Commentaire sur Les Nombres 18:20

וחלק לא יהיה לך בתוכם [THOU SHALT NOT INHERIT THEIR LAND,] NEITHER SHALT THOU HAVE ANY PORTION IN THE MIDST OF THEM even in the spoil (Sifrei Bamidbar 119:1).

THOU [Aaron] SHALT HAVE NO INHERITANCE IN THEIR LAND. This means that you [Aaron] will not inherit a share amongst any one of all the tribes of Israel.²⁰⁹Thus they were excluded not only from having a central tribal land of their own but even from having smaller pieces of land throughout the other tribes. Neither shalt thou have [even] a small portion in their land at all, for the cities which were given to them [the Levites] were [also] cities of refuge, and were used by the rest of Israel. Now this admonition applies to the priests, and afterwards He mentioned with respect to the Levites: among the children of Israel they shall have no inheritance,²¹⁰Verse 23. just as He had admonished the priests. And our Rabbis interpreted the verse:²¹¹Sifre Korach 118. “Thou shalt have no inheritance in their land, as referring to the time when the Land was divided up [amongst the tribes]. Neither shalt thou have any portion among them, that is, a portion of the spoil [taken from a defeated enemy]. I am thy portion — you eat at My table.”²¹²In other words, while all Israel lives upon the yield of the land, the priests acquire their gifts directly from “the Table” of the Most High. See also “The Commandments,” Vol. II, pp. 163-166.
Chukath

בארצם לא תנחל, "you will not have an in heritance in their land, etc." According to Sifri this verse forbids the priests not only a share in the land but also a share in the spoils of war. This is based on the respective meaning of נחלה and חלק both of which appear twice in our verse. The Torah tells us that though the other tribes might be willing to share the loot with the priests and they might interpret the verse as only excusing them from sharing but not forbidding same, this is not so. The legislation is not comparable to the Shemittah legislation where we are told in Shevi-it 10,9 that the rabbis were delighted if a debtor volunteered to repay a debt which the creditor could no longer insist on collecting legally. To make the point quite clear the Torah wrote לא תנחל, you must not inherit. Had the Torah written nothing else I would have thought that only inheritance of land is actually forbidden but that accepting a share of the spoils of war is permissible. This is why the Torah had to add the word וחלק, "as well as any part." The reason the Torah added the word בתוכם may be understood when we look at Proverbs 1,14: גורלך תפיל בתוכנו, i.e. "accept part of our lot together with us." The prohibition applies only when the priests receive their share as part and parcel of the division between the tribes. If anyone wishes to give them some of the spoils in the form of a gift this is permissible.

בארצם לא תנחל, “you will not share in the inheritance of their land.” Nachmanides understands the verse to mean that the Levites (priests) will not share in the Land of Israel on the same basis, as do the other tribes. In fact, they would not even get any real share as the 48 cities set aside for the Levites were basically all on soil belonging to the respective tribes on whose territory they were situated. Basically, these cities functioned as cities of refuge for inadvertent killers. The warning spelled out in our verse is actually directed at the priests; the warning to the Levites is only a corollary of this. Our sages interpreted the words בארצם לא תנחל as applying primarily to the time when Joshua would divide up the land as the loot accruing to the people from their war of conquest.

בארצם לא תנחל, “in their land you shall have no heritage.” Our sages apply this verse (only) to the time when the land parcels will be distributed to the various tribes (Sifri Korach 119).
וחלק לא יהיה לך בתוכם, “and you will not have a share among them.” This refers to booty captured in war.
אני חלקך, “I am your share.” You will eat at My table (altar). The portions of the offerings assigned to you (the priests) are portions from G’d’s table.

Even the spoils. Rashi wishes to answer the question: The verse writes, “You will have no inheritance in their land” so why is it also written, “And you will have not have a share…”? Rather it must refer even to the spoils! You might ask: Elozor the kohein took from the spoils, as is clear from Parshas Matos (Bamidbar 31:29). The answer is that here it is in reference to Eretz Yisroel and it was there that they did not take from the spoils. This is why it is written here “in their land” which implies that it is in reference to Eretz Yisroel.

V. 20. ויאמר ד׳ וגו׳: es ist dies fast wie eine sich von selbst verstehende Konsequenz aus allem Bisherigen erläuternd beigefügt, daher: ויאמר, und nicht als eine neue Anordnung: נחלה .וידבר ist das von den Voreltern zu deren Nachkommen und von diesen zu deren Nachkommen fortströmende Besitztum, und נחול heißt ein solches Besitztum von den Eltern zur Vererbung auf die Kinder antreten. Ein solches נחלה ist in erster Linie das bereits den Vätern verheißene und Kraft dieser Verheißung als deren Eigentum betrachtete Land. חלק, und zwar hier חלק בתוכם ist der Anteil des einzelnen an dem zunächst durch die Kultur dieses Landes und sonstige günstige Konjunkturen sich fortschreitend erzeugenden nationalen Wohlstand. Direkt ist dem Priesterstamm beides versagt. Nicht Besitznahme und Vererbung des Landes ist ihre Bestimmung und nicht Vermehrung des nationalen Wohlstandes durch Kulturarbeit an dem Boden und dessen Produkte, ihre Aufgabe: אני חלקך ונחלתך וגו׳, vielmehr die Beziehungen aller dieser materiellen Grundlagen des Volkslebens zu Gott bilden ihre Stellung und Aufgabe in der Nation, die fortschreitende Blüte dieser Beziehungen in Erkenntnis und Erfüllung bilden ihr חלק, bilden ihren Anteil an den jederzeitigen Errungenschaften der Nation, und die Wahrung und Tradierung dieser geistigen Errungenschaften von den Vätern auf die Kinder, ihr נחלה, ihr geistiges Erbe, und beides bildet zu gleicher Zeit den Boden ihrer materiellen Existenz und Wohlfahrt. Bedeutsam steht in dem zweiten Satze חלק voran, indem in ihm sich ja die geistige Ernte der Tätigkeit einer jeden gegenwärtigen Priestergeneration darstellt.

אני חלקך, “I am your portion;” G-d is announcing that He, personally, is the priests’ “portion.” [as opposed to terrestrial earth in the Holy Land. Ed.]. Seeing that this is so, you are free, (timewise) to perform your duties in the Tabernacle/Temple once you are all settled in the Land of Israel. Seeing that you have these duties, you are relieved of the need to work for a living for six days a week, and the many difficulties that this involves. You need not engage in trade and commerce either.

אני חלקך ונחלתך בתוך בני ישראל, "I am your share and your inheritance amongst the children of Israel." G'd first says "I," meaning that which is unique to Him will be the share of the priests. He then added: "amongst the children of Israel," i.e. that there would not be anything the Israelites did in which G'd did not have a share; the priest would receive this share of the harvests of the land, the trees, the bread, the meat, the wine, the oil, and the remainder of the 24 categories of gifts the Israelite is to donate to the priest on G'd's behalf.

Im ספרי wird חלק auf den Anteil an Kriegsbeute bezogen. Wir glauben, dass dies nur als ein Beispiel für alle außer dem Landesbesitz der Nation zufließenden Gesamterrungenschaften zu begreifen sei.