Every tribe in Israel received land. The Levites received cities. Aaron and his sons received something stranger: God told them their inheritance was God Himself. The Targum Jonathan expands this declaration into a detailed inventory of priestly income and a startling theology of divine possession.
The chapter opens with a heavy burden. Aaron, his sons, and the Levites would "bear the iniquity of the consecrated things" whenever they failed to handle offerings properly. The priests bore the weight of the sanctuary's holiness—and the consequences of its violation. The Levites were called by "the name of Amram your father," a genealogical detail the Targum uses to emphasize their family bond with Aaron.
The priestly income was vast. They received the firstfruits of oil, wine, and wheat. Every devoted thing in Israel was theirs. Every firstborn male, human and animal, came under their authority—though human firstborn were redeemed for five shekels and unclean animal firstlings were redeemed with lambs. The breast of the elevation offering and the right shoulder of sacrifices belonged to the priests and their households.
The Targum adds a remarkable simile for the covenant's permanence: it was to endure "as the salt which seasons the flesh of the oblation, because it is an everlasting statute before the Lord." Salt preserves. Salt does not decay. The priestly covenant was framed as incorruptible.
Then came the declaration that set Aaron apart from every other person in Israel: "Thou wilt not receive a possession in their land as the rest of the tribes, nor will thou have a portion among them: I am thy Portion and thy Inheritance in the midst of the children of Israel." While other tribes would farm fields and tend vineyards, the priests' inheritance was the divine presence itself.
The Levites received all tithes in exchange for their Tabernacle service. From those tithes, they gave a tenth to Aaron—a tithe of the tithe, the finest and best of what they received. The Targum specifies that anyone unclean who ate from these consecrated portions would die.