Numbers 3:9

3:9 You are to assign ¹  the Levites to Aaron and his sons; they will be assigned exclusively ²  to him out of all ³  the Israelites.

Numbers 20:13

20:13 These are the waters of Meribah, because the Israelites contended with the Lord, and his holiness was maintained ⁴  among them.

[3:9]  ¹ tn The verb וְנָתַתָּה (vÿnatattah) is normally “give.” Here, though, the context refers to the assignment of the Levites to the priests for their duties. The form is the perfect tense with vav (ו) consecutive, continuing the sequence for the imperfect of instruction.

[3:9]  ² tn This emphasis is derived from the simple repetition of the passive participle, נְתוּנִם נְתוּנִם (nÿtunim nÿtunim). See GKC 396 §123.e. The forms serve as the predicate with the subject pronoun.

[3:9]  ³ tn The Hebrew text simply has the preposition, “from the Israelites.”

[20:13]  ⁴ tn The form is unusual – it is the Niphal preterite, and not the normal use of the Piel/Pual stem for “sanctify/sanctified.” The basic idea of “he was holy” has to be the main idea, but in this context it refers to the fact that through judging Moses God was making sure people ensured his holiness among them. The word also forms a wordplay on the name Kadesh.