Numbers 4:1-8

1 The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying:

2 Take a census of the Kohathites separate from the other Levites, by their clans and their ancestral houses,

3 from thirty years old up to fifty years old, all who qualify to do work relating to the tent of meeting.

4 The service of the Kohathites relating to the tent of meeting concerns the most holy things.

5 When the camp is to set out, Aaron and his sons shall go in and take down the screening curtain, and cover the ark of the covenant with it;

6 then they shall put on it a covering of fine leather, and spread over that a cloth all of blue, and shall put its poles in place.

7 Over the table of the bread of the Presence they shall spread a blue cloth, and put on it the plates, the dishes for incense, the bowls, and the flagons for the drink offering; the regular bread also shall be on it;

8 then they shall spread over them a crimson cloth, and cover it with a covering of fine leather, and shall put its poles in place.

Numbers 4:1-8 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.

Footnotes

• [a]. Or [treaty], or [testimony]; Heb [eduth]
• [b]. Meaning of Heb uncertain
• [c]. Meaning of Heb uncertain