Numbers 4:49

49 According to the commandment of the LORD through Moses they were appointed, each to his task of serving or carrying; thus they were numbered by him, as the LORD commanded Moses.

Numbers 4:49 Meaning and Commentary

Numbers 4:49

According to the commandment of the Lord, they were numbered
by the hand of Moses
Aaron and the chief of the congregation of Israel assisting it:

everyone according to his service;
called in ( Numbers 4:47 ) "the service of the ministry", or "service of service", which Jarchi interprets of that part of the service of the Levites, which lay in singing the song with cymbals and harps; which, he says, was a service to another service; though it seems to be better explained, by Chaskuni, of their taking down and setting up of the tabernacle, which was a service incumbent on all the Levites:

and according to his burden:
called "the service of the burden", ( Numbers 4:47 ) ; which the last mentioned writer restrains to the ark, table, candlestick, and altars, which the Kohathites carried on their shoulders; but may be extended to what each of them bore and carried when journeying:

thus were they numbered of him, as the Lord commanded Moses;
from thirty years old to fifty, as Jarchi observes; for that was the order given to Moses by the Lord, which he punctually attended to, as a faithful servant in the house of God.

Numbers 4:49 In-Context

47 from thirty years old up to fifty years old, every one that could enter to do the work of service and the work of bearing burdens in the tent of meeting,
48 those who were numbered of them were eight thousand five hundred and eighty.
49 According to the commandment of the LORD through Moses they were appointed, each to his task of serving or carrying; thus they were numbered by him, as the LORD commanded Moses.
Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright 1952 [2nd edition, 1971] by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.