12 all the best of the oil, and all the best of the new wine, and wheat -- their first-`fruits' which they give to Jehovah -- to thee I have given them.
the beginning of the first-fruits of thy ground thou dost bring into the house of Jehovah thy God; thou dost not boil a kid in its mother's milk.
the first of thy corn, of thy new wine, and of thine oil, and the first of the fleece of thy flock, thou dost give to him;
`Thy fulness and thy liquids thou dost not delay; the first-born of thy sons thou dost give to Me;
`And if thou bring near a present of first-ripe `fruits' to Jehovah, -- of green ears, roasted with fire, beaten out `corn' of a fruitful field thou dost bring near the present of thy first-ripe `fruits',
and the priest hath waved them, besides the bread of the first-`fruits' -- a wave-offering before Jehovah, besides the two lambs; they are holy to Jehovah for the priest;
then it hath been, in your eating of the bread of the land, ye heave up a heave-offering to Jehovah; the beginning of your dough a cake ye heave up -- a heave-offering; as the heave-offering of a threshing-floor, so ye do heave it. Of the beginning of your dough ye do give to Jehovah a heave-offering -- to your generations.
that thou hast taken of the first of all the fruits of the ground which thou dost bring in out of thy land which Jehovah thy God is giving to thee, and hast put `it' in a basket, and gone unto the place which Jehovah thy God doth choose to cause His name to tabernacle there.
and to bring in the first fruits of our ground, and the first fruits of all fruit of every tree, year by year, to the house of Jehovah, and the firstlings of our sons, and of our cattle, as it is written in the law, and the firstlings of our herds and our flocks, to bring in to the house of our God, to the priests who are ministering in the house of our God. And the beginning of our dough, and our heave-offerings, and the fruit of every tree, of new wine, and of oil, we bring in to the priests, unto the chambers of the house of our God, and the tithe of our ground to the Levites; and they -- the Levites -- have the tithes in all the cities of our tillage;
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Numbers 18
Commentary on Numbers 18 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 18
Aaron being now fully established in the priesthood abundantly to his own satisfaction, and to the satisfaction of the people (which was the good that God brought out of the evil opposition made to him), in this chapter God gives him full instructions concerning his office or rather repeats those which he had before given him. He tells him,
Num 18:1-7
The coherence of this chapter with that foregoing is very observable.
Num 18:8-19
The priest's service is called a warfare; and who goes a warfare at his own charges? As they were well employed, so they were well provided for, and well paid. None shall serve God for nought. All believers are spiritual priests, and God has promised to take care of them; they shall dwell in the land, and verily they shall be fed, and shall not want any good thing. Godliness has the promise of the life that now is. And from this plentiful provision here made for the priests the apostle infers that it is the duty of Christian churches to maintain their ministers; those that served at the altar lived upon the altar. So those that preach the gospel should live upon the gospel, and live comfortably, 1 Co. 9:13, 14. Scandalous maintenance makes scandalous ministers. Now observe,
Num 18:20-32
Here is a further account of the provision that was made both for the Levites and for the priests, out of the country.