Numbers 3:26

26 the hangings of the court, the screen for the door of the court which is around the tabernacle and the altar, and its cords; all the service pertaining to these.

Numbers 3:26 Meaning and Commentary

Numbers 3:26

And the hangings of the court
Which formed the great open court that encompassed the tabernacle, and was an hundred cubits long and fifty broad; ( Exodus 27:9-13 ) ;

and the curtain for the door of the court:
which was an hanging of twenty cubits, of blue, purple, scarlet, and fine twined linen, ( Exodus 27:16 ) ;

which [is] by the tabernacle, and by the altar round about:
this refers to the court, the hangings, and curtains of the door of it, which are spoken of; and this court surrounded the tabernacle, and the altar which was without the tabernacle, as Aben Ezra observes, and which was the altar of burnt offering that stood within this court; for the particle (le) sometimes signifies "about" F19, and the word (bybo) , "around", being joined with it, requires this sense:

and the cords of it;
which seem to be the cords of the court, which fastened the hangings and curtains to brass pins, or stakes fixed in the ground to keep them tight, that the wind might not move them to and fro; but Jarchi says, these were the cords of the tabernacle and tent, and not of the court; and indeed the tabernacle had its cords as well as the court, ( Exodus 38:18 ) ; the cords of the court were in the charge of the Merarites, ( Numbers 3:37 ) ;

for all the service thereof:
for that part of the tabernacle and court which the Gershonites had in their care and custody.


FOOTNOTES:

F19 Vid. Nold. Partic. Ebr. Concord. p. 992.

Numbers 3:26 In-Context

24 with Eli'asaph, the son of La'el as head of the fathers' house of the Gershonites.
25 And the charge of the sons of Gershon in the tent of meeting was to be the tabernacle, the tent with its covering, the screen for the door of the tent of meeting,
26 the hangings of the court, the screen for the door of the court which is around the tabernacle and the altar, and its cords; all the service pertaining to these.
27 Of Kohath were the family of the Amramites, and the family of the Izhar'ites, and the family of the He'bronites, and the family of the Uzzie'lites; these are the families of the Ko'hathites.
28 According to the number of all the males, from a month old and upward, there were eight thousand six hundred, attending to the duties of the sanctuary.
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.