For Teaching

Numbers 4: What the Passage Says

160 claims across 49 verses, in the order the chapter makes them.

Not a sermon outline. What Numbers 4 says, and what its hard words meant. The reading of it is yours.

The Chapter in a Sentence

The LORD tells Moses and Aaron to count the Levite men aged thirty to fifty who will work at the tent of meeting, and assigns each Levite group its share of moving the tabernacle. The Kohathites carry the most holy objects, but only after Aaron and his sons have wrapped and covered them; the Kohathites are warned that touching or looking at these things will kill them. The Gershonites carry the curtains and coverings, and the Merarites carry the frames, posts, and bases, both groups under Ithamar. The final counts are 2,750 Kohathites, 2,630 Gershonites, and 3,200 Merarites, making 8,580 in all.

Claim by Claim

4:1
- The LORD spoke to Moses and to Aaron.
- What follows is what the LORD said.
4:2
- The LORD commanded that a census be taken of the sons of Kohath from among the sons of Levi.
- The count was to be made by their clans.
- The count was to be made by their fathers' houses.
4:3
- The count covered males from thirty years old and upward.
- The count extended up to fifty years old.
- The count included everyone who entered the working force to do the work in the tent of meeting.
4:4
- This is the service of the sons of Kohath in the tent of meeting.
- Their service concerns the most holy things.
4:5
- When the camp sets out, Aaron and his sons are to come in.
- They are to take down the screening veil.
- They are to cover the ark of the testimony with that veil.
4:6
- They are to put on the ark a covering of hide.
- The kind of hide is not identified with certainty in the text.
- They are to spread over it a cloth entirely of blue.
- They are to insert the ark's carrying poles.
4:7
- They are to spread a blue cloth over the table of the Presence.
- They are to put on the table the dishes.
- They are to put on the table the pans.
- They are to put on the table the bowls.
- They are to put on the table the jars for the drink offering.
- The perpetual bread is to remain on the table.
4:8
- They are to spread a scarlet cloth over these things.
- They are to cover it with a covering of hide.
- They are to insert the table's carrying poles.
4:9
- They are to take a blue cloth.
- They are to cover the lampstand of the light with it.
- They are to cover its lamps.
- They are to cover its tongs.
- They are to cover its trays.
- They are to cover all the oil vessels with which they tend the lampstand.
4:10
- They are to put the lampstand and all its vessels inside a covering of hide.
- They are to place it on a carrying frame.
4:11
- They are to spread a blue cloth over the golden altar.
- They are to cover it with a covering of hide.
- They are to insert its carrying poles.
4:12
- They are to take all the implements of service with which they minister in the sanctuary.
- They are to put them into a blue cloth.
- They are to cover them with a covering of hide.
- They are to place them on a carrying frame.
4:13
- They are to clear the fatty ashes from the altar.
- They are to spread a purple cloth over the altar.
4:14
- They are to put on the altar all its vessels with which they minister at it.
- These include the firepans.
- These include the forks.
- These include the shovels.
- These include the basins.
- These are all the vessels of the altar.
- They are to spread over the altar a covering of hide.
- They are to insert its carrying poles.
4:15
- Aaron and his sons are to finish covering the holy things and all the vessels of the sanctuary when the camp sets out.
- Only after that are the sons of Kohath to come and carry them.
- The sons of Kohath must not touch the holy things.
- If they touch the holy things they will die.
- These items are the load of the sons of Kohath in the tent of meeting.
4:16
- Eleazar son of Aaron the priest has charge of the oil for the light.
- He has charge of the fragrant incense.
- He has charge of the daily grain offering.
- He has charge of the anointing oil.
- He has oversight of the whole tabernacle and everything in it.
- His oversight includes the sanctuary and its vessels.
4:17
- The LORD spoke to Moses and to Aaron.
- What follows is what the LORD said.
4:18
- The LORD commanded that the tribal group of the Kohathite clans not be cut off from among the Levites.
4:19
- The LORD gave instructions so that the Kohathites might live and not die when they approach the most holy things.
- Aaron and his sons are to go in.
- Aaron and his sons are to assign each man to his task.
- Aaron and his sons are to assign each man his load.
4:20
- The Kohathites must not go in to look at the holy things.
- If they look they will die.
- The phrase describing the moment of looking is ambiguous: it can mean while the holy things are being covered, or even for an instant.
4:21
- The LORD spoke to Moses.
- What follows is what the LORD said.
4:22
- The LORD commanded that a census also be taken of the sons of Gershon.
- The count was to be made by their fathers' houses.
- The count was to be made by their clans.
4:23
- The count covered males from thirty years old and upward.
- The count extended up to fifty years old.
- Moses was to number them.
- The count included everyone who came to serve in the work at the tent of meeting.
4:24
- This is the service of the Gershonite clans.
- Their service is labor and carrying loads.
4:25
- They are to carry the curtains of the tabernacle.
- They are to carry the tent of meeting.
- They are to carry its covering.
- They are to carry the covering of hide that is on top of it.
- They are to carry the screen for the entrance of the tent of meeting.
4:26
- They are to carry the hangings of the court.
- They are to carry the screen for the entrance of the gate of the court.
- That court surrounds the tabernacle and the altar.
- They are to carry their cords.
- They are to carry all the implements of their service.
- They are to carry everything made for these things.
- They are to perform this service.
4:27
- All the service of the sons of the Gershonites is to be at the direction of Aaron and his sons.
- This covers all their loads.
- This covers all their labor.
- Moses is to assign to them as their charge all that they are to carry.
4:28
- This is the service of the clans of the sons of Gershon in the tent of meeting.
- Their charge is under the hand of Ithamar son of Aaron the priest.
4:29
- Moses is to number the sons of Merari.
- The count is by their clans.
- The count is by their fathers' houses.
4:30
- The count covered males from thirty years old and upward.
- The count extended up to fifty years old.
- Moses was to number them.
- The count included everyone who entered the working force to do the work of the tent of meeting.
4:31
- This is the charge of what they are to carry for all their service in the tent of meeting.
- They carry the frames of the tabernacle.
- They carry its crossbars.
- They carry its pillars.
- They carry its bases.
4:32
- They carry the pillars of the surrounding court.
- They carry their bases.
- They carry their pegs.
- They carry their cords.
- They carry all their equipment and all that pertains to their service.
- You are to assign by name the objects they are charged to carry.
4:33
- This is the service of the clans of the sons of Merari for all their service in the tent of meeting.
- It is under the hand of Ithamar son of Aaron the priest.
4:34
- Moses and Aaron and the leaders of the congregation numbered the sons of the Kohathites.
- They numbered them by their clans.
- They numbered them by their fathers' houses.
4:35
- The count covered males from thirty years old and upward.
- The count extended up to fifty years old.
- It included everyone who entered the working force for the work in the tent of meeting.
4:36
- Those numbered of them by their clans were two thousand seven hundred and fifty.
4:37
- These were those numbered of the Kohathite clans.
- They were all who could serve in the tent of meeting.
- Moses and Aaron numbered them.
- They numbered them according to the command of the LORD given through Moses.
4:38
- Those numbered of the sons of Gershon were counted by their clans.
- They were counted by their fathers' houses.
4:39
- The count covered males from thirty years old and upward.
- The count extended up to fifty years old.
- It included everyone who entered the working force for the work in the tent of meeting.
4:40
- Those numbered of them by their clans and their fathers' houses were two thousand six hundred and thirty.
4:41
- These were those numbered of the clans of the sons of Gershon.
- They were all who could serve in the tent of meeting.
- Moses and Aaron numbered them according to the command of the LORD.
4:42
- Those numbered of the clans of the sons of Merari were counted by their clans.
- They were counted by their fathers' houses.
4:43
- The count covered males from thirty years old and upward.
- The count extended up to fifty years old.
- It included everyone who entered the working force for the work in the tent of meeting.
4:44
- Those numbered of them by their clans were three thousand two hundred.
4:45
- These were those numbered of the clans of the sons of Merari.
- Moses and Aaron numbered them according to the command of the LORD given through Moses.
4:46
- All the Levites who were numbered were numbered by Moses and Aaron and the leaders of Israel.
- They were numbered by their clans.
- They were numbered by their fathers' houses.
4:47
- The count covered males from thirty years old and upward.
- The count extended up to fifty years old.
- It included everyone who came to do the work of serving and the work of carrying in the tent of meeting.
4:48
- Those numbered of them were eight thousand five hundred and eighty.
4:49
- They were numbered according to the command of the LORD through Moses.
- Each man was assigned according to his service.
- Each man was assigned according to his load.
- They were numbered as the LORD had commanded Moses.

