Numbers 18:1
New International Version
The LORD said to Aaron, “You, your sons and your family are to bear the responsibility for offenses connected with the sanctuary, and you and your sons alone are to bear the responsibility for offenses connected with the priesthood.

New Living Translation
Then the LORD said to Aaron: “You, your sons, and your relatives from the tribe of Levi will be held responsible for any offenses related to the sanctuary. But you and your sons alone will be held responsible for violations connected with the priesthood.

English Standard Version
So the LORD said to Aaron, “You and your sons and your father’s house with you shall bear iniquity connected with the sanctuary, and you and your sons with you shall bear iniquity connected with your priesthood.

Berean Standard Bible
So the LORD said to Aaron, “You and your sons and your father’s house must bear the iniquity involving the sanctuary. And you and your sons alone must bear the iniquity involving your priesthood.

King James Bible
And the LORD said unto Aaron, Thou and thy sons and thy father's house with thee shall bear the iniquity of the sanctuary: and thou and thy sons with thee shall bear the iniquity of your priesthood.

New King James Version
Then the LORD said to Aaron: “You and your sons and your father’s house with you shall bear the iniquity related to the sanctuary, and you and your sons with you shall bear the iniquity associated with your priesthood.

New American Standard Bible
So the LORD said to Aaron, “You, your sons, and your father’s household with you shall bear the guilt in connection with the sanctuary, and you and your sons with you shall bear the guilt in connection with your priesthood.

NASB 1995
So the LORD said to Aaron, “You and your sons and your father’s household with you shall bear the guilt in connection with the sanctuary, and you and your sons with you shall bear the guilt in connection with your priesthood.

NASB 1977
So the LORD said to Aaron, “You and your sons and your father’s household with you shall bear the guilt in connection with the sanctuary; and you and your sons with you shall bear the guilt in connection with your priesthood.

Legacy Standard Bible
So Yahweh said to Aaron, “You and your sons and your father’s household with you shall bear the guilt in connection with the sanctuary, and you and your sons with you shall bear the guilt in connection with your priesthood.

Amplified Bible
So the LORD said to Aaron, “You and your sons and your father’s household (family) with you shall bear the guilt in connection with the sanctuary [that is, through your service as priests you will atone for the offenses which the people unknowingly commit when brought into contact with the manifestations of God’s presence]; and you and your sons with you shall bear the guilt in connection with your priesthood [that is, your own unintentional offenses].

Christian Standard Bible
The LORD said to Aaron, “You, your sons, and your ancestral family will be responsible for iniquity against the sanctuary. You and your sons will be responsible for iniquity involving your priesthood.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
The LORD said to Aaron, “You, your sons, and your ancestral house will be responsible for sin against the sanctuary. You and your sons will be responsible for sin involving your priesthood.

American Standard Version
And Jehovah said unto Aaron, Thou and thy sons and thy fathers' house with thee shall bear the iniquity of the sanctuary; and thou and thy sons with thee shall bear the iniquity of your priesthood.

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
And LORD JEHOVAH said to Ahron: “You and your sons and the house of your father with you, pick up the evil of the Holy Place and you and your sons with you, pick up the evil of your priesthood.

Brenton Septuagint Translation
And the Lord spoke to Aaron, saying, Thou and thy sons and thy father's house shall bear the sins of the holy things, and thou and thy sons shall bear the iniquity of your priesthood.

Contemporary English Version
The LORD said to Aaron: You, your sons, and the other Levites of the Kohath clan, are responsible for what happens at the sacred tent. And you and your sons will be responsible for what the priests do.

Douay-Rheims Bible
And the Lord said to Aaron: Thou, and thy sons, and thy father's house with thee shall bear the iniquity of the sanctuary: and thou and thy sons with thee shall bear the sins of your priesthood.

