Numbers 4:21-28

Duties of the Gershonites

21 Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

22 "Take a census of the sons of Gershon also, by their fathers' households, by their families;

23 from ¹thirty years and upward to fifty years old, you shall number them; all who enter to perform the service to do the work in the tent of meeting.

24 "This is the service of the families of the Gershonites, in serving and in carrying:

25 they shall carry ²the curtains of the tabernacle and the tent of meeting with its covering and ³the covering of porpoise skin that is on top of it, and the screen for the doorway of the tent of meeting,

26 and ⁴the hangings of the court, and the screen for the doorway of the gate of the court which is around the tabernacle and the altar, and their cords and all the equipment for their service; and all that is to be done, they shall perform.

27 "All the service of the sons of the Gershonites, in all their loads and in all their work, shall be performed at the command of Aaron and his sons; and you shall assign to them as a duty all their loads.

28 "This is the service of the families of the sons of the Gershonites in the tent of meeting, and their duties shall be under the direction of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest.

Numbers 4:21-28 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO NUMBERS 4

This chapter relates an order to number the Levites fit for business, and gives an account of the time and age when they should enter into service, and how long they should continue therein, Nu 4:1-3; what their particular service should be; and first of the Kohathites, Nu 4:4-20; next of the Gershonites, Nu 4:21-28; and then of the Merarites, Nu 4:29-33; after which Moses and Aaron, with the chief of the congregation, numbered each of them, even as many as were at the age fit for service, as the Kohathites, Nu 4:34-37; the Gershonites, Nu 4:38-41; the Merarites, Nu 4:42-45; the sum total of which is given, Nu 4:46-49.

Cross References

• 1. Numbers 4:3; 1 Chr 23:3, 24, 27
• 2. Exodus 40:19
• 3. Exodus 26:14; Numbers 4:6
• 4. Exodus 38:9

Footnotes

• [a]. Lit "the sum"
• [b]. Lit "also them"
• [c]. Lit "muster," and so throughout the ch
• [d]. Lit "so they shall serve"
• [e]. Lit "mouth"
• [f]. Lit "in the hand"