25 And the charge of the sons of Gershon in the tent of meeting `is' the tabernacle, and the tent, its covering, and the vail at the opening of the tent of meeting,
according to all that which I am shewing thee, the pattern of the tabernacle, and the pattern of all its vessels, even so ye do make `it'.
And of the Levites: Shemaiah son of Hashshub, son of Azrikam, son of Hashabiah, of the sons of Merari; and Bakbakkar, Heresh, and Galal, and Mattaniah son of Micah, son of Zichri, son of Asaph; and Obadiah son of Shemariah, son of Galal, son of Jeduthun, and Berechiah, son of Asa, son of Elkanah, who is dwelling in the villages of the Netophathite. And the gatekeepers `are' Shallum, and Akkub, and Talmon, and Ahiman, and their brethren -- Shallum `is' the head; and hitherto they `are' at the gate of the king eastward; they `are' the gatekeepers for the companies of the sons of Levi. And Shallum son of Kore, son of Ebiasaph, son of Korah, and his brethren, of the house of his father, the Korahites, `are' over the work of the service, keepers of the thresholds of the tent, and their fathers `are' over the camp of Jehovah, keepers of the entrance; and Phinehas son of Eleazar hath been leader over them formerly; Jehovah `is' with him. Zechariah son of Meshelemiah `is' gatekeeper at the opening of the tent of meeting. All of those who are chosen for gatekeepers at the thresholds `are' two hundred and twelve; they `are' in their villages, by their genealogy; they whom David and Samuel the seer appointed in their office. And they and their sons `are' over the gates of the house of Jehovah, even of the house of the tent, by watches. At four sides are the gatekeepers, east, west, north, and south. And their brethren in their villages `are' to come in for seven days from time to time with these. For in office `are' the four chiefs of the gatekeepers, they are Levites, and they have been over the chambers, and over the treasuries of the house of God, and round about the house of God they lodge, for on them `is' the watch, and they `are' over the opening, even morning by morning. And `some' of them `are' over the vessels of service, for by number they bring them in, and by number they take them out. And `some' of them are appointed over the vessels, even over all the vessels of the sanctuary, and over the fine flour, and the wine, and the oil, and the frankincense, and the spices. And `some' of the sons of the priests are mixing the mixture for spices. And Mattithiah, of the Levites (he `is' the first-born to Shallum the Korahite), `is' in office over the work of the pans. And of the sons of the Kohathite, `some' of their brethren `are' over the bread of the arrangement, to prepare `it' sabbath by sabbath. And these who sing, heads of fathers of the Levites, in the chambers, `are' free, for by day and by night `they are' over them in the work.
and say to Archippus, `See to the ministration that thou didst receive in the Lord, that thou mayest fulfil it.'
And having gifts, different according to the grace that was given to us; whether prophecy -- `According to the proportion of faith!' or ministration -- `In the ministration!' or he who is teaching -- `In the teaching!' or he who is exhorting -- `In the exhortation!' he who is sharing -- `In simplicity!' he who is leading -- `In diligence?' he who is doing kindness -- `In cheerfulness.'
And I say unto them, `Ye `are' holy to Jehovah, and the vessels `are' holy, and the silver and the gold `are' a willing-offering to Jehovah, God of your fathers; watch, and keep, till ye weigh before the heads of the priests, and of the Levites, and the heads of the fathers of Israel, in Jerusalem, in the chambers of the house of Jehovah.' And the priests and the Levites took the weight of the silver, and of the gold, and of the vessels, to bring to Jerusalem to the house of our God.
And Hezekiah saith to prepare chambers in the house of Jehovah, and they prepare, and they bring in the heave-offering, and the tithe, and the holy things faithfully; and over them is a leader, Conaniah the Levite, and Shimei his brother `is' second; and Jehiel, and Azaziah, and Nahath, and Asahel, and Jerimoth, and Jozabad, and Eliel, and Ismachiah, and Mahath, and Benaiah, `are' inspectors under the hand of Conaniah and Shimei his brother, by the appointment of Hezekiah the king, and Azariah leader of the house of God. And Kore son of Imnah the Levite, the gatekeeper at the east, `is' over the willing-offerings of God, to give the heave-offering of Jehovah, and the most holy things. And by his hand `are' Eden, and Miniamin, and Jeshua, and Shemaiah, Amariah, and Shechaniah, in cities of the priests, faithfully to give to their brethren in courses, as the great so the small, apart from their genealogy, to males from a son of three years and upward, to every one who hath gone in to the house of Jehovah, by the matter of a day in its day, for their service in their charges, according to their courses; and the genealogy of the priests by the house of their fathers, and of the Levites, from a son of twenty years and upward, in their charges, in their courses; and to the genealogy among all their infants, their wives, and their sons, and their daughters to all the congregation, for in their faithfulness they sanctify themselves in holiness.
