Numbers 4

1 And the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying,
2 Take the sum of the children of Caath from the midst of the sons of Levi, after their families, according to the houses of their fathers' households;
3 from twenty-five years old and upward until fifty years, every one that goes in to minister, to do all the works in the tabernacle of witness.
4 And these are the works of the sons of Caath in the tabernacle of witness; it is most holy.
5 And Aaron and his sons shall go in, when the camp is about to move, and shall take down the shadowing veil, and shall cover with it the ark of the testimony.
6 And they shall put on it a cover, even a blue skin, and put on it above a garment all of blue, and shall put the staves through .
7 And they shall put on the table set forth for shew-bread a cloth all of purple, and the dishes, and the censers, and the cups, and the vessels with which one offers drink-offerings; and the continual loaves shall be upon it.
8 And they shall put upon it a scarlet cloth, and they shall cover it with a blue covering of skin, and they shall put the staves into it.
9 And they shall take a blue covering, and cover the candlestick that gives light, and its lamps, and its snuffers, and its funnels, and all the vessels of oil with which they minister.
10 And they shall put it, and all its vessels, into a blue skin cover; and they shall put it on bearers.
11 And they shall put a blue cloth for a cover on the golden altar, and shall cover it with a blue skin cover, and put in its staves.
12 And they shall take all the instruments of service, with which they minister in the sanctuary: and shall place them in a cloth of blue, and shall cover them with blue skin covering, and put them upon staves.
13 And he shall put the covering on the altar, and they shall cover it with a cloth all of purple.
14 And they shall put upon it all the vessels with which they minister upon it, and the fire-pans, and the flesh-hooks, and the cups, and the cover, and all the vessels of the altar; and they shall put on it a blue cover of skins, and shall put in its staves; and they shall take a purple cloth, and cover the laver and its foot, and they shall put it into a blue cover of skin, and put it on bars.
15 And Aaron and his sons shall finish covering the holy things, and all the holy vessels, when the camp begins to move; and afterwards the sons of Caath shall go in to take up ; but shall not touch the holy things, lest they die: these shall the sons of Caath bear in the tabernacle of witness.
16 Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest is overseer—the oil of the light, and the incense of composition, and the daily meat-offering and the anointing oil, are his charge; even the oversight of the whole tabernacle, and all things that are in it in the holy place, in all the works.
17 And the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying,
18 Ye shall not destroy the family of Caath from the tribe out of the midst of the Levites.
19 This do ye to them, and they shall live and not die, when they approach the holy of holies: Let Aaron and his sons advance, and they shall place them each in his post for bearing.
20 And they shall by no means go in to look suddenly upon the holy things, and die.
21 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,
22 Take the sum of the children of Gedson, and these according to the houses of their lineage, according to their families.
23 Take the number of them from five and twenty years old and upwards until the age of fifty, every one that goes in to minister, to do his business in the tabernacle of witness.
24 This the public service of the family of Gedson, to minister and to bear.
25 And they shall bear the skins of the tabernacle, and the tabernacle of witness, and its veil, and the blue cover that was on it above, and the cover of the door of the tabernacle of witness.
26 And all the curtains of the court which were upon the tabernacle of witness, and the appendages, and all the vessels of service that they minister with they shall attend to.
27 According to the direction of Aaron and his sons shall be the ministry of the sons of Gedson, in all their ministries, and in all their works; and thou shalt take account of them by name in all things borne by them.
28 This is the service of the sons of Gedson in the tabernacle of witness, and their charge by the hand of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest.
29 The sons of Merari according to their families, according to the houses of their lineage, take ye the number of them.
30 Take the number of them from five and twenty years old and upwards until fifty years old, every one that goes in to perform the services of the tabernacle of witness.
31 And these are the charges of the things borne by them according to all their works in the tabernacle of witness: they shall bear the chapiters of the tabernacle, and the bars, and its pillars, and its sockets, and the veil, and their sockets, and their pillars, and the curtain of the door of the tabernacle.
32 And they shall bear the pillars of the court round about, and their sockets, and the pillars of the veil of the door of the court, and their sockets and their pins, and their cords, and all their furniture, and all their instruments of service: take ye their number by name, and all the articles of the charge of the things borne by them.
33 This is the ministration of the family of the sons of Merari in all their works in the tabernacle of witness, by the hand of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest.
34 And Moses and Aaron and the rulers of Israel took the number of the sons of Caath according to their families, according to the houses of their lineage;
35 from five and twenty years old and upwards to the age of fifty years, every one that goes in to minister and do service in the tabernacle of witness.
36 And the numbering of them according to their families was two thousand, seven hundred and fifty.
37 This is the numbering of the family of Caath, every one that ministers in the tabernacle of witness, as Moses and Aaron numbered them by the word of the Lord, by the hand of Moses.
38 And the sons of Gedson were numbered according to their families, according to the houses of their lineage,
39 from five and twenty years old and upward till fifty years old, every one that goes in to minister and to do the services in the tabernacle of witness.
40 And the numbering of them according to their families, according to the houses of their lineage, two thousand six hundred and thirty.
41 This the numbering of the family of the sons of Gedson, every one who ministers in the tabernacle of witness; whom Moses and Aaron numbered by the word of the Lord, by the hand of Moses.
42 And also the family of the sons of Merari were numbered according to their divisions, according to the house of their fathers;
43 from five and twenty years old and upward till fifty years old, every one that goes in to minister in the services of the tabernacle of witness.
44 And the numbering of them according to their families, according to the houses of their lineage, three thousand and two hundred.
45 This the numbering of the family of the sons of Merari, whom Moses and Aaron numbered by the word of the Lord, by the hand of Moses.
46 All that were numbered, whom Moses and Aaron and the rulers of Israel numbered, , the Levites, according to their families and according to the houses of their lineage,
47 from five and twenty years old and upward till fifty years old, every one that goes in to the service of the works, and the the things that are carried in the tabernacle of witness.
48 And they that were numbered were eight thousand five hundred and eighty.
49 He reviewed them by the word of the Lord by the hand of Moses, appointing each man severally over their work, and over their burdens; and they were numbered, as the Lord commanded Moses.