English Revised Version
And the LORD said unto Aaron, Thou and thy sons and thy fathers' house with thee shall bear the iniquity of the sanctuary: and thou and thy sons with thee shall bear the iniquity of your priesthood.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
The LORD said to Aaron, "You, your sons, and your family will be responsible for any sins against the holy place. You and your sons will also be responsible for any sins you commit when you work as priests.

Good News Translation
The LORD said to Aaron, "You, your sons, and the Levites must suffer the consequences of any guilt connected with serving in the Tent of my presence; but only you and your sons will suffer the consequences of service in the priesthood.

International Standard Version
Later, the LORD told Aaron, "You, your sons, and your father's tribe with you are to bear the iniquity of the sanctuary. Also, you and your sons with you are to bear the iniquity of your priesthood.

JPS Tanakh 1917
And the LORD said unto Aaron: 'Thou and thy sons and thy fathers' house with thee shall bear the iniquity of the sanctuary; and thou and thy sons with thee shall bear the iniquity of your priesthood.

Literal Standard Version
And YHWH says to Aaron, “You, and your sons, and the house of your father with you, bear the iniquity of the sanctuary; and you and your sons with you bear the iniquity of your priesthood;

Majority Standard Bible
So the LORD said to Aaron, “You and your sons and your father’s house must bear the iniquity involving the sanctuary. And you and your sons alone must bear the iniquity involving your priesthood.

New American Bible
The LORD said to Aaron: You and your sons as well as your ancestral house with you shall be responsible for any sin with respect to the sanctuary; but only you and your sons with you shall be responsible for any sin with respect to your priesthood.

NET Bible
The LORD said to Aaron, "You and your sons and your tribe with you must bear the iniquity of the sanctuary, and you and your sons with you must bear the iniquity of your priesthood.

New Revised Standard Version
The LORD said to Aaron: You and your sons and your ancestral house with you shall bear responsibility for offenses connected with the sanctuary, while you and your sons alone shall bear responsibility for offenses connected with the priesthood.

New Heart English Bible
The LORD said to Aaron, "You and your sons and your fathers' house with you shall bear the iniquity of the sanctuary; and you and your sons with you shall bear the iniquity of your priesthood.

Webster's Bible Translation
And the LORD said to Aaron, Thou and thy sons and thy father's house with thee shall bear the iniquity of the sanctuary: and thou and thy sons with thee shall bear the iniquity of your priesthood.

World English Bible
Yahweh said to Aaron, “You and your sons and your fathers’ house with you shall bear the iniquity of the sanctuary; and you and your sons with you shall bear the iniquity of your priesthood.

Young's Literal Translation
And Jehovah saith unto Aaron, 'Thou, and thy sons, and the house of thy father with thee, do bear the iniquity of the sanctuary; and thou, and thy sons with thee, do bear the iniquity of your priesthood;

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Duties of Priests and Levites
1So the LORD said to Aaron, “You and your sons and your father’s house must bear the iniquity involving the sanctuary. And you and your sons alone must bear the iniquity involving your priesthood. 2But bring with you also your brothers from the tribe of Levi, the tribe of your father, that they may join you and assist you and your sons before the Tent of the Testimony.…

Cross References
Exodus 28:38
And it will be worn on Aaron's forehead, so that he may bear the iniquity of the holy things that the sons of Israel consecrate with regard to all their holy gifts. It shall always be on his forehead, so that they may be acceptable before the LORD.

Leviticus 10:17
"Why didn't you eat the sin offering in the holy place? For it is most holy; it was given to you to take away the guilt of the congregation by making atonement for them before the LORD.

Leviticus 22:16
by allowing the people to eat the sacred offerings and thus to bear the punishment for guilt. For I am the LORD who sanctifies them."

Numbers 3:6
"Bring the tribe of Levi and present them to Aaron the priest to assist him.

Numbers 16:10
He has brought you near, you and all your fellow Levites, but you are seeking the priesthood as well.

Numbers 18:11
And this is yours as well: the offering of their gifts, along with all the wave offerings of the Israelites. I have given this to you and your sons and daughters as a permanent statute. Every ceremonially clean person in your household may eat it.

