Numbers 18:24

Summary

The verse explains the legal basis for the Levites' lack of territorial inheritance: Yehovah assigns to them the tithe that the Israelites offer as a contribution, and this tithe itself constitutes their "inheritance," explicitly excluding them from land inheritance among the tribes.

Key words

• ma'sar ("tithe of", H4643) — construct noun opening the clause, immediately linked to "the sons of Israel" as the source of what is tithed.
• yarimu ("they will offer up", H7311A) — hiphil imperfect, causative aspect: the Israelites actively "raise up" or "lift" this portion for Yehovah, not a passive action.
• teruMah ("a contribution", H8641) — feminine singular noun standing in apposition to the tithe, specifying its technical status as a set-apart offering.
• naTati ("I give", H5414G) — qal perfect, first person: a completed, declarative act by Yehovah, not a future promise.
• yinchaLu ("they will inherit", H5157) — qal imperfect negated by lo' ("not", H3808), describing the ongoing state of the Levites regarding land.

What the text says

The verse opens with the causal particle ki ("for", H3588A), linking it to the preceding statement as its justification. The syntax places the object first: "the tithe of the sons of Israel" (ma'sar bene Yisra'el), followed by a relative clause describing that tithe as what the Israelites "offer up" (yarimu, hiphil imperfect H7311A) "to Yehovah" as a terumah ("contribution", H8641). Only after this extended object does the main verb appear: natati ("I have given", H5414G, qal perfect), with Yehovah as the speaking subject. This word order (object before verb) places emphasis on the tithe itself as the topic under discussion.

The phrase lenachalah ("for an inheritance", H5159) describes the function of the tithe: it serves as the Levites' inheritance in place of land. The verse then repeats the causal link with 'al-ken ("therefore", H3651C + H5921A) introducing Yehovah's prior statement ('amarti, "I have said", qal perfect H0559) that the Levites, "in the midst of the sons of Israel," will "not inherit" (lo' yinchalu, negated qal imperfect H5157) "an inheritance" (nachalah, H5159). The repetition of nachalah in two different verbal/nominal forms across the verse creates a wordplay: the tithe is their inheritance, but they receive no other inheritance among the tribes.

Differences between versions

The LXX renders yarimu ("they offer up") with ἀφορίσωσιν ("they set apart/separate"), a different verbal image than the Hebrew's "lifting up." The Vulgate text given here is notably compressed and does not mention "Levites" or "tithe" as distinct terms within this verse; it reads as a continuation referring to "the offering of tithes" with which the Levites are "content" (contenti), suggesting a different verse division or paraphrastic rendering compared to the Hebrew's explicit repetition of Yehovah's speech and the nachalah wordplay.