3 All those from thirty to fifty years old who are able to do the work of the Tent of meeting.
All those from thirty to fifty years old who are able to do the work of the Tent of meeting.
And the design of all he had in his heart for the outer squares of the house of the Lord, and for the rooms all round it, and for the store-houses of the house of the Lord, and for the store-houses for the holy things; And for the divisions of the priests and Levites, and for all the work in connection with the worship of the house of the Lord, and all the vessels used in the house of the Lord;
This is a true saying, A man desiring the position of a Bishop has a desire for a good work.
This order I give to you, Timothy my son, in harmony with the words of the prophets about you, so that by them you may be strong, fighting the good fight,
Lastly, be strong in the Lord, and in the strength of his power. Take up God's instruments of war, so that you may be able to keep your position against all the deceits of the Evil One. For our fight is not against flesh and blood, but against authorities and powers, against the world-rulers of this dark night, against the spirits of evil in the heavens. For this reason take up all the arms of God, so that you may be able to be strong in the evil day, and, having done all, to keep your place. Take your place, then, having your body clothed with the true word, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness; Be ready with the good news of peace as shoes on your feet; And most of all, using faith as a cover to keep off all the flaming arrows of the Evil One. And take salvation for your head-dress and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: With prayers and deep desires, making requests at all times in the Spirit, and keeping watch, with strong purpose, in prayer for all the saints,
For though we may be living in the flesh, we are not fighting after the way of the flesh (For the arms with which we are fighting are not those of the flesh, but are strong before God for the destruction of high places);
And Jesus at this time was about thirty years old, being the son (as it seemed) of Joseph, the son of Heli,
Now in the second year of their coming into the house of God in Jerusalem, in the second month, the work was taken in hand by Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, and Jeshua, the son of Jozadak, and the rest of their brothers the priests and the Levites, and all those who had come from the land where they were prisoners to Jerusalem: and they made the Levites, of twenty years old and over, responsible for overseeing the work of the house of the Lord.
In the seventh year, Jehoiada made himself strong, and made an agreement with the captains of hundreds, Azariah, the son of Jeroham, Ishmael, the son of Jehohanan, Azariah, the son of Obed, Maaseiah, the son of Adaiah, and Elishaphat, the son of Zichri. And they went through Judah, getting together the Levites and the heads of families in Israel from all the towns of Judah, and they came to Jerusalem. And all the people made an agreement with the king in the house of God. And he said to them, Truly, the king's son will be king, as the Lord has said about the sons of David. This is what you are to do: let a third of you, of the priests and Levites, who come in on the Sabbath, keep the doors; And a third are to be stationed at the king's house; and a third at the doorway of the horses: while all the people are waiting in the open spaces round the house of the Lord. But let no one come into the house of the Lord but only the priests and those of the Levites who have work to do there; they may go in for they are holy; but the rest of the people are to keep the orders of the Lord. And the Levites are to make a circle round the king, every man being armed; and any man who comes into the house is to be put to death; you are to keep with the king when he comes in and when he goes out. So the Levites and all Judah did as Jehoiada the priest had given them orders: every one took with him his men, those who were to come in and those who were to go out on the Sabbath; for Jehoiada had not sent away the divisions. Then Jehoiada the priest gave to the captains of hundreds the spears and body-covers which had been King David's and which were kept in the house of God. And he put all the people in position, every man with his instruments of war in his hand, from the right side of the house to the left, by the altar and the house and all round the king. Then they made the king's son come out, and they put the crown on his head and gave him the arm-bands and made him king: and Jehoiada and his sons put the holy oil on him and said, Long life to the king.
Now Joseph was thirty years old when he came before Pharaoh, king of Egypt. And Joseph went out from before the face of Pharaoh and went through all the land of Egypt.
