22. Neither must the children of Israel. He again inculcates what he had before said, that the Levites were chosen to attend to the sacred things; since God would not admit all the people promiscuously, as before the giving of the Law, when others also offered the sacrifices. But, nevertheless, He strongly charges them that they should be attentive to the performance of their duties, since, if any of them should offend, their crime would be fatal; for so we must understand His words, “they shall bear their iniquity (202) to die:” just as in the next verse He says that they shall be guilty of all the pollutions, for, if the service of God should be defiled by inadvertency, the crime shall be imputed to them.
(202) See margin, A. V. He paraphrases the words of verse 23.