Numbers 4:18-28

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.

Numbers 4:18-28 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 1

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