These were the sons of Levi, grouped by families, the heads of the families of those who were numbered by name, by heads, all those of twenty years old and over who did the work of the house of the Lord. For David said, The Lord, the God of Israel, has given his people rest, and he has made his resting-place in Jerusalem for ever; And from now, there will be no need for the House of the Lord, and the vessels used in it, to be moved about by the Levites. So among the last acts of David was the numbering of the sons of Levi, from twenty years old and over. Their place was by the side of the sons of Aaron in all the work of the house of the Lord, in the open spaces and in the rooms, in the making clean of all the holy things, in doing all the work of the house of the Lord, The holy bread was in their care, and the crushed grain for the meal offering, of unleavened cakes or meal cooked over the fire or in water; they had control of all sorts of weights and measures; They had to take their places every morning to give praise and make melody to the Lord, and in the same way at evening; At every offering of burned offerings to the Lord, on Sabbaths, and at the new moons, and on the regular feasts, in the number ordered by the law, at all times before the Lord; And they had the care of the Tent of meeting and the holy place, under the direction of the sons of Aaron their brothers, for the work of the house of the Lord.
And the Levites, all those of thirty years old and over, were numbered; and the number of them, by heads, man by man, was thirty-eight thousand. Of these, twenty-four thousand were to be overseers of the work of the house of the Lord, and six thousand were judges and men of authority; Four thousand were door-keepers; and four thousand gave praise to the Lord with the instruments which I made, said David, for giving praise.
And their brothers the Levites were responsible for all the work of the Tent of the house of God.
Then in the seventh year, Jehoiada sent for the captains of hundreds of the Carians, and the armed men, and taking them into the house of the Lord, made an agreement with them, and made them take an oath in the house of the Lord, and let them see the king's son. And he gave them orders, saying, This is what you are to do: the third part of you, who come in on the Sabbath and keep the watch of the king's house, ... And the two divisions of you, who go out on the Sabbath and keep the watch of the house of the Lord, Will make a circle round the king, every man being armed; and whoever comes inside your lines is to be put to death; keep with the king, when he goes out and when he comes in. And the captains of hundreds did as Jehoiada the priest gave them orders; every one took with him his men, those who came in and those who went out on the Sabbath, and they came in to Jehoiada the priest. And the priest gave to the captains of hundreds the spears and body-covers which had been King David's, and which were kept in the house of the Lord. Then the armed men took up their positions, every man with his instruments of war in his hand, from the right side of the house to the left, round about the altar and the house. Then he made the king's son come out, and put the crown on him and the arm-bands, and made him king, and put the holy oil on him; and they all, making sounds of joy with their hands, said, Long life to the king.
Does it seem only a small thing to you that the God of Israel has made you separate from the rest of Israel, letting you come near himself to do the work of the House of the Lord, and to take your place before the people to do what has to be done for them;
This is the rule for the Levites: those of twenty-five years old and over are to go in and do the work of the Tent of meeting; But after they are fifty years old, they are to give up their work and do no more; But be with their brothers in the Tent of meeting, taking care of it but doing no work. This is what you are to do in connection with the Levites and their work.
Every one from thirty to fifty years old who is able to do the work of the Tent of meeting.
In order that they may be responsible to him and to all Israel for the care of the Tent of meeting, and to do the work of the House; And they will have the care of all the vessels of the Tent of meeting, and will do for the children of Israel all the necessary work of the House.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Keil & Delitzsch Commentary » Commentary on Numbers 4
Commentary on Numbers 4 Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
Rules of Service, and Numbering of the Levites Qualified for Service. - After the adoption of the Levites for service at the sanctuary, in the place of the first-born of Israel, Moses and Aaron mustered the three families of the Levites by the command of God for the service to be performed by those who were between the ages of 30 and 50. The particulars of the service are first of all described in detail (vv. 4-33); and then the men in each family are taken, of the specified age for service (vv. 34-49). The three families are not arranged according to the relative ages of their founders, but according to the importance or sacredness of their service. The Kohathites take the lead, because the holiest parts of the tabernacle were to be carried and kept by this family, which included the priests, Aaron and his sons. The service to be performed by each of the three Levitical families is introduced in every case by a command from God to take the sum of the men from 30 years old to 50 (see Numbers 4:1-3, Numbers 4:21-23, Numbers 4:29 and Numbers 4:30).
