Numbers 18:20

Numbers 18:20 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)And the Lord spake unto Aaron, Thou shalt have no inheritance in their land, neither shalt thou have any part among them: I am thy part and thine inheritance among the children of Israel.
• New International Version (NIV)The Lord said to Aaron, “You will have no inheritance in their land, nor will you have any share among them; I am your share and your inheritance among the Israelites.
• English Standard Version (ESV)And the Lord said to Aaron, "You shall have no inheritance in their land, neither shall you have any portion among them. I am your portion and your inheritance among the people of Israel.
• New King James Version (NKJV)Then the Lord said to Aaron: “You shall have no inheritance in their land, nor shall you have any portion among them; I am your portion and your inheritance among the children of Israel.

Context of Numbers 18:20

18But the meat is yours, like the breast and the right thigh that are presented. 19I am giving you, your sons, and your daughters all the holy contributions the Israelites bring to the Lord. These contributions will always be yours. It is an everlasting promise of salt in the Lord’s presence for you and your descendants.” The Lord said to Aaron, “You will have no land or property of your own as the other Israelites will have. I am your possession and your property among the Israelites. 21“I am giving the Levites one-tenth of every Israelite’s income. This is in return for the work they do at the tent of meeting. 22The other Israelites must never again come near the tent of meeting. Otherwise, they’ll suffer the consequences of their sin and die.

Numbers 18:20 word by word

וַיֹּ֨אמֶר יְהוָ֜ה אֶֽל־אַהֲרֹ֗ן בְּאַרְצָם֙ לֹ֣א תִנְחָ֔ל וְחֵ֕לֶק לֹא־יִהְיֶ֥ה לְךָ֖ בְּתוֹכָ֑ם אֲנִ֤י חֶלְקְךָ֙ וְנַחֲלָ֣תְךָ֔ בְּת֖וֹךְ בְּנֵ֥י יִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃ סRead the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• And the Lordיְהֹוָהyehôvâh · LORDH3068
• spakeאָמַר'âmar · to sayH559
• unto Aaronאַהֲרֹן'ahărôn · AaronH175
• Thou shalt have no inheritanceנָחַלnâchal · to inheritH5157
• in their landאֶ֫רֶץ'erets · land: country/planetH776
• neither shalt thou have any partחֵ֫לֶקchêleq · portionH2506
• amongתָּ֫וֶךְtâvek · midstH8432
• and thine inheritanceנַחֲלָהnachălâh · inheritanceH5159
• the childrenבֵּןbên · son: descendant/peopleH1121
• of Israelיִשְׂרָאֵלyiώrâ'êl · IsraelH3478

Cross-references for Numbers 18:20

• Numbers 18:24Instead, I will give the Levites what the Israelites contribute to the Lord—one-tenth of the Israelites’ income. This is why I said about them, ‘They will own no property as the other Israelites do.’ ”
• Numbers 18:23Only the Levites will do the work at the tent of meeting. They will be responsible for their own sins. This is a permanent law for future generations. They will own no property as the other Israelites will.
• Numbers 26:62The total number of all the ⌞Levite⌟ males at least one month old was 23,000. They were not counted along with the other Israelites, because they were given no land of their own.
• Deuteronomy 10:9This is why the tribe of Levi has no land of their own as the other tribes have. The Lord your God is their only possession, as he promised them.
• Deuteronomy 12:12Enjoy yourselves in the presence of the Lord your God along with your sons, daughters, male and female slaves, and the Levites. (The Levites live in your cities because they have no land of their own as you have.)
• Deuteronomy 14:27Never forget to take care of the Levites who live in your cities. They have no land of their own as you have.
• Joshua 14:3Moses had given the two-and-a-half tribes their inheritance east of the Jordan River. He did not give any land as an inheritance to Levi’s tribe,
• Deuteronomy 18:1The Levitical priests—in fact, the whole tribe of Levi—will receive no land or property of their own like the rest of the Israelites. They will eat what has been sacrificed to the Lord. These sacrifices will be what they receive.
• Joshua 13:14Moses did not give any land as an inheritance to the tribe of Levi. The sacrifices offered to the Lord God of Israel are what the Levites inherited, as the Lord had promised them.
• Joshua 18:7Levi’s tribe has no separate region among you, because their inheritance is to serve the Lord as priests. The tribes of Gad and Reuben and half of the tribe of Manasseh have received the inheritance that the Lord’s servant Moses gave them on the east side of the Jordan River.”
• Psalms 16:5The Lord is my inheritance and my cup. You are the one who determines my destiny.
• Psalms 73:26My body and mind may waste away, but God remains the foundation of my life and my inheritance forever.
• Psalms 142:5I call out to you, O Lord. I say, “You are my refuge, my own inheritance in this world of the living.”
• Lamentations 3:24My soul can say, ‘The Lord is my lot ⌞in life⌟. That is why I find hope in him.’
• Ezekiel 44:28“ ‘The priests will have no inheritance. I am their inheritance. Don’t give them any possessions in Israel. The priests belong to me.
• 1 Corinthians 3:21So don’t brag about people. Everything belongs to you.

Commentaries on Numbers 18:20

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 20I am thy part and thine inheritance - The principal part of what was offered to God was the portion of the priests, therefore they had no inheritance of land in Israel; independently of that they had a very ample provision for their support. The rabbins say twenty-four gifts were given to the priests, and they are all expressed in the law. Eight of those gifts the priests ate nowhere but in the sanctuary: these eight are the following: - The flesh of the…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 20I am thy part and thine inheritance - Compare the marginal references.Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 20-32Verses 20-32 As Israel was a people not to be numbered among the nations, so Levi was a tribe to be distinguished from the rest. Those who have God for their Inheritance and their Portion for ever, ought to look with holy contempt and indifference upon the possessions of this world. The Levites were to give God his dues out of their tithes, as well as the Israelites out of their increase. See, in ver. #(31), the way to have comfort in all our worldly…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 20-21The priests and Levites did not have a tribal homeland. They lived scattered among Israel's other tribes (see 35:1–8; Deuteronomy 12:12; Joshua 21:1–42). I am your portion and your inheritance: Instead of land, Israel's priests had assurance that God himself would be their homeland. The tribe of Levi received tithes as payment for their holy service.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 8-208-13. the Lord spake unto Aaron, Behold, I also have given thee the charge of my heave offerings--A recapitulation is made in this passage of certain perquisites specially appropriated to the maintenance of the priests. They were parts of the votive and freewill offerings, including both meat and bread, wine and oil, and the first-fruits, which formed a large and valuable item.Read the comment

Topics related to Numbers 18:20

• Minister, Christian
• Priest

In the dictionaries

• Aaron
• Israel
• Israel, Israelites
• Jacob, Israel
• Children of Israel
• Exodus
• Levite
• Agrapha
• Atonement, Day of
• Chronicles, Books of

Commentaries on Numbers 18

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Rashi on Tanakh
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings