3 from thirty years old and upward even until fifty years old, all who enter into the service, to do the work in the Tent of Meeting.
from thirty years old and upward until fifty years old shall you number them; all who enter in to wait on the service, to do the work in the Tent of Meeting.
and the pattern of all that he had by the Spirit, for the courts of the house of Yahweh, and for all the surrounding rooms, for the treasuries of the house of God, and for the treasuries of the dedicated things; also for the divisions of the priests and the Levites, and for all the work of the service of the house of Yahweh, and for all the vessels of service in the house of Yahweh;
This is a faithful saying: if a man seeks the office of an overseer{Or, bishop}, he desires a good work.
This charge I commit to you, my child Timothy, according to the prophecies which led the way to you, that by them you may wage the good warfare;
Finally, be strong in the Lord, and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For our wrestling is not against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world's rulers of the darkness of this age, and against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore, put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and, having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having the utility belt of truth buckled around your waist, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having fitted your feet with the preparation of the Gospel of peace; above all, taking up the shield of faith, with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the evil one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; with all prayer and requests, praying at all times in the Spirit, and being watchful to this end in all perseverance and requests for all the saints:
For though we walk in the flesh, we don't wage war according to the flesh; for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but mighty before God to the throwing down of strongholds,
Jesus himself, when he began to teach, was about thirty years old, being the son (as was supposed) of Joseph, the son of Heli,
Now in the second year of their coming to the house of God at Jerusalem, in the second month, began 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 were come out of the captivity to Jerusalem, and appointed the Levites, from twenty years old and upward, to have the oversight of the work of the house of Yahweh.
In the seventh year Jehoiada strengthened himself, and took the captains of hundreds, Azariah the son of Jeroham, and Ishmael the son of Jehohanan, and Azariah the son of Obed, and Maaseiah the son of Adaiah, and Elishaphat the son of Zichri, into covenant with him. They went about in Judah, and gathered the Levites out of all the cities of Judah, and the heads of fathers' [houses] of Israel, and they came to Jerusalem. All the assembly made a covenant with the king in the house of God. He said to them, Behold, the king's son shall reign, as Yahweh has spoken concerning the sons of David. This is the thing that you shall do: a third part of you, who come in on the Sabbath, of the priests and of the Levites, shall be porters of the thresholds; and a third part shall be at the king's house; and a third part at the gate of the foundation: and all the people shall be in the courts of the house of Yahweh. But let none come into the house of Yahweh, save the priests, and those who minister of the Levites; they shall come in, for they are holy: but all the people shall keep the charge of Yahweh. The Levites shall compass the king round about, every man with his weapons in his hand; and whoever comes into the house, let him be slain: and be you with the king when he comes in, and when he goes out. So the Levites and all Judah did according to all that Jehoiada the priest commanded: and they took every man his men, those who were to come in on the Sabbath; with those who were to go out on the Sabbath; for Jehoiada the priest didn't dismiss the shift. Jehoiada the priest delivered to the captains of hundreds the spears, and bucklers, and shields, that had been king David's, which were in the house of God. He set all the people, every man with his weapon in his hand, from the right side of the house to the left side of the house, along by the altar and the house, by the king round about. Then they brought out the king's son, and put the crown on him, and [gave him] the testimony, and made him king: and Jehoiada and his sons anointed him; and they said, [Long] live the king.
Joseph was thirty years old when he stood before Pharaoh king of Egypt. Joseph went out from the presence of Pharaoh, and went throughout all the land of Egypt.
These were the sons of Levi after their fathers' houses, even the heads of the fathers' [houses] of those of those who were counted, in the number of names by their polls, who did the work for the service of the house of Yahweh, from twenty years old and upward. For David said, Yahweh, the God of Israel, has given rest to his people; and he dwells in Jerusalem forever: and also the Levites shall no more have need to carry the tent and all the vessels of it for the service of it. For by the last words of David the sons of Levi were numbered, from twenty years old and upward. For their office was to wait on the sons of Aaron for the service of the house of Yahweh, in the courts, and in the chambers, and in the purifying of all holy things, even the work of the service of the house of God; for the show bread also, and for the fine flour for a meal-offering, whether of unleavened wafers, or of that which is baked in the pan, or of that which is soaked, and for all manner of measure and size; and to stand every morning to thank and praise Yahweh, and likewise in the evening; and to offer all burnt offerings to Yahweh, on the Sabbaths, on the new moons, and on the set feasts, in number according to the ordinance concerning them, continually before Yahweh; and that they should keep the charge of the tent of meeting, and the charge of the holy place, and the charge of the sons of Aaron their brothers, for the service of the house of Yahweh.
The Levites were numbered from thirty years old and upward: and their number by their polls, man by man, was thirty-eight thousand. Of these, twenty-four thousand were to oversee the work of the house of Yahweh; and six thousand were officers and judges; and four thousand were doorkeepers; and four thousand praised Yahweh with the instruments which I made, [said David], for giving praise.
Their brothers the Levites were appointed for all the service of the tent of the house of God.
In the seventh year Jehoiada sent and fetched the captains over hundreds of the Carites and of the guard, and brought them to him into the house of Yahweh; and he made a covenant with them, and took an oath of them in the house of Yahweh, and shown them the king's son. He commanded them, saying, This is the thing that you shall do: a third part of you, who come in on the Sabbath, shall be keepers of the watch of the king's house; A third part shall be at the gate Sur; and a third part at the gate behind the guard: so shall you keep the watch of the house, and be a barrier. The two companies of you, even all who go forth on the Sabbath, shall keep the watch of the house of Yahweh about the king. You shall compass the king round about, every man with his weapons in his hand; and he who comes within the ranks, let him be slain: and be you with the king when he goes out, and when he comes in. The captains over hundreds did according to all that Jehoiada the priest commanded; and they took every man his men, those who were to come in on the Sabbath, with those who were to go out on the Sabbath, and came to Jehoiada the priest. The priest delivered to the captains over hundreds the spears and shields that had been king David's, which were in the house of Yahweh. The guard stood, every man with his weapons in his hand, from the right side of the house to the left side of the house, along by the altar and the house, by the king round about. Then he brought out the king's son, and put the crown on him, and [gave him] the testimony; and they made him king, and anointed him; and they clapped their hands, and said, [Long] live the king.
[seems it but] a small thing to you, that the God of Israel has separated you from the congregation of Israel, to bring you near to himself, to do the service of the tent of Yahweh, and to stand before the congregation to minister to them;
"This is that which belongs to the Levites: from twenty-five years old and upward they shall go in to wait on the service in the work of the Tent of Meeting; and from the age of fifty years they shall cease waiting on the work, and shall serve no more, but shall minister with their brothers in the Tent of Meeting, to keep the charge, and shall do no service. Thus shall you do to the Levites concerning their duties."
from thirty years old and upward even to fifty years old shall you number them, everyone who enters on the service, to do the work of the Tent of Meeting.
They shall keep his charge, and the charge of the whole congregation before the Tent of Meeting, to do the service of the tabernacle. They shall keep all the furnishings of the Tent of Meeting, and the obligations of the children of Israel, to do the service of the tabernacle.
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).