Numbers 18:23
The Levites are to perform the work of the Tent of Meeting, and they must bear their iniquity. This is a permanent statute for the generations to come. The Levites will not receive an inheritance among the Israelites.


Treasury of Scripture

And the LORD said to Aaron, You and your sons and your father's house with you shall bear the iniquity of the sanctuary: and you and your sons with you shall bear the iniquity of your priesthood.

Aaron, Thou.

Numbers 17:3,7,13
And thou shalt write Aaron's name upon the rod of Levi: for one rod shall be for the head of the house of their fathers…

Hebrews 4:15
For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.

shall bear.

Numbers 18:22
Neither must the children of Israel henceforth come nigh the tabernacle of the congregation, lest they bear sin, and die.

Numbers 14:34
After the number of the days in which ye searched the land, even forty days, each day for a year, shall ye bear your iniquities, even forty years, and ye shall know my breach of promise.

Exodus 28:38
And it shall be upon Aaron's forehead, that Aaron may bear the iniquity of the holy things, which the children of Israel shall hallow in all their holy gifts; and it shall be always upon his forehead, that they may be accepted before the LORD.

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Aaron Alone Bear Connection Errors Holy House Household Iniquity Offenses Priesthood Priests Relation Responsibility Responsible Sanctuary Work Wrongdoing
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Aaron Alone Bear Connection Errors Holy House Household Iniquity Offenses Priesthood Priests Relation Responsibility Responsible Sanctuary Work Wrongdoing
Numbers 18
1. The charge of the priests and Levites
8. The priests, portion
21. The Levites,
25. The heave offering to the priests out of the Levites' portion














XVIII.

(1) Shall bear the iniquity of the sanctuary . . . --It must be remembered that the iniquity of the sanctuary, and the iniquity of the priesthood, extended not only to the defilement of the sanctuary by the transgressions of priests and people (Leviticus 16:11; Leviticus 16:15-16), but also to its defilement by the imperfections connected with the services of the priests and the offerings of the people (Exodus 28:38).

Verse 1. - The Lord spake unto Aaron. This clear and comprehensive instruction as to the position and support of the sons of Aaron on the one hand, and of the Levites on the other, may very naturally have been given in connection with the events just narrated. There is, however, no direct reference to those events, and it is quite possible that the only connection was one of subject-matter in the mind of the writer. That the regulations which follow were addressed to Aaron directly is a thing unusual, and indeed unexampled. The ever-recurring statement elsewhere is, "the Lord spake unto Moses," varied occasionally by "the Lord spake unto Moses and unto Aaron" (as in Numbers 2:1; Numbers 4:1; Numbers 19:1); but even where the communication refers to things wholly and peculiarly within the province of Aaron, it is usually made to Moses, and only through him to his brother (see e.g., Numbers 8:1-3). This change in the form of the message may point to a later date, i.e., to a time subsequent to the gainsaying of Korah, when the separate position of Aaron as the head of a priestly caste was more fully recognized than before, and he himself somewhat less under the shadow of his greater brother. Thou and thy sons and thy father's house with thee shall bear the iniquity of the sanctuary. Aaron's father's house, according to the analogy of Numbers 17:2, 3, 6, was the sub-tribe of the Kohathites, and these had charge (to the exclusion of the other Levites) of the sanctuary, or rather sacred things (הַמִּקְדָּשׁ, as in Numbers 10:21. Septuagint, τῶν ἁγίων). See on Numbers 4:15. This mention of the Kohathites in connection with the sanctuary is an incidental proof that these instructions were given in view of the wanderings in the wilderness, for after the settlement in Canaan no Levites (as such) came into contact with the sacred furniture. It is not easy to define exactly the meaning of "shall bear the iniquity (תִּשְׂאוּ אֶת־עַון) of the sanctuary." The general sense of the phrase is, "to be responsible for the iniquity," i.e., for anything which caused displeasure in the eyes of God, "in connection with the sacred things and the service of them;" hence it meant either to be responsible for such iniquity, as being held accountable for it, and having to endure the penalty, or as being permitted and enabled to take such accountability on oneself, and so discharge it from others. This double sense is exactly reflected in the Greek word αἴρειν, as applied to our Lord (John 1:29). The priests, therefore (and the Kohathites, so far as they had anything to do with the sanctuary), were responsible for all the unholiness attaching or accruing to it, not only by reason of all offences committed by themselves, but by reason of that imperfection which clung to them at the best, and made them unworthy to handle the things of God. In a further and deeper sense they might be said to be vicariously responsible for all the iniquity of all Israel, so far as the taint of it affected the very sanctuary (see on Exodus 28:38; Leviticus 16:16). The iniquity of your priesthood. The responsibility not only for all sinful acts of omission and commission in Divine service (such as those of Nadab and Abihu, and of Korah), but for all the inevitable failure of personal holiness on the part of those who ministered unto the Lord. This responsibility was emphatically recognized and provided for in the rites of the great day of atonement.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
The LORD
יְהוָה֙ (Yah·weh)
Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 3068: LORD -- the proper name of the God of Israel

