Numbers 4:1-10

1 And the LORD spoke unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying,

2 "Take a count of the sons of Kohath from among the sons of Levi, according to their families, by the house of their fathers,

3 from thirty years old and upward even until fifty years old, all who enter into the host, to do the work in the tabernacle of the congregation.

4 This shall be the service of the sons of Kohath in the tabernacle of the congregation concerned with the most holy things.

5 And when the camp moves forward, Aaron shall come and his sons, and they shall take down the covering veil and cover the ark of Testimony with it,

6 and shall put thereon the covering of badgers' skins, and shall spread over it a cloth wholly of blue, and shall put in the staves thereof.

7 And upon the table of showbread they shall spread a cloth of blue, and put thereon the dishes and the spoons and the bowls, and covers for covering; and the continual bread shall be thereon.

8 And they shall spread upon them a cloth of scarlet, and cover the same with a covering of badgers' skins, and shall put in the staves thereof.

9 And they shall take a cloth of blue and cover the candlestick of the light, and his lamps and his tongs and his snuff dishes, and all the oil vessels thereof, wherewith they minister unto it.

10 And they shall put it and all the vessels thereof within a covering of badgers' skins, and shall put it upon a carrying pole.

Numbers 4:1-10 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.