Hebrews 2:17

2:17 Therefore he had ¹  to be made like his brothers and sisters ²  in every respect, so that he could become a merciful and faithful high priest in things relating to God, to make atonement ³  for the sins of the people.

Numbers 16:46-48

16:46 Then Moses said to Aaron, “Take the censer, put burning coals from the altar in it, place incense on it, and go quickly into the assembly and make atonement for them, for wrath has gone out from the Lord – the plague has begun!” 16:47 So Aaron did ⁴  as Moses commanded ⁵  and ran into the middle of the assembly, where the plague was just beginning among the people. So he placed incense on the coals and made atonement for the people. 16:48 He stood between the dead and the living, and the plague was stopped.

Numbers 18:1-3

Responsibilities of the Priests

18:1 ⁶ The Lord said to Aaron, “You and your sons and your tribe ⁷  with you must bear the iniquity of the sanctuary, ⁸  and you and your sons with you must bear the iniquity of your priesthood.

18:2 “Bring with you your brothers, the tribe of Levi, the tribe of your father, so that they may join ⁹  with you and minister to you while ¹⁰  you and your sons with you are before the tent of the testimony. 18:3 They must be responsible to care for you and to care for the entire tabernacle. However, they must not come near the furnishings of the sanctuary and the altar, or both they and you will die.

[2:17]  ¹ tn Or “he was obligated.”

[2:17]  ² tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 2:11.

[2:17]  ³ tn Or “propitiation.”

[16:47]  ⁴ tn Heb “took.”

[16:47]  ⁵ tn Or “had spoken” (NASB); NRSV “had ordered.”

[18:1]  ⁶ 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).

[18:1]  ⁷ tn Heb “your father’s house.”

[18:1]  ⁸ 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.

[18:2]  ⁹ sn The verb forms a wordplay on the name Levi, and makes an allusion to the naming of the tribe Levi by Leah in the book of Genesis. There Leah hoped that with the birth of Levi her husband would be attached to her. Here, with the selection of the tribe to serve in the sanctuary, there is the wordplay again showing that the Levites will be attached to Aaron and the priests. The verb is יִלָּווּ (yillavu), which forms a nice wordplay with Levi (לֵוִי). The tribe will now be attached to the sanctuary. The verb is the imperfect with a vav (ו) that shows volitive sequence after the imperative, here indicating a purpose clause.

[18:2]  ¹⁰ tn The clause is a circumstantial clause because the disjunctive vav (ו) is on a nonverb to start the clause.