And Hezekiah appointeth the courses of the priests, and of the Levites, by their courses, each according to his service, of the priests and of the Levites, for burnt-offering, and for peace-offerings, to minister, and to give thanks, and to give praise in the gates of the camps of Jehovah.
Sons of Laadan: sons of the Gershonite, of Laadan, heads of the fathers of Laadan the Gershonite: Jehieli. Sons of Jehieli: Zetham, and Joel his brother, over the treasures of the house of Jehovah,
And they have kept the charge of the tent of meeting, and the charge of the sanctuary, and the charge of the sons of Aaron, their brethren, for the service of the house of Jehovah.
`And thou dost make the tabernacle: ten curtains of twined linen, and blue, and purple, and scarlet; `with' cherubs, work of a designer, thou dost make them; the length of the one curtain `is' eight and twenty by the cubit, and the breadth of the one curtain four by the cubit, one measure `is' to all the curtains; five of the curtains are joining one unto another, and five curtains are joining one to another. `And thou hast made loops of blue upon the edge of the one curtain, at the end in the joining; and so thou makest in the edge of the outermost curtain, in the joining of the second. fifty loops thou dost make in the one curtain, and fifty loops thou dost make in the edge of the curtain which `is' in the joining of the second, causing the loops to take hold one unto another; and thou hast made fifty hooks of gold, and hast joined the curtains one to another by the hooks, and the tabernacle hath been one. `And thou hast made curtains of goats' `hair', for a tent over the tabernacle; thou dost make eleven curtains: the length of the one curtain `is' thirty by the cubit, and the breadth of the one curtain four by the cubit; one measure `is' to the eleven curtains; and thou hast joined the five curtains apart, and the six curtains apart, and hast doubled the six curtains over-against the front of the tent. `And thou hast made fifty loops on the edge of the one curtain, the outermost in the joining, and fifty loops on the edge of the curtain which is joining the second; and thou hast made fifty hooks of brass, and hast brought in the hooks into the loops, and hast joined the tent, and it hath been one. `And the superfluity in the curtains of the tent -- the half of the curtain which is superfluous -- hath spread over the hinder part of the tabernacle; and the cubit on this side, and the cubit on that, in the superfluity in the length of the curtains of the tent, is spread out over the sides of the tabernacle, on this and on that, to cover it; and thou hast made a covering for the tent, of rams' skins made red, and a covering of badgers' skins above.
And the tabernacle hath been taken down, and the sons of Gershon and the sons of Merari have journeyed, bearing the tabernacle.
The two of the waggons and the four of the oxen he hath given to the sons of Gershon, according to their service,
`This `is' the service of the families of the Gershonite, to serve -- and for burden, and they have borne the curtains of the tabernacle, and the tent of meeting, its covering, and the covering of the badger `skin' which `is' on it above, and the vail at the opening of the tent of meeting, and the hangings of the court, and the vail at the opening of the gate of the court which `is' by the tabernacle, and by the altar round about, and their cords, and all the vessels of their service, and all that is made for them -- and they have served. `By the command of Aaron and his sons is all the service of the sons of the Gershonite in all their burden, and in all their service; and ye have laid a charge on them concerning the charge of all their burden. This `is' the service of the families of the sons of the Gershonite in the tent of meeting; and their charge `is' under the hand of Ithamar son of Aaron the priest.
and kept his charge, and the charge of all the company before the tent of meeting, to do the service of the tabernacle;
And he setteth the covering of the opening to the tabernacle,
And he maketh a covering for the opening of the tent, of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and twined linen, work of an embroiderer, also its five pillars, and their pegs; and he overlaid their tops and their fillets `with' gold, and their five sockets `are' brass.
And all the wise-hearted ones among the doers of the work make the tabernacle; ten curtains of twined linen, and blue, and purple, and scarlet, `with' cherubs, work of a designer, he hath made them. The length of the one curtain `is' eight and twenty by the cubit, and the breadth of the one curtain four by the cubit; one measure `is' to all the curtains. And he joineth the five curtains one unto another, and the `other' five curtains he hath joined one unto another; and he maketh loops of blue on the edge of the one curtain, at the end, in the joining; so he hath made in the edge of the outmost curtain, in the joining of the second; fifty loops he hath made in the one curtain, and fifty loops hath he made in the end of the curtain which `is' in the joining of the second; the loops are taking hold one on another. And he maketh fifty hooks of gold, and joineth the curtains one unto another by the hooks, and the tabernacle is one. And he maketh curtains of goats' `hair' for a tent over the tabernacle; eleven curtains he hath made them; the length of the one curtain `is' thirty by the cubit, and the breadth of the one curtain `is' four cubits; one measure `is' to the eleven curtains; and he joineth the five curtains apart, and the six curtains apart. And he maketh fifty loops on the outer edge of the curtain, in the joining; and fifty loops he hath made on the edge of the curtain which is joining the second; and he maketh fifty hooks of brass to join the tent -- to be one; and he maketh a covering for the tent of rams' skins made red, and a covering of badgers' skins above.
`And thou hast made a covering for the opening of the tent, blue, and purple, and scarlet, and twined linen, work of an embroiderer; and thou hast made for the covering five pillars of shittim `wood', and hast overlaid them `with' gold, their pegs `are' of gold, and thou hast cast for them five sockets of brass.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Keil & Delitzsch Commentary » Commentary on Numbers 3
Commentary on Numbers 3 Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
Muster of the Tribe of Levi. - As Jacob had adopted the two sons of Joseph as his own sons, and thus promoted them to the rank of heads of tribes, the tribe of Levi formed, strictly speaking, the thirteenth tribe of the whole nation, and was excepted from the muster of the twelve tribes who were destined to form the army of Jehovah, because God had chosen it for the service of the sanctuary. Out of this tribe God had not only called Moses to be the deliverer, lawgiver, and leader of His people, but Moses' brother Aaron, with the sons of the latter, to be the custodians of the sanctuary. And now, lastly, the whole tribe was chosen, in the place of the first-born of all the tribes, to assist the priests in performing the duties of the sanctuary, and was numbered and mustered for this its special calling.
Numbers 3:1
In order to indicate at the very outset the position which the Levites were to occupy in relation to the priests (viz., Aaron and his descendants), the account of their muster commences not only with the enumeration of the sons of Aaron who were chosen as priests (Numbers 3:2-4), but with the heading: “ These are the generations of Aaron and Moses in the day (i.e., at the time) when Jehovah spake with Moses in Mount Sinai (Numbers 3:1). The toledoth (see at Genesis 2:4) of Moses and Aaron are not only the families which sprang from Aaron and Moses, but the Levitical families generally, which were named after Aaron and Moses, because they were both of them raised into the position of heads or spiritual fathers of the whole tribe, namely, at the time when God spoke to Moses upon Sinai. Understood in this way, the notice as to the time is neither a superfluous repetition, nor introduced with reference to the subsequent numbering of the people in the steppes of Moab (Numbers 26:57.). Aaron is placed before Moses here (see at Exodus 6:26.), not merely as being the elder of the two, but because his sons received the priesthood, whilst the sons of Moses, on the contrary, were classed among the rest of the Levitical families (cf. 1 Chronicles 23:14).
Numbers 3:2-4
Names of the sons of Aaron, the “ anointed priests (see Leviticus 8:12), whose hand they filled to be priests, ” i.e., who were appointed to the priesthood (see at Leviticus 7:37). On Nadab and Abihu, see Leviticus 10:1-2. As they had neither of them any children when they were put to death, Eleazar and Ithamar were the only priests “ in the sight of Aaron their father, ” i.e., during his lifetime. “ In the sight of: ” as in Genesis 11:28.
The Levites are placed before Aaron the priest, to be his servants.
Numbers 3:6
“ Bring near: ” as in Exodus 28:1. The expression לפני עמד is frequently met with in connection with the position of a servant, as standing before his master to receive his commands.
Numbers 3:7-8
They were to keep the charge of Aaron and the whole congregation before the tabernacle, to attend to the service of the dwelling, i.e., to observe what Aaron (the priest) and the whole congregation were bound to perform in relation to the service at the dwelling-place of Jehovah. “ To keep the charge: ” see Numbers 1:53 and Genesis 26:5. In Numbers 3:8 this is more fully explained: they were to keep the vessels of the tabernacle, and to attend to all that was binding upon the children of Israel in relation to them, i.e., to take the oversight of the furniture, to keep it safe and clean.
Numbers 3:9
Moses was also to give the Levites to Aaron and his sons. “ They are wholly given to him out of the children of Israel: ” the repetition of נתוּנם here and in Numbers 8:16 is emphatic, and expressive of complete surrender ( Ewald , §313). The Levites, however, as nethunim, must be distinguished from the nethinim of non-Israelitish descent, who were given to the Levites at a later period as temple slaves, to perform the lowest duties connected with the sanctuary (see at Joshua 9:27).