Service of the Kohathites, and the number qualified for service . - Numbers 4:2, Numbers 4:3. “ Take the sum of the sons of Kohath from among the sons of Levi: ” i.e., by raising them out of the sum total of the Levites, by numbering them first and specially, viz., the men from 30 to 50 years of age, “ every one who comes to the service, ” i.e., who has to enter upon service “ to do work at the tabernacle .” צבא ( Angl . ' host' ) signifies military service, and is used here with special reference to the service of the Levites as the militia sacra of Jehovah.
The service of the Kohathites at the tabernacle is (relates to) “ the most holy ” (see at Exodus 30:10). This term includes, as is afterwards explained, the most holy things in the tabernacle, viz., the ark of the covenant, the table of shew-bread, the candlestick, the altar of incense and altar of burnt-offering, together with all the other things belonging to these. When the camp was broken up, the priests were to roll them up in wrappers, and hand them over in this state to the Kohathites, for them to carry (Numbers 4:5-15). First of all (Numbers 4:5, Numbers 4:6), Aaron and his sons were to take down the curtain between the holy place and the most holy (see Exodus 26:31), and to cover the ark of testimony with it (Exodus 25:10). Over this they were to place a wrapper of sea-cow skin ( tachash , see Exodus 25:5), and over this again another covering of cloth made entirely of hyacinth-coloured purple (as in Exodus 28:31). The sea-cow skin as to protect the inner curtain, which was covered over the ark, from storm and rain; the hyacinth purple, to distinguish the ark of the covenant as the throne of the glory of Jehovah. Lastly, they were to place the staves into the rings again, that is to say, the bearing poles, which were always left in their places on the ark (Exodus 25:15), but had necessarily to be taken out while it was being covered and wrapped up.
Over the table of shew-bread (Exodus 25:23) they were to spread a hyacinth cloth, to place the plates, bowls, wine-pitchers, and drink-offering bowls (Exodus 25:29) upon the top of this, and to lay shew-bread thereon; and then to spread a crimson cloth over these vessels and the shew-bread, and cover this with a sea-cow skin, and lastly to put the bearing poles in their places.
The candlestick, with its lamps, snuffers, extinguishers (Exodus 25:31-37), and all its oil-vessels (oil-cans), “ wherewith they serve it, ” i.e., prepare it for the holy service, were to be covered with a hyacinth cloth, and then with a wrapper of sea-cow skin, and laid upon the carriage. מות (Numbers 4:10 and Numbers 4:12), bearing frame, in Numbers 13:23 bearing poles.
So again they were to wrap up the altar of incense (Exodus 30:1), to adjust its bearing poles; and having wrapped it up in such coverings, along with the vessels belonging to it, to lay it upon the frame.
The altar of burnt-offering was first of all to be cleansed from the ashes; a crimson cloth was then to be covered over it, and the whole of the furniture belonging to it to be placed upon the top; and lastly, the whole was to be covered with a sea-cow skin. The only thing not mentioned is the copper laver (Exodus 30:18), probably because it was carried without any cover at all. The statement in the Septuagint and the Samaritan text, which follows Numbers 4:14. respecting its covering and conveyance upon a frame, is no doubt a spurious interpolation.
After the priests had completed the wrapping up of all these things, the Kohathites were to come up to carry them; but they were not to touch “ the holy” (the holy things), lest they should die (see Numbers 1:53; Numbers 18:3, and comp. 2 Samuel 6:6-7).
The oversight of the oil for the candlestick (Exodus 27:20), the incense ( Exodus 30:34), the continual meat-offering (Exodus 29:40), and the anointing oil ( Exodus 30:23), belonged to Eleazar as the head of all the Levites (Numbers 3:32). He had also the oversight of the dwelling and all the holy things and furniture belonging to it; and, as a comparison of Numbers 4:28 and Numbers 4:33 clearly shows, of the services of the Kohathites also.
