Numbers 1:53

1:53 But the Levites must camp around the tabernacle of the testimony, so that the Lord’s anger ¹  will not fall on the Israelite community. The Levites are responsible for the care ²  of the tabernacle of the testimony.”

Numbers 3:41-45

3:41 And take ³  the Levites for me – I am the Lord – instead of all the firstborn males among the Israelites, and the livestock of the Levites instead of all the firstborn of the livestock of the Israelites.” 3:42 So Moses numbered all the firstborn males among the Israelites, as the Lord had commanded him. 3:43 And all the firstborn males, by the number of the names from a month old and upward, totaled 22,273.

3:44 Then the Lord spoke to Moses: 3:45 “Take the Levites instead of all the firstborn males among the Israelites, and the livestock of the Levites instead of their livestock. And the Levites will be mine. I am the Lord.

Numbers 8:14-16

8:14 And so ⁴  you are to separate the Levites from among the Israelites, and the Levites will be mine.

8:15 “After this, the Levites will go in ⁵  to do the work ⁶  of the tent of meeting. So you must cleanse them ⁷  and offer them like a wave offering. ⁸  8:16 For they are entirely given ⁹  to me from among the Israelites. I have taken them for myself instead of ¹⁰  all who open the womb, the firstborn sons of all the Israelites.

Numbers 18:2-6

18:2 “Bring with you your brothers, the tribe of Levi, the tribe of your father, so that they may join ¹¹  with you and minister to you while ¹²  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. 18:4 They must join ¹³  with you, and they will be responsible for the care of the tent of meeting, for all the service of the tent, but no unauthorized person ¹⁴  may approach you. 18:5 You will be responsible for the care of the sanctuary and the care of the altar, so that there will be ¹⁵  no more wrath on the Israelites. 18:6 I myself have chosen ¹⁶  your brothers the Levites from among the Israelites. They are given to you as a gift from the Lord, to perform the duties ¹⁷  of the tent of meeting.

Deuteronomy 10:8

10:8 At that time the Lord set apart the tribe of Levi ¹⁸  to carry the ark of the Lord’s covenant, to stand before the Lord to serve him, and to formulate blessings ¹⁹  in his name, as they do to this very day.

Deuteronomy 10:2

10:2 I will write on the tablets the same words ²⁰  that were on the first tablets you broke, and you must put them into the ark.”

Deuteronomy 1:3

1:3 However, it was not until ²¹  the first day of the eleventh month ²²  of the fortieth year ²³  that Moses addressed the Israelites just as ²⁴  the Lord had instructed him to do.

Nehemiah 12:44

12:44 On that day men were appointed over the storerooms for the contributions, first fruits, and tithes, to gather into them from ²⁵  the fields of the cities the portions prescribed by the law for the priests and the Levites, for the people of Judah ²⁶  took delight in the priests and Levites who were ministering. ²⁷ 

Ezekiel 44:10-11

44:10 “‘But the Levites who went far from me, straying off from me after their idols when Israel went astray, will be responsible for ²⁸  their sin. 44:11 Yet they will be ministers in my sanctuary, having oversight at the gates of the temple, and serving the temple. They will slaughter the burnt offerings and the sacrifices for the people, and they will stand before them to minister to them.

Acts 13:2

13:2 While they were serving ²⁹  the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart ³⁰  for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.”

[1:53]  ¹ tc Instead of “wrath” the Greek text has “sin,” focusing the emphasis on the human error and not on the wrath of God. This may have been a conscious change to explain the divine wrath.

[1:53]  ² tn The main verb of the clause is the perfect tense with vav (ו) consecutive, וְשָׁמְרוּ (vÿshamÿru) meaning they “shall guard, protect, watch over, care for.” It may carry the same obligatory nuance as the preceding verbs because of the sequence. The object used with this is the cognate noun מִשְׁמֶרֶת (mishmeret): “The Levites must care for the care of the tabernacle.” The cognate intensifies the construction to stress that they are responsible for this care.

[3:41]  ³ tn The verb is the perfect tense with vav (ו) consecutive; it carries forward the instructions from the preceding verse. The verb “take” now has the sense of appointing or designating the Levites.