Numbers 3:10
Aaron and his sons were to be appointed by Moses to take charge of the priesthood; as no stranger, no one who was not a son of Aaron, could approach the sanctuary without being put to death (cf. Numbers 1:53 and Leviticus 22:10).
God appointed the Levites for this service, because He had decided to adopt them as His own in the place of all the first-born of Egypt. When He slew the first-born of Egypt, He sanctified to Himself all the first-born of Israel, of man and beast, for His own possession (see Exodus 13:1-2). By virtue of this sanctification, which was founded upon the adoption of the whole nation as His first-born son, the nation was required to dedicate to Him its first-born sons for service at the sanctuary, and sacrifice all the first-born of its cattle to Him. But now the Levites and their cattle were to be adopted in their place, and the first-born sons of Israel to be released in return (Numbers 3:40.). By this arrangement, through which the care of the service at the sanctuary was transferred to one tribe, which would and should henceforth devote itself with undivided interest to this vocation, not only was a more orderly performance of this service secured, than could have been effected through the first-born of all the tribes; but so far as the whole nation was concerned, the fulfilment of its obligations in relation to this service was undoubtedly facilitated. Moreover, the Levites had proved themselves to be the most suitable of all the tribes for his post, through their firm and faithful defence of the honour of the Lord at the worship of the golden calf (Exodus 32:26.). It is in this spirit, which distinguished the tribe of Levi, that we may undoubtedly discover the reason why they were chosen by God for the service of the sanctuary, and not in the fact that Moses and Aaron belonged to the tribe, and desired to form a hierarchical caste of the members of their own tribe, such as was to be found among other nations: the magi, for example, among the Medes, the Chaldeans among the Persians, and the Brahmins among the Indians. יהוה אני לי , “ to Me, to Me, Jehovah ” (Numbers 3:13, Numbers 3:41, and Numbers 3:45; cf. Ges. §121, 3).
The muster of the Levites included all the males from a month old and upwards, because they were to be sanctified to Jehovah in the place of the first-born; and it was at the age of a month that the latter were either to be given up or redeemed (comp. Numbers 3:40 and Numbers 3:43 with Numbers 18:16). In Numbers 3:17-20 the sons of Levi and their sons are enumerated, who were the founders of the mishpachoth among the Levites, as in Exodus 6:16-19.
The Gershonites were divided into two families, containing 7500 males. They were to encamp under their chief Eliasaph, behind the tabernacle, i.e., on the western side (Numbers 3:23, Numbers 3:24), and were to take charge of the dwelling-place and the tent, the covering, the curtain at the entrance, the hangings round the court with the curtains at the door, and the cords of the tent, “ in relation to all the service thereof ” (Numbers 3:25.); that is to say, according to the more precise injunctions in Numbers 4:25-27, they were to carry the tapestry of the dwelling (the inner covering, Exodus 26:1.), and of the tent (i.e., the covering made of goats' hair, Exodus 26:7.), the covering thereof (i.e., the covering of rams' skins dyed red, and the covering of sea-cow skin upon the top of it, Exodus 27:16), the hangings of the court and the curtain at the entrance (Exodus 27:9, Exodus 27:16), which surrounded the altar (of burnt-offering) and the dwelling round about, and their cords, i.e., the cords of the tapestry, coverings, and curtains (Exodus 27:14), and all the instruments of their service, i.e., the things used in connection with their service ( Exodus 27:19), and were to attend to everything that had to be done to them; in other words, to perform whatever was usually done with those portions of the sanctuary that are mentioned here, especially in setting up the tabernacle or taking it down. The suffix in מיתריו (Numbers 3:26) does not refer to the court mentioned immediately before; for, according to Numbers 3:37, the Merarites were to carry the cords of the hangings of the court, but to the “dwelling and tent,” which stand farther off. In the same way the words, “ for all the service thereof, ” refer to all those portions of the sanctuary that are mentioned, and mean “everything that had to be done or attended to in connection with these things.”
The Kohathites , who were divided into four families, and numbered 8600, were to encamp on the south side of the tabernacle, and more especially to keep the charge of the sanctuary (Numbers 3:28), viz., to take care of the ark of the covenant, the table (of shew-bread), the candlestick, the altars (of incense and burnt-offering), with the holy things required for the service performed in connection therewith, and the curtain (the veil before the most holy place), and to perform whatever had to be done (“all the service thereof,” see at Numbers 3:26), i.e., to carry the said holy things after they had been rolled up in covers by the priests (see Numbers 4:5.).
