Bilangan 18:19

18:19 All the raised offerings of the holy things that the Israelites offer to the Lord, I have given to you, and to your sons and daughters with you, as a perpetual ordinance. It is a covenant of salt ¹  forever before the Lord for you and for your descendants with you.”

Bilangan 18:2

18:2 “Bring with you your brothers, the tribe of Levi, the tribe of your father, so that they may join ²  with you and minister to you while ³  you and your sons with you are before the tent of the testimony.

1 Tawarikh 13:5

13:5 So David assembled all Israel from the Shihor River ⁴  in Egypt to Lebo Hamath, ⁵  to bring the ark of God from Kiriath Jearim.

Yehezkiel 43:24

43:24 You will present them before the Lord, and the priests will scatter salt on them ⁶  and offer them up as a burnt offering to the Lord.

[18:19]  ¹ sn Salt was used in all the offerings; its importance as a preservative made it a natural symbol for the covenant which was established by sacrifice. Even general agreements were attested by sacrifice, and the phrase “covenant of salt” speaks of such agreements as binding and irrevocable. Note the expression in Ezra 4:14, “we have been salted with the salt of the palace.” See further J. F. Ross, IDB 4:167.

[18:2]  ² sn The verb forms a wordplay on the name Levi, and makes an allusion to the naming of the tribe Levi by Leah in the book of Genesis. There Leah hoped that with the birth of Levi her husband would be attached to her. Here, with the selection of the tribe to serve in the sanctuary, there is the wordplay again showing that the Levites will be attached to Aaron and the priests. The verb is יִלָּווּ (yillavu), which forms a nice wordplay with Levi (לֵוִי). The tribe will now be attached to the sanctuary. The verb is the imperfect with a vav (ו) that shows volitive sequence after the imperative, here indicating a purpose clause.

[18:2]  ³ tn The clause is a circumstantial clause because the disjunctive vav (ו) is on a nonverb to start the clause.

[13:5]  ⁴ tn The word “River” is not in the Hebrew text, but has been supplied for clarity.

[13:5]  sn The Shihor River was a river on the border of Egypt, probably the eastern branch of the Nile.

[13:5]  ⁵ tn Or “the entrance to Hamath.”

[43:24]  ⁶ sn It is likely that salt was used with sacrificial meals (Num 18:19; 2 Chr 13:5).