Bible Strands
Numbers 18:1
So the LORD said to Aaron, “You and your sons and your father’s house must bear the iniquity involving the sanctuary. And you and your sons alone must bear the iniquity involving your priesthood.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Yahweh addresses Aaron directly, commanding him and his sons to assume responsibility for sanctuary offenses. This directive establishes the initial boundaries of priestly and Levitical service at the Tent of the Testimony.
The words — The Hebrew וַיֹּאמֶר (va/i.Yo.mer) literally means "and he said," introducing a binding divine command. The supplied original words frame the address to Aaron, marking the transition from general instruction to specific priestly accountability.
The thread — The mandate to bear iniquity for holy things appears in Exodus 28:38 regarding the high priest's vestments. The language of bearing responsibility for others surfaces in 1 Peter 2:24, while Ezekiel 3:18 applies the same structural concept to prophetic warning duties.
Why it lands — The text explicitly requires Aaron and his lineage to carry the penalty and duty for sanctuary violations. It asks readers to acknowledge that sacred office demands personal liability and that holy things cannot be handled without appointed, accountable mediators.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
And the Lord said unto Aaron, Thou and thy sons and thy father’s house with thee shall bear the iniquity of the sanctuary: and thou and thy sons with thee shall bear the iniquity of your priesthood.
Cross-references
- Exodus 28:38 And it will be worn on Aaron’s forehead, so that he may bear the iniquity of the holy things that the sons of Israel consecrate with regard to all their holy gifts. It shall always be on his forehead, so that they may be acceptable before the LORD.
- 1 Peter 2:24 He Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. “By His stripes you are healed.”
- Ezekiel 3:18 If I say to the wicked man, ‘You will surely die,’ but you do not warn him or speak out to warn him from his wicked way to save his life, that wicked man will die in his iniquity, and I will hold you responsible for his blood.
- Acts 20:26 Therefore I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all men.
- Hebrews 4:15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who was tempted in every way that we are, yet was without sin.
- Hebrews 13:17 Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they watch over your souls as those who must give an account. To this end, allow them to lead with joy and not with grief, for that would be of no advantage to you.
- Leviticus 22:9 The priests must keep My charge, lest they bear the guilt and die because they profane it. I am the LORD who sanctifies them.
- Numbers 14:34 In keeping with the forty days you spied out the land, you shall bear your guilt forty years—a year for each day—and you will experience My alienation.
- Numbers 17:3 and write Aaron’s name on the staff of Levi, because there must be one staff for the head of each tribe.
- Numbers 17:7 Then Moses placed the staffs before the LORD in the Tent of the Testimony.