In order to prevent as far as possible any calamity from befalling the Levites while carrying the most holy things, the priests are again urged by the command of God to do what has already been described in detail in Numbers 4:5-15, lest through any carelessness on their part they should cut off the tribe of the families of the Kohathites, i.e., should cause their destruction; viz., if they should approach the holy things before they had been wrapped up by Aaron and his sons in the manner prescribed and handed over to them to carry. If the Kohathites should come for only a single moment to look at the holy things, they would die. אל־תּכריתוּ , “ cut ye not off, ” i.e., “take care that the Kohathites are not cut off through your mistake and negligence” ( Ros .). “ The tribe of the families of the Kohathites: ” shebet , the tribe, is not used here, as it frequently is, in its derivative sense of tribe ( Tribus ), but in the original literal sense of stirps .
“ This do to them: ” sc., what is prescribed in Numbers 4:5-15 with reference to their service.
כּבלּע , “ like a swallow, a gulp, ” is probably a proverbial expression, according to the analogy of Job 7:19, for “ a single instant, ” of which the Arabic also furnishes examples (see A. Schultens on Job 7:19). The Sept . rendering, ἐξάπινα , conveys the actual sense. A historical illustration of Numbers 4:20 is furnished by 1 Samuel 6:19.
(Note: According to Knobel , Numbers 4:17-20 have been interpolated by the Jehovist into the Elohistic text. But the reasons for this assumption are weak throughout. Neither the peculiar use of the word shebet, to which there is no corresponding parallel in the whole of the Old Testament, nor the construction of נגשׁ with את , which is only met with in 1 Samuel 9:18 and 1 Samuel 30:21, nor the Hiphil הכרית , can be regarded as criteria of a Jehovistic usage. And the assertion, that the Elohist lays the emphasis upon approaching and touching the holy things (Numbers 4:15; Numbers 8:19; Numbers 18:3, Numbers 18:22), and not upon seeing or looking at them, rests upon an antithesis which is arbitrarily forced upon the text, since not only seeing (Numbers 4:20), but touching also (Numbers 4:19), is described as causing death; so that seeing and touching form no antithesis at all.)
The service of the Gershonites is introduced in Numbers 4:21-23 in the same manner as that of the Kohathites in Numbers 4:1-3; and in Numbers 4:24-26 it is described in accordance with the brief notice and explanation already given in Numbers 3:24-26.
Their service was to be performed “ according to the mouth (i.e., according to the appointment) of Aaron and his sons, with regard to all their carrying (all that they were to carry), and all their doing .” - “ And ye (the priests) shall appoint to them for attendance (in charge) all their carrying ,” i.e., all the things they were to carry. בּמשׁמרת פּקד , to give into keeping. The combination of פּקד with בּ and the accusative of the object is analogous to בּ נתן , to give into a persons' hand, in Genesis 27:17; and there is no satisfactory reason for any such emendations of the text as Knobel proposes.
“ Their charge ( mishmereth ) is in the hand of Ithamar, ” i.e., is to be carried out under his superintendence (cf. Exodus 38:21).
Service of the Merarites . - Numbers 4:29 and Numbers 4:30, like Numbers 4:22 and Numbers 4:23. פּקד , to muster, i.e., to number, equivalent to ראשׁ נשׁא , to take the number.
Numbers 4:31 and Numbers 4:32, like Numbers 3:36 and Numbers 3:37. “ The charge of their burden ” (their carrying), i.e., the things which it was their duty to carry.
לכל־כּליהם : with regard to all their instruments, i.e., all the things used for setting up, fastening, or undoing the beams, bolts, etc.; see Numbers 3:36 and Exodus 27:19.
Completion of the prescribed mustering, and statement of the number of men qualified for service in the three Levitical families: viz., 2750 Kohathites, 2630 Gershonites, and 3200 Merarites - in all, 8580 Levites fit for service: a number which bears a just proportion to the total number of male Levites of a month old and upwards, viz., 22,000.
“ According to the commandment of Jehovah, they appointed them through the hand of Moses (i.e., under his direction), each one to his service, and his burden, and his mustered things ( פּקדיו ), i.e., the things assigned to him at the time of the mustering as his special charge (see Exodus 38:21).