Numbers 18:23

The Levites are to perform the work of the Tent of Meeting, and they must bear their iniquity. This is a permanent statute for the generations to come. The Levites will not receive an inheritance among the Israelites.

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — The LORD addresses Aaron and the Levites, assigning sanctuary duties and defining their compensation after forbidding the Israelites from approaching the Tent of Meeting.

The words — עֲבֹדַת אֹהֶל מוֹעֵד ('avodat 'ohel mo'ed) denotes the prescribed service of the Tent of Meeting, while the text explicitly commands the Levites to bear their own iniquity for this duty.

The thread — The mandate to attend the Tent of Meeting recurs in Numbers 3:7, and the exclusion from land inheritance parallels Numbers 18:20 while directly enabling the tithe provision in Numbers 18:24.

Why it lands — The text establishes a permanent statute requiring the Levites to perform sanctuary labor without receiving a territorial portion, substituting divine provision for ancestral land allotment.

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

וְעָבַ֨דve./'a.Vadand/ he will serve הַלֵּוִ֜יha./le.Vithe/ Levite[s]ה֗וּאHu'he אֶת־'et-<obj.>עֲבֹדַת֙'a.vo.Dat[the] service of אֹ֣הֶל'O.hel[the] tent of מוֹעֵ֔דmo.'Edmeeting וְהֵ֖םve./Hemand/ they יִשְׂא֣וּyis.'Uthey will bear עֲוֹנָ֑ם'a.vo.Na/miniquity/ their חֻקַּ֤תchu.Kata statute of עוֹלָם֙o.Lamperpetuity לְדֹרֹ֣תֵיכֶ֔םle./do.Ro.tei./Khemto/ generations/ your וּבְתוֹךְ֙u./ve./toKhand/ in/ among בְּנֵ֣יbe.Nei[the] people of יִשְׂרָאֵ֔לYis.ra.'ElIsrael לֹ֥אlo'not יִנְחֲל֖וּyin.cha.Luthey will inherit נַחֲלָֽה׃na.cha.Lahan inheritance

King James Version

But the Levites shall do the service of the tabernacle of the congregation, and they shall bear their iniquity: it shall be a statute for ever throughout your generations, that among the children of Israel they have no inheritance.

Cross-references

Numbers 3:7 They are to perform duties for him and for the whole congregation before the Tent of Meeting, attending to the service of the tabernacle.
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.
Numbers 18:20 Then the LORD said to Aaron, “You will have no inheritance in their land, nor will you have any portion among them. I am your portion and your inheritance among the Israelites.