said
וַיֹּ֤אמֶר (way·yō·mer)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 559: To utter, say

to
אֶֽל־ (’el-)
Preposition
Strong's 413: Near, with, among, to

Aaron,
אַהֲרֹ֔ן (’a·hă·rōn)
Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 175: Aaron -- an elder brother of Moses

“You,
אַתָּ֗ה (’at·tāh)
Pronoun - second person masculine singular
Strong's 859: Thou and thee, ye and you

your sons,
וּבָנֶ֤יךָ (ū·ḇā·ne·ḵā)
Conjunctive waw | Noun - masculine plural construct | second person masculine singular
Strong's 1121: A son

and your father’s
אָבִ֙יךָ֙ (’ā·ḇî·ḵā)
Noun - masculine singular construct | second person masculine singular
Strong's 1: Father

house
וּבֵית־ (ū·ḇêṯ-)
Conjunctive waw | Noun - masculine singular construct
Strong's 1004: A house

must bear
תִּשְׂא֖וּ (tiś·’ū)
Verb - Qal - Imperfect - second person masculine plural
Strong's 5375: To lift, carry, take

the iniquity
עֲוֺ֣ן (‘ă·wōn)
Noun - common singular construct
Strong's 5771: Iniquity, guilt, punishment for iniquity

against the sanctuary.
הַמִּקְדָּ֑שׁ (ham·miq·dāš)
Article | Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 4720: A consecrated thing, place, a palace, sanctuary, asylum

And you
וְאַתָּה֙ (wə·’at·tāh)
Conjunctive waw | Pronoun - second person masculine singular
Strong's 859: Thou and thee, ye and you

and your sons
וּבָנֶ֣יךָ (ū·ḇā·ne·ḵā)
Conjunctive waw | Noun - masculine plural construct | second person masculine singular
Strong's 1121: A son

[alone]
אִתָּ֔ךְ (’it·tāḵ)
Preposition | second person masculine singular
Strong's 854: Nearness, near, with, by, at, among

must bear
תִּשְׂא֖וּ (tiś·’ū)
Verb - Qal - Imperfect - second person masculine plural
Strong's 5375: To lift, carry, take

the iniquity
עֲוֺ֥ן (‘ă·wōn)
Noun - common singular construct
Strong's 5771: Iniquity, guilt, punishment for iniquity

against the priesthood.
כְּהֻנַּתְכֶֽם׃ (kə·hun·naṯ·ḵem)
Noun - feminine singular construct | second person masculine plural
Strong's 3550: Priesthood


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OT Law: Numbers 18:1 Yahweh said to Aaron You and your (Nu Num.)
Numbers 17:13
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