Deuteronomy 18:1-2

Chapter 18 The Maintenance of The Levitical Priests and the Levites. Avoidance of The Occult. Yahweh Will Provide A Prophet Over Against False Prophets.

In some ways in contrast with any king were the priests. They were chosen by Yahweh and were not to have personal wealth. They were to be maintained by the people, being dependent on provisions that belonged to Yahweh. Those of the tribe of Levi chosen by Yahweh to minister in His name must also be properly maintained and catered for. These are the ones to whom Israel must primarily look for justice and for guidance in God's Instruction as we have already seen, as men who minister before Yahweh.

And if Israel, unsatisfied with that, seek a divine message they must not look to those who profess to reveal the future or the secrets of the dead. Rather they must look to prophets raised up by Yahweh, prophets who will be like Moses, the test of whom will be that what they prophesy comes about. That will distinguish the false prophets from the true.

Pronounwise the passage is an interesting one. In the first three verses it continues the third person approach used of the description of the king, ‘he, they', then in Deuteronomy 18:4 turns back to ‘thee' thou'. This demonstrates the unity of this passage with the previous passage, demonstrating that the words about the king are an essential part of the whole. ‘Thee, thou' is then used for the remainder of the chapter, stressing both individual responsibility and oneness as a nation, apart from ‘you (ye) shall hearken' in Deuteronomy 18:15 where it suits it as an ‘aside'.

The Maintenance of the Levitical Priests and the Levites At The Sanctuary (Deuteronomy 18:1).

The levitical priests and the Levites who served at the Tabernacle were to be supported by portions of the offerings and sacrifices, and by the offerings of the firstfruits, for they have been chosen by Yahweh to serve Him in His chosen place.

Analysis using the words of Moses.

a The priests the Levites, all the tribe of Levi, shall have no portion nor inheritance with Israel. They shall eat the offerings of Yahweh made by fire and his inheritance (Deuteronomy 18:1).

b And they shall have no inheritance among their brethren. Yahweh is their inheritance, as He has spoken to them (Deuteronomy 18:2).

c And this shall be the priest's due from the people, from those who offer a sacrifice, whether it be ox or sheep (Deuteronomy 18:3 a).

c That they shall give to the priest the shoulder, and the two cheeks, and the maw (stomach) (Deuteronomy 18:3 b).

b The firstfruits of your grain, of your new wine, and of your oil, and the first of the fleece of your sheep, shall you give him (Deuteronomy 18:4).

a For Yahweh your God has chosen him out of all your tribes, to stand to minister in the name of Yahweh, him and his sons for ever (Deuteronomy 18:5).

We note that in ‘a' the priests are to have no inheritance in Israel but to be totally dependent for their provision on Yahweh, and in the parallel this is so because Yahweh has chosen them out of all their tribes to stand to minister in His name. In ‘b' their inheritance is declared to be Yahweh, and in the parallel they are to receive the firstfruits of both vegetation and beasts, which are Yahweh's. In ‘c' the priests' dues are prepared for and then described.

Deuteronomy 18:1

‘ The priests the Levites, all the tribe of Levi, shall have no portion nor inheritance with Israel. They shall eat the offerings of Yahweh made by fire and his inheritance. And they shall have no inheritance among their brethren. Yahweh is their inheritance, as he has spoken to them.'

The opening phrase ‘The priests the Levites, all the tribe of Levi' raises questions as to whether this covers both levitical priests (the priests the Levites) and Levites (all the tribe of Levi) or just the levitical priests alone. However in Deuteronomy such phrases in apposition regularly represent the item in apposition as signifying something greater than the first phrase. See Deuteronomy 3:4; Deuteronomy 15:21; Deuteronomy 16:21; Deuteronomy 17:1; Deuteronomy 23:19; Deuteronomy 25:16. Compare also Deuteronomy 3:18 where there is a reduction in the idea. They are never just a description of the same idea. In Deuteronomy 2:37; Deuteronomy 3:13; Deuteronomy 4:19; Deuteronomy 5:8; Deuteronomy 20:14; Deuteronomy 29:10 the clauses in apposition are always of one against a number and therefore not strictly comparable. This would confirm that ‘all the tribe of Levi' is an extension of, and addition to, the idea of the levitical priests thus referring to both priests and Levites. Significantly there are no examples the other way.

