Peter Pett's Commentary on the Bible
Deuteronomy 18:6-8
The Maintenance of Levites Who Elect To Come To Serve At The Sanctuary (Deuteronomy 18:6).
The Levites were to be spread all over Israel. But when they came to serve at the Tabernacle permanently they would need to be provided for.
Analysis using the words of Moses.
a And if a Levite come from any of your gates out of all Israel, where he sojourns, and come with all the desire of his soul to the place which Yahweh shall choose (Deuteronomy 18:6).
b Then he shall minister in the name of Yahweh his God (Deuteronomy 18:7 a).
b As all his brethren the Levites do, who stand there before Yahweh (Deuteronomy 18:7 b).
a They shall have like portions to eat, besides that which comes of the sale of his patrimony (Deuteronomy 18:8).
Note that in ‘a' it is speaking of the Levite who comes to the place which Yahweh has chosen, burning with seal to serve at the Tabernacle. In the parallel their portion is to be similar to that of the priests and Levites already there. On the top of that they may retain any silver obtained from selling the family home in the city from which he comes. In ‘b' then he will minister in the name of Yahweh his God, in the same way as all his brethren the Levites do, who stand there before Yahweh.
‘ And if a Levite come from any of your gates out of all Israel, where he sojourns, and come with all the desire of his soul to the place which Yahweh shall choose, then he shall minister in the name of Yahweh his God, as all his brethren the Levites do, who stand there before Yahweh.'
It was the Levites and not the priests who tended to be spread around the land. But at times they would seek to take their part in the worship of the sanctuary (not necessarily permanently). Here one comes ‘with all the desire of his soul'. He is fulfilling a great desire. Once there he must be allowed to serve in the name of Yahweh his God, along with all his brother Levites who ‘stand before Yahweh'. To stand before Yahweh is not necessarily a priestly ministry. Compare Deuteronomy 10:8; Deuteronomy 19:17; Deuteronomy 29:10; Deuteronomy 29:15; 1Ki 17:1; 1 Kings 18:15; 1 Kings 19:11; 2 Kings 3:14; 2 Kings 5:16 see also Numbers 11:16. Nor is ‘to minister in His name'. Compare Deuteronomy 10:8. In 2 Chronicles 29 ‘you Levites' (which includes both priests and Levites specifically distinguished - Deuteronomy 18:4) are chosen to ‘stand before Him, to minister to Him, and to be his ministers, and to burn incense', again a mixing of levitical and priestly duties. In 1 Samuel 2:11 the child Samuel ‘did minister to Yahweh before Eli the Priest'. At his young age this could not include direct priestly ministry. In Numbers 8:25 the Levites ‘minister with their brothers in the tent of meeting'. The idea is of general service in His Tabernacle.
To be in the Tabernacle courtyard (Leviticus 1:3; Leviticus 1:5; Leviticus 1:11 and often, see Leviticus 4:15), or even gathered round it (Exodus 34:23), was always to be ‘before Yahweh'. (See also Numbers 7:3; Numbers 8:10; Numbers 14:37; Numbers 15:15; Numbers 32:21 etc; Deuteronomy 1:45; Deuteronomy 4:10; Deuteronomy 6:25; Deuteronomy 12:7; Deuteronomy 12:12; Deuteronomy 12:18; Deuteronomy 16:16 etc).
Examples of Tabernacle service would include repair and maintenance within the limits of where they were allowed to go and making replacements for worn out sections of the tabernacle (compare Exodus 38:21), organisation of visitors who came to the tabernacle and general guardianship (Numbers 1:53), assisting those who found difficulty in slaying their sacrifices (compare Ezekiel 44:11), assisting with sanctifying the house of Yahweh (2 Chronicles 29:16) and certainly later singing and music. Thus they ‘ministered before Yahweh'.
‘ They shall have like portions to eat, besides that which comes of the sale of his patrimony.'
They were to be given equal shares in all the portions that fell to the Levites. And this was not be affected by any rents they received from letting their own house, or capital received from selling it.
It is not absolutely certain what 'patrimony' includes - the Hebrew rendered baldly translated would be 'the sale concerning the fathers'. The general meaning is, however, clear. When the Levite left his levitical city, or wherever he was resident, and took up residence at the Sanctuary, he had a right to keep any wealth obtained from family possessions, which might include property owned in the levitical city.