1The Levitical priests—indeed the whole tribe of Levi—shall have no portion or inheritance with Israel. They are to eat the food offerings to the LORD; thatis their inheritance. 2Although they have no inheritance among their brothers, the LORD istheir inheritance, as He promised them.
3This shall be the priests’ share from the people who offer a sacrifice, whether a bull or a sheep: the priests are to be given the shoulder, the jowls, and the stomach. 4You are to give them the firstfruits of your grain, new wine, andoil, and the first wool sheared from your flock. 5For the LORDyour God has chosen Levi and his sons out of all your tribes to stand and minister in His name for all time.
6Now if a Levite moves from any town of residence throughout Israel and comes in all earnestness to the place the LORD will choose, 7then he shall serve in the name of the LORDhis God like all his fellow Levites who stand there before the LORD. 8They shall eat equal portions, even though he has received money from the sale of his father’s estate.
9When you enter the land that the LORDyour God is giving you, do not imitate the detestable ways of the nations there. 10Let no one be found among you who sacrifices his son or daughter in the fire,†practicesdivination or conjury, interprets omens, practices sorcery, 11casts spells, consults a medium or spiritist, or inquires of the dead. 12For whoever does these things is detestableto the LORD. And because of these detestable things, the LORDyour Godis driving out the nations before you.
13You must be blameless before the LORDyour God. 14Though these nations, which you will dispossess, listen to conjurers and diviners, the LORDyour God has not permitted you to do so.
15NTThe LORDyour God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your brothers. You must listen to him.†16NTThis is what you asked of the LORDyour Godat Horeb†on the day of the assembly, when you said, “Let us not hear the voice of the LORD ourGod or see this great fire anymore, so that we will not die!”
17Then the LORD said to me, “They have spoken well. 18I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers. I will put My words in his mouth, and he will tell them everything I command him. 19NTAnd I will hold accountable anyone who does not listen to My words that the prophet speaks in My name.†20But if any prophet dares to speak a message in My name that I have not commanded him to speak, or to speak in the name of other gods, that prophet must be put to death.”
21You may ask in your heart, “How can we recognize a message that the LORD has not spoken?” 22When a prophet speaks in the name of the LORD and the message does not come to pass or come true, that is a message the LORD has not spoken. The prophet has spoken presumptuously. Do not be afraid of him.
Commentary
Deuteronomy 18:1
The term Levitical priests described the entire tribe of Levi. Technically, however, only Aaron’s descendants were priests. The non-priestly Levites were their assistants (see 12:12).
Commentary
Deuteronomy 18:2
The Lord himself is their special possession: The allotment of the Levites was spiritual, not territorial or material. They possessed the Lord by giving their whole lives to his service. This idea is a remarkable inverse of the idea that Israel was the Lord’s possession (see 7:6).
Commentary
Deuteronomy 18:3
In the dietary fare of ancient Israel, the shoulder, the cheeks, and the stomach of oxen and sheep were the choice cuts. God’s priestly servants were to be honored by receiving the very best (see Lev 7:28–34).
Commentary
Deuteronomy 18:8
support from his family: Although Levites were in full-time ministry at the Tabernacle and (later) the Temple, they could still hold material assets of their own (see Num 35:1–8). The Levites were to be supported by the regular offerings designated for that purpose without having to forfeit any of their own assets.
never sacrifice your son or daughter as a burnt offering: Some Canaanite religions included child sacrifice to appease their gods. Israel was strictly warned never to engage in this practice (Exod 34:15–16; Lev 18:21; 20:2–5). When they did, it aroused God’s judgment (2 Kgs 17:16–17; 21:6; Ezek 23:37).
fortune-telling: Throughout the ancient Near East, diviners were considered experts at reading and interpreting omens. Divination was commonly done through extispicy, the examination of livers, kidneys, and other internal organs of various animals.
sorcery: Sorcerers conjured up the spirits of the dead.
Divining cups were often used to interpret omens (see Gen 44:5). Drops of oil would be placed in containers of water, and the spread of the oil communicated some message to the expert. A parallel would be reading tea leaves.
The practice of witchcraft included performing unusual acts or signs (Exod 7:11) to mislead people (Mal 3:5).
cast spells: These incantations wereto destroy or injure others by invoking curses on them. The false prophet Balaam was hired for this purpose against Israel (Num 22:2–6).
Mediums and psychics were especially adept at conjuring up and communicating with the spirits of the dead (see 1 Sam 28:3–25).
A prophet like me would be beyond the ordinary because Moses was without peer among the prophets (see 34:10–11). This prophet would be from among your fellow Israelites (literally from among your brothers), and Israel was required to listen to him (18:19). The prophets of Old Testament Israel would partially fulfill the function of God’s spokesman to whom Israel must listen. Later, Judaism looked for this prophet as a major messianic figure (see John 1:21; 6:14; 7:40); the New Testament identifies Jesus as this prophet (Acts 3:18–26).
Any prophet whose prediction fails must be branded as false, even if he claims to speak for God. The mere claim is insufficient if it goes unfulfilled.