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An Intertextuality Pair — one connection between two passages, shown as linked verse cards: the Later text and the Earlier text it quotes, alludes to or echoes. The Significance essay explains why the link matters and where it points in Christ.

Reference Type— how explicit the link is: Quotation, Allusion, or Echo
Connection Method(s)— how it carries meaning: e.g. Typology, Promise-Fulfillment, Analogy, Longitudinal Theme
Found via— where the connection was identified, e.g. the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge or an Anchor-Text Network

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Intertextuality Pair

Numbers 18:21-24 → Leviticus 27:30-33

Allusion

Later text

Numbers 18:21-24BSB

Behold, I have given to the Levites all the tithes in Israel as an inheritance in return for the work they do, the service of the Tent of Meeting. No longer may the Israelites come near to the Tent of Meeting, or they will incur guilt and die. 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. For I have given to the Levites as their inheritance the tithe that the Israelites present to the LORD as a contribution. That is why I told them that they would not receive an inheritance among the Israelites."

Earlier text

Leviticus 27:30-33BSB

Thus any tithe from the land, whether from the seed of the land or the fruit of the trees, belongs to the LORD; it is holy to the LORD. If a man wishes to redeem part of his tithe, he must add a fifth to its value. Every tenth animal from the herd or flock that passes under the shepherd's rod will be holy to the LORD. He must not inspect whether it is good or bad, and he shall not make any substitution. But if he does make a substitution, both the animal and its substitute shall become holy; they cannot be redeemed.'"

Significance

Leviticus 27:30-33 establishes the tithe as intrinsically קֹדֶשׁ לַיהוָה (qodesh la-YHWH, "holy to the LORD"), covering both agricultural produce and livestock. The passage specifies that the animal tithe must not be substituted or exchanged -- "Every tenth animal from the herd or flock that passes under the shepherd's rod will be holy to the LORD." Numbers 18:21-24 then assigns this holy property to the Levites: the tithes become their inheritance in return for tabernacle service, and in turn the Levites must tithe their tithe to the priests (Num 18:26). Together these texts create the full tithing system: Leviticus declares the tithe's sacred status, Numbers establishes its administration and the chain of redistribution from people to Levites to priests. Leviticus additionally allows redemption of part of the tithe at a twenty-percent surcharge, underscoring how seriously the vowed portion's sanctity is guarded even when converted back to ordinary use.

Found via: Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Reference Type: Allusion
Connection Method(s): Longitudinal Theme — the full tithing system (Leviticus consecrates the tenth as holy; Numbers converts it into the Levites' inheritance in place of land) grounds the tithe-and-priesthood theme that Hebrews 7:5-10 carries forward to the greater priesthood of Christ, to whom Levi himself, still in Abraham, paid tithes.