Numbers 18:7

18:7 But you and your sons with you are responsible for your priestly duties, for everything at the altar and within the curtain. And you must serve. I give you the priesthood as a gift for service; but the unauthorized person who approaches must be put to death.”

Numbers 18:1

Responsibilities of the Priests

18:1 ¹ The Lord said to Aaron, “You and your sons and your tribe ²  with you must bear the iniquity of the sanctuary, ³  and you and your sons with you must bear the iniquity of your priesthood.

Numbers 6:1

The Nazirite Vow

6:1 ⁴ Then the Lord spoke to Moses:

Ezekiel 44:8

44:8 You have not kept charge of my holy things, but you have assigned foreigners ⁵  to keep charge of my sanctuary for you.

Acts 6:3-4

6:3 But carefully select from among you, brothers, ⁶  seven ⁷  men who are well-attested, ⁸  full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we may put in charge ⁹  of this necessary task. ¹⁰  6:4 But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.”

Romans 12:7

12:7 If it is service, he must serve; if it is teaching, he must teach;

Romans 12:1

Consecration of the Believer’s Life

12:1 Therefore I exhort you, brothers and sisters, ¹¹  by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a sacrifice – alive, holy, and pleasing to God ¹²  – which is your reasonable service.

Romans 4:15-16

4:15 For the law brings wrath, because where there is no law there is no transgression ¹³  either. 4:16 For this reason it is by faith so that it may be by grace, ¹⁴  with the result that the promise may be certain to all the descendants – not only to those who are under the law, but also to those who have the faith of Abraham, ¹⁵  who is the father of us all

¹ sn This chapter and the next may have been inserted here to explain how the priests are to function because in the preceding chapter Aaron’s position was affirmed. The chapter seems to fall into four units: responsibilities of priests (vv. 1-7), their portions (vv. 8-19), responsibilities of Levites (vv. 20-24), and instructions for Levites (vv. 25-32).

² tn Heb “your father’s house.”

³ sn The responsibility for the sanctuary included obligations relating to any violation of the sanctuary. This was stated to forestall any further violations of the sanctuary. The priests were to pay for any ritual errors, primarily if any came too near. Since the priests and Levites come near all the time, they risk violating ritual laws more than any. So, with the great privileges come great responsibilities. The bottom line is that they were responsible for the sanctuary.

⁴ sn This chapter can be divided into five sections: The vow is described in vv. 1-8, then the contingencies for defilement are enumerated in vv. 9-12, then there is a discussion of discharging the vows in vv. 13-20, and then a summary in v. 21; after this is the high priestly blessing (vv. 22-27). For information on the vow, see G. B. Gray, “The Nazirite,” JTS 1 (1899-1900): 201-11; Z. Weisman, “The Biblical Nazirite, Its Types and Roots,” Tarbiz 36 (1967): 207-20; and W. Eichrodt, Theology of the Old Testament (OTL), 1:303-6.

⁵ tc Instead of an energic nun (ן), the text may have read a third masculine plural suffix ם (mem), “them,” which was confused with ן (nun) in the old script. See D. I. Block, Ezekiel (NICOT), 2:621.

⁶ tn It is not clear from a historical standpoint (but it is unlikely) that women would have been involved in the selection process too. For this reason the translation “brothers” has been retained, rather than “brothers and sisters” (used in contexts where both male and female believers are clearly addressed).

⁷ sn Seven. Jewish town councils often had seven members (Josephus, Ant. 4.18.14 [4.214]).

⁸ tn Or “are of good reputation” (BDAG 618 s.v. μαρτυρέω 2.b).

⁹ tn The translation “put in charge” is given by BDAG 492 s.v. καθίστημι 2.

¹⁰ tn Grk “of this need”; translated “necessary work” or “needed task” by L&N 42.22.

¹¹ tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:13.

¹² tn The participle and two adjectives “alive, holy, and pleasing to God” are taken as predicates in relation to “sacrifice,” making the exhortation more emphatic. See ExSyn 618-19.

¹³ tn Or “violation.”

¹⁴ tn Grk “that it might be according to grace.”

¹⁵ tn Grk “those who are of the faith of Abraham.”