Numbers 4:28-38

28 And this is the seruyce of the kynred of the children of the Gersonites in ye tabernacle of witnesse and their wayte shalbe in the honde of Ithamar the sonne of Aaron the preast.

29 And thou shalt numbre the sonnes of Merari in their kynredes and in the houses of their fathers

30 from .xxx. yeres and aboue vnto .l. All that is able to goo forth in warre to doo the seruyce of the tabernacle of witnesse.

31 And this is the charge that they must wayte vppon in all that they must serue in the tabernacle of witnesse: The bordes of the dwellynge and the barres pylers and sokettes thereof

32 and the pylers of the courte rounde aboute and their sokettes pynnes and cordes with all that pertayneth and serueth vnto them. And by name ye shall reken the thynges that they must wayte apon to bere.

33 Thys is the seruyce of the kynreddes of the sonnes of Merari in all theyr seruyce in the tabernacle of witnesse by the hande of Ithamar the sonne of Aaron the preast.

34 And Moses and Aaron and the princes of the multitude numbred the sonnes of the Cahathites in their kynredes and housses of theire fathers

35 from .xxx. yere and aboue vnto fyftie all that were able to goo forth in the hoste and to do seruyce in the tabernacle of witnesse.

36 And the numbre of them in their kynredes were two thousande seuen hundred and .l.

37 These are the numbres of the kynredes of the Cahathites of all that dyd seruyce in the tabernacle of witnesse whyche Moses and Aaron dyd numbre at the commaundment of the Lorde by the hade of Moses.

38 And the sonnes of Gerson were numbred in their kynredes and in the housses of their fathers

Numbers 4:28-38 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.