Numbers 4 Commentary

Chapter 4

The Levites' service. (1-3) The duties of the Kohathites. (4-20) The duties of the Gershonites and Merarites. (21-33) The numbers of the serviceable Levites. (34-49)

Verses 1-3 The middle-aged men of the tribe of Levi, all from thirty years old to fifty, were to be employed in the service of the tabernacle. The service of God requires the best of our strength, and the prime portion of our time, which cannot be better spent than to the honour of Him who is the First and Best. And the service of God should be done when we are most lively and active. Those do not consider this who put off repentance to old age, and so leave the best work to be done in the worst time.

Verses 4-20 The Kohathites were to carry the holy things of the tabernacle. All the holy things were to be covered; not only for security and respect, but to keep them from being seen. This not only marked the reverence due to holy things, but the mystery of the things signified by those types, and the darkness of the dispensation. But now, through Christ, the case is altered, and we are encouraged to come boldly to the throne of grace.

Verses 21-33 We have here the charge of the other two families of the Levites, which, though not so honourable as the first, yet was necessary, and to be done regularly. All the things were delivered them by name. It intimates the care God takes of his church and every member of it. The death of the saints is ( 2 Corinthians. 5:1 ) ( 2 Peter. 1:14 ) great day, when these vile bodies shall be made like the glorious body of Jesus Christ, and so shall be for ever with the Lord.

Verses 34-49 God so ordered it, that though the Merarites were the fewest in number, yet they should have most able men among them; for whatever service God calls men to, he will furnish them for it, give strength in proportion to the work, and grace sufficient. The least of the tribes had many more able men than the Levites: those who engage in the service of this world, are many more than those devoted to the service of God. May our souls be wholly devoted to his service.

Footnotes 5

Chapter Summary

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.

Numbers 4 Commentaries

The Brenton translation of the Septuagint is in the public domain.