So it is both levitical priests and all the tribe of Levi who were to have no portion in Israel. They would have no tribal area of their own. Nor were they to be given land as individuals. The priestly cities and the levitical cities were to be jointly owned along with the land around them, although individuals would own their own houses. Both did later purchase property for themselves and thus came into ownership of houses and property outside this sphere, but that was not part of the original plan (e.g. 1 Kings 2:26; Jeremiah 32:7 with Deuteronomy 1:1).

The ideal behind this was that they should be unworldy, independent, and able to keep the civil power in check. Their whole existence was to involve being taken up with Yahweh, Who was their inheritance, with keeping the nation right before Him, and with making known His law and ensuring that His covenant requirements were maintained.

“They shall eat the offerings of Yahweh made by fire (ishsheh) and his inheritance. And they shall have no inheritance among their brethren. Yahweh is their inheritance, as he has spoken to them.” The levitical priests and Levites will therefore ‘eat the offerings of Yahweh made by fire and His inheritance'. Part of each offering made by fire, apart from the whole burnt offerings, was given to the priests (Leviticus 2:3; Leviticus 2:10 and often; Joshua 13:14). Yahweh's inheritance as mentioned here included all that was sanctified to Him and included offerings and sacrifices, firstfruits, tithes, firstlings, and so on, and His specific inheritance to the Levites was the tithe (Numbers 18:24), which would include grain, wine and animals (Numbers 18:30 with Leviticus 27:30). But the Levites would also share in the peace offerings made by the people, which were offerings made by fire (Leviticus 3:9) as they did in the firstlings (Deuteronomy 12:11; Deuteronomy 12:17). Thus was provision made for both priest and Levite out of the variety of offerings made by the people. For a wholesale coverage of this see Numbers 18 where the distinctions are made clearer, although through the years circumstances had expanded on them.

It may also be that ishsheh actually simply denotes gifts and offerings without necessarily meaning ‘by fire'. Compare the use of usn at Ugarit. Note also the threefold use of ‘inheritance', each use with a slightly different meaning. Yahweh's inheritance, that which was set apart for Him and given to Him, included all that is mentioned above, including the tithes which He gave to the Levites as an inheritance. His inheritance to the people is the land. But Yahweh Himself, and His service, is the inheritance of the priests and Levites (compare Deuteronomy 10:9; Joshua 13:33; Numbers 18:20; Joshua 18:7).

“They shall have no inheritance among their brethren. Yahweh is their inheritance, as he has spoken to them.” This contrasts with the words spoken about their king. ‘His heart is not to be lifted up above his brethren'. The king was to be one with his brethren in obedience to Yahweh and to His Instruction. His inheritance was to be among them. But the priests and Levites had no inheritance among their brethren. They were lifted up above it. Yahweh was their inheritance. Thus their ideal king was not to have control over priestly activities or over matters to do with the sanctuary. That would be between the priests and Yahweh. They would act as a balance to the king's powers, especially as they were the experts whom the king would consult when seeking to understand Yahweh's law.

In Egypt the Pharaohs had always had to recognise the might of the priests while being a god over them. He had constantly manoeuvred with them. Much had depended on the strength of the Pharaoh. But in Israel the king was always to be in submission to Yahweh's Instruction and was to be submissive to the Sanctuary, and to those who expounded Yahweh's Instruction. Thus Yahweh, not the king, would still be over all. This will especially come out shortly when we learn of the independent prophet ‘like Moses'. He will speak directly from Yahweh, and both king and priest will have to listen to him. For all are in the end subject to Yahweh's Instruction and His will.