcile D’s law with those of P which distinguish between priests and Levites. no portion nor inheritance with Israel ] Cp.

The reason for the right accorded to the priests was the choice of them for the office of standing "to minister in the name of Jehovah," sc., for all the tribes "In the name of Jehovah," not merely by the appointment, but also in the power of the Lord, as mediators of His grace. The words "he and his sons" point back quite to the Mosaic times, in which Aaron and his sons held the priest's office.

The Rights of the Priests and Levites. - With reference to these, Moses repeats verbatim from Numbers 18:20 , Numbers 18:23-24 , the essential part of the rule laid down in Numbers 18 :"The priests the Levites, the whole tribe of Levi, shall have no part nor inheritance with Israel." "All the tribe of Levi" includes the priests and Levites. They were to eat the "firings of Jehovah and His inheritance," as described in detail in Numbers 18 . The inheritance of Jehovah consisted of the holy gifts as well as the sacrifices, i.e., the tithes, firstlings, and first-fruits. Moses felt it to be superfluous to enumerate these gifts one by one from the previous laws, and also to describe the mode of their application, or define how much belonged to the priests and how much to the Levites. However true it may be that the author assigns all these gifts to the Levites generally, the conclusion drawn from this, viz., that he was not acquainted with any distinction between priests and Levites, but placed the Levites entirely on a par with the priests, is quite a false one.