[8:14]  ⁴ tn The vav (ו) consecutive on the perfect tense not only carries the nuance of instruction forward to this clause, but also marks this clause out as a summary of what has taken place, i.e., by doing all this ritual Moses will have separated the Levites from the people for God’s own possession.

[8:15]  ⁵ tn The imperfect tense could also be given the nuance of the imperfect of permission: “the Levites may go in.”

[8:15]  ⁶ tn Heb “to serve.”

[8:15]  ⁷ tn The two verbs in the rest of this verse are perfect tenses with vav (ו) consecutive constructions, making them equal to the imperfect. Some commentators try to get around the difficulty of repetition by making these future perfects, “and you will have cleansed,” as opposed to a summary statement, “for thus you will cleanse….”

[8:15]  ⁸ tc The Greek text adds “before the Lord.”

[8:16]  ⁹ tn As before, the emphasis is obtained by repeating the passive participle: “given, given to me.”

[8:16]  ¹⁰ tn Or “as substitutes” for all the firstborn of the Israelites.

[18:2]  ¹¹ 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]  ¹² tn The clause is a circumstantial clause because the disjunctive vav (ו) is on a nonverb to start the clause.

[18:4]  ¹³ tn Now the sentence uses the Niphal perfect with a vav (ו) consecutive from the same root לָוָה (lavah).

[18:4]  ¹⁴ tn The word is “stranger, alien,” but it can also mean Israelites here.

[18:5]  ¹⁵ tn The clause is a purpose clause, and the imperfect tense a final imperfect.

[18:6]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “taken.”

[18:6]  ¹⁷ tn The infinitive construct in this sentence is from עָבַד (’avad), and so is the noun that serves as its object: to serve the service.

[10:8]  ¹⁸ sn The Lord set apart the tribe of Levi. This was not the initial commissioning of the tribe of Levi to this ministry (cf. Num 3:11-13; 8:12-26), but with Aaron’s death it seemed appropriate to Moses to reiterate Levi’s responsibilities. There is no reference in the Book of Numbers to this having been done, but the account of Eleazar’s succession to the priesthood there (Num 20:25-28) would provide a setting for this to have occurred.

[10:8]  ¹⁹ sn To formulate blessings. The most famous example of this is the priestly “blessing formula” of Num 6:24-26.

[10:2]  ²⁰ sn The same words. The care with which the replacement copy must be made underscores the importance of verbal precision in relaying the Lord’s commandments.

[1:3]  ²¹ tn Heb “in” or “on.” Here there is a contrast between the ordinary time of eleven days (v. 2) and the actual time of forty years, so “not until” brings out that vast disparity.

[1:3]  ²² sn The eleventh month is Shebat in the Hebrew calendar, January/February in the modern (Gregorian) calendar.

[1:3]  ²³ sn The fortieth year would be 1406 b.c. according to the “early” date of the exodus. See E. H. Merrill, Kingdom of Priests, 66-75.

[1:3]  ²⁴ tn Heb “according to all which.”

[12:44]  ²⁵ tc The translation reads מִשְּׂדֶי (missÿde, “from the fields”) rather than the MT reading לִשְׂדֵי (lisdey, “to the fields”).

[12:44]  ²⁶ tn Heb “for Judah.” The words “the people of” have been supplied in the translation for clarity, since “Judah” is a proper name as well as a place name.

[12:44]  ²⁷ tn Heb “standing.”

[44:10]  ²⁸ tn Heb “will bear.”

[13:2]  ²⁹ tn This term is frequently used in the LXX of the service performed by priests and Levites in the tabernacle (Exod 28:35, 43; 29:30; 30:20; 35:19; 39:26; Num 1:50; 3:6, 31) and the temple (2 Chr 31:2; 35:3; Joel 1:9, 13; 2:17, and many more examples). According to BDAG 591 s.v. λειτουργέω 1.b it is used “of other expression of religious devotion.” Since the previous verse described the prophets and teachers in the church at Antioch, it is probable that the term here describes two of them (Barnabas and Saul) as they were serving in that capacity. Since they were not in Jerusalem where the temple was located, general religious service is referred to here.

[13:2]  ³⁰ tn Or “Appoint.”