Words Worth Explaining

Every language note in this chapter, gathered. These explain what a word meant, never what it means for the reader.

4:1: "The LORD" printed in capitals is how the King James renders God's personal name in Hebrew, four consonants usually written YHWH. Jewish readers avoided saying it aloud and substituted the word for "Lord," and English Bibles have kept that substitution ever since, marking it with the capital letters.
4:2: The Levites were the tribe of Levi, set apart to care for the portable sanctuary instead of holding farmland or serving in the army. Levi had three sons (Gershon, Kohath and Merari) and their descendants formed the three Levite clans whose duties this chapter divides up. Aaron's priestly line descended from Kohath.
4:3: "Joins the work force" (KJV "enter into the host") translates a Hebrew phrase normally used of enlisting for military service. The Levites' sanctuary duty is described in army language throughout, with a fixed age of entry and a fixed age of discharge.
4:4: "The most holy things" is a technical term for the objects inside the tent itself (the ark, the lampstand, the incense altar, the table) as distinct from the outer fittings, curtains and framework handled by the other clans.
4:5: The tabernacle had two rooms, divided by a heavy embroidered curtain; behind it stood the ark. "Ark" here simply means a chest, a gold-plated wooden box, not a boat. "The testimony" is the pair of stone tablets kept inside it.
4:6: "Fine leather" (KJV "badgers' skins") renders a Hebrew word, tachash, whose meaning is genuinely uncertain: suggestions range from dolphin or dugong hide to a particular kind of tanned or dyed leather. Whatever it was, it formed the weatherproof outer layer. The carrying poles ran through rings fixed to the sides, so the objects could be lifted and moved without anyone laying a hand on them.
4:7: The table held twelve loaves, "the bread of the Presence," set out fresh before God each week. A drink offering was wine poured out alongside a sacrifice, hence the pitchers