As the priests also formed part of the Kohathites, their chief is mentioned as well, viz., Eleazar the eldest son of Aaron the high priest, who was placed over the chiefs of the three Levitical families, and called פּקדּה , oversight of the keepers of the charge of the sanctuary, ” i.e., authority, superior, of the servants of the sanctuary.
The Merarites , who formed two families, comprising 6200 males, were to encamp on the north side of the tabernacle, under their prince Zuriel , and to observe the boards, bolts, pillars, and sockets of the dwelling-place ( Exodus 26:15, Exodus 26:26, Exodus 26:32, Exodus 26:37), together with all the vessels thereof (the plugs and tools), and all that had to be done in connection therewith, also the pillars of the court with their sockets, the plugs and the cords (Exodus 27:10, Exodus 27:19; Exodus 35:18); that is to say, they were to take charge of these when the tabernacle was taken down, to carry them on the march, and to fix them when the tabernacle was set up again (Numbers 4:31-32).
Moses and Aaron, with the sons of the latter (the priests), were to encamp in front, before the tabernacle, viz., on the eastern side, “ as keepers of the charge of the sanctuary for the charge of the children of Israel, ” i.e., to attend to everything that was binding upon the children of Israel in relation to the care of the sanctuary, as no stranger was allowed to approach it on pain of death (see Numbers 1:51).
Numbers 3:39
The number of the Levites mustered, 22,000, does not agree with the numbers assigned to the three families, as 7500 + 8600 + 6200 = 22,300. But the total is correct; for, according to Numbers 3:46, the number of the first-born, 22,273, exceeded the total number of the Levites by 273. The attempt made by the Rabbins and others to reconcile the two, by supposing the 300 Levites in excess to be themselves first-born, who were omitted in the general muster, because they were not qualified to represent the first-born of the other tribes, is evidently forced and unsatisfactory. The whole account is so circumstantial, that such a fact as this would never have been omitted. We must rather assume that there is a copyist's error in the number of one of the Levitical families; possibly in Numbers 3:28 we should read שׁלשׁ for שׁשׁ (8300 for 8600). The puncta extraordinaria above ואהרן are intended to indicate that this word is either suspicious or spurious (see at Genesis 33:5); and it is actually omitted in Sam ., Syr ., and 12 MSS, but without sufficient reason: for although the divine command to muster the Levites (Numbers 3:5 and Numbers 3:14) was addressed to Moses alone, yet if we compare Numbers 4:1, Numbers 4:34, Numbers 4:37, Numbers 4:41, Numbers 4:45, where the Levites qualified for service are said to have been mustered by Moses and Aaron, and still more Numbers 4:46, where the elders of Israel are said to have taken part in the numbering of the Levites as well as in that of the twelve tribes (Numbers 1:3-4), there can be no reason to doubt that Aaron also took part in the mustering of the whole of the Levites, for the purpose of adoption in the place of the first-born of Israel; and no suspicion attaches to this introduction of his name in Numbers 3:39, although it is not mentioned in Numbers 3:5, Numbers 3:11, Numbers 3:14, Numbers 3:40, and Numbers 3:44.
After this, Moses numbered the first-born of the children of Israel, to exchange them for the Levites according to the command of God, which is repeated in Numbers 3:41 and Numbers 3:44-45 from Numbers 3:11-13, and to adopt the latter in their stead for the service at the sanctuary (on Numbers 3:41 and Numbers 3:45, cf. Numbers 3:11-13). The number of the first-born of the twelve tribes amounted to 22,273 of a month old and upwards (Numbers 3:43). Of this number 22,000 were exchanged for the 22,000 Levites, and the cattle of the Levites were also set against the first-born of the cattle of the tribes of Israel, though without their being numbered and exchanged head for head. In Numbers 3:44 and Numbers 3:45 the command of God concerning the adoption of the Levites is repeated, for the purpose of adding the further instructions with regard to the 273, the number by which the first-born of the tribes exceeded those of the Levites. “ And as for the redemption of the 273 (lit., the 273 to be redeemed) of the first-born of the children of Israel which were more than the Levites, thou shalt take five shekels a head, ” etc. This was the general price established by the law for the redemption of the first-born of men (see Numbers 18:16). On the sacred shekel, see at Exodus 30:13. The redemption money for 273 first-born, in all 1365 shekels, was to be paid to Aaron and his sons as compensation for the persons who properly belonged to Jehovah, and had been appointed as first-born for the service of the priests.
“ The redeemed of the Levites ” are the 22,000 who were redeemed by means of the Levites. In Numbers 3:50, the Chethibh הפּדים is the correct reading, and the Keri הפּדים an unnecessary emendation. The number of the first-born and that of the Levites has already been noticed in the introduction to Numbers 1.