Commentaire sur Les Nombres 3:9
וְנָתַתָּה֙ אֶת־הַלְוִיִּ֔ם לְאַהֲרֹ֖ן וּלְבָנָ֑יו נְתוּנִ֨ם נְתוּנִ֥ם הֵ֙מָּה֙ ל֔וֹ מֵאֵ֖ת בְּנֵ֥י יִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃
Tu adjoindras donc les Lévites à Aaron et à ses fils: ils lui seront donnés comme adjoints, entre les enfants d’Israël.
Rashi on Numbers
נתונים המה לו THEY ARE GIVEN UNTO HIM as a help.
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Sforno on Numbers
נתונים נתונים המה לו, all their (the Levites’) service was to be performed at the instruction of Aaron, to whom the Levites had been delegated by the people.
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Rashbam on Numbers
נתונים,נתונים, the repetition of the word is similar to the repetition נתן תתן להם אחזת נחלה, “be sure to give” in English, in Numbers 27,7.
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Siftei Chakhamim
For assistance. Meaning for the holy service, but not for mundane work. Rashi’s proof is from that which is mentioned in Parshas Korach, “that I have given you a gift to perform the work of the Tent of Meeting” (Bamidbar 18:6). From there one may infer that it was specifically for holy service, but not for the mundane.
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Rav Hirsch on Torah
V. 9. ונתתה. Wenn nun gleich die Leviten ihren Dienst namens der Priester und namens des Volkes zu vollziehen haben, so sind sie doch keineswegs weder von dem Priester noch von der Volksgemeinde etwa kraft einer ihnen innewohnenden Machtvollkommenheit und eines von ihnen ausgehenden Willensaktes zu bestellen, vielmehr: ,וְנָתַתָה Gott verfügt also durch Mosche, eine durch Mosche zu vollziehende göttliche Anordnung überträgt die der Gesamtheit und für dieselbe den Priestern obliegende Heiligtumswacht und Heiligtumsdienstversorgung den Leviten. Mosche hat sie aus dem Volke heraus, oder als von dem Volke, den Priestern zu solchem Zwecke zu "geben". Namentlich den Priestern steht daher über diesen bestimmten Zweck und über das in solcher Gottesverfügung Liegende hinaus keinerlei Machtbefugnis über die Leviten zu. נתונים נתונים המה לו "gegeben, gegeben" sind sie ihnen: die Stellung der Leviten zu den Priestern fließt nicht aus einer allgemeinen Überordnung der Priester über sie und geht überall nicht weiter, als mit Zweck und Inhalt dieser Verfügung an die Priester denselben eingeräumt ist.
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Chizkuni
נתונים נתונים המה לו מאת בני ישראל, “they are wholly given to him (Aaron) from the Children of Israel (to be at his disposal).” We must understand these instructions as applying to the future when the average Israelite will be preoccupied with earning his livelihood as a farmer, and agriculture making demands upon him that cannot be delayed. The Levites, not having ancestral land, had time therefore to devote themselves to those tasks.
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Rashi on Numbers
מאת בני ישראל has the same meaning as FROM AMONG THE MIDST OF (מתוך) THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL, that is to say, they have been set aside from among the rest of the congregation for this purpose by a decree of the Omnipresent, and it is He who gave them (the Levites) to him, as it is said (Numbers 8:19) “And “I” have given the Levites as a gift [to Aaron]”.
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Sforno on Numbers
מאת בני ישראל, who in turn obligated themselves to compensate their delegates, the Levites, by giving them the tithes of their crops.
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Siftei Chakhamim
From [among] the rest of the entire congregation. Rashi is answering the question: The term מאת בני ישראל (from the Bnei Yisroel) implies that they were under the ownership of the Bnei Yisroel and that they gave them to the Kohanim, but this was not the case. Furthermore, the Torah writes “Behold! I have taken the Levites from among Bnei Yisroel…” (v. 12) implying that Hashem was the one who gave them, not Bnei Yisroel. Thus Rashi explains that this is to be understood as מתוך (from among).
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