Numbers 4:1-11

1 And Jehovah spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying,

2 Take the sum of the sons of Kohath from among the sons of Levi, after their families, according to their fathers' houses,

3 from thirty years old and upward even unto fifty years old, all that enter into the service, to do the work in the tent of meeting.

4 This shall be the service of the sons of Kohath in the tent of meeting: it is most holy.

5 And when the camp setteth forward, Aaron and his sons shall go in, and they shall take down the veil of separation and cover the ark of testimony with it;

6 and shall put thereon a covering of badgers' skin, and shall spread over it a cloth wholly of blue, and shall put its staves [to it].

7 And upon the table of shewbread they shall spread a cloth of blue; and put thereon the dishes, and the cups, and the bowls, and goblets of the drink-offering; and the continual bread shall be thereon.

8 And they shall spread upon them a cloth of scarlet, and cover it with a covering of badgers' skin, and shall put its staves [to it].

9 And they shall take a cloth of blue, and cover the candlestick of the light, and its lamps, and its snuffers, and its snuff-trays, and all the oil vessels thereof, wherewith they perform its service;

10 and they shall put it and all the utensils thereof within a covering of badgers' skin, and shall put it upon a pole.

11 And upon the golden altar they shall spread a cloth of blue, and cover it with a covering of badgers' skin, and shall put its staves [to it].

Numbers 4:1-11 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]. Tsaba. Service to which one is subjected: elsewhere 'labour,' 'suffering,' 'military service,' and so 'labour' in vers. 30,35,39,43: see ch. 26.2; Isa. 40.2.
• [b]. Masach; see Ex. 35.12.
• [c]. As Ex. 25.6.