Bilangan 18:23

18:23 But the Levites must perform the service ¹  of the tent of meeting, and they must bear their iniquity. ²  It will be a perpetual ordinance throughout your generations that among the Israelites the Levites ³  have no inheritance. ⁴ 

Bilangan 19:21

19:21 “‘So this will be a perpetual ordinance for them: The one who sprinkles ⁵  the water of purification must wash his clothes, and the one who touches the water of purification will be unclean until evening. ⁶ 

[18:23]  ¹ tn The verse begins with the perfect tense of עָבַד (’avad) with vav (ו) consecutive, making the form equal to the instructions preceding it. As its object the verb has the cognate accusative “service.”

[18:23]  ² sn The Levites have the care of the tent of meeting, and so they are responsible for any transgressions against it.

[18:23]  ³ tn Heb “they”; the referent (the Levites) has been supplied in the translation for clarity.

[18:23]  ⁴ tn The Hebrew text uses both the verb and the object from the same root to stress the point: They will not inherit an inheritance. The inheritance refers to land.

[19:21]  ⁵ tn The form has the conjunction with it: וּמַזֵּה (umazzeh). The conjunction subordinates the following as the special law. It could literally be translated “and this shall be…that the one who sprinkles.”

[19:21]  ⁶ sn This gives the indication of the weight of the matter, for “until the evening” is the shortest period of ritual uncleanness in the Law. The problem of contamination had to be taken seriously, but this was a relatively simple matter to deal with – if one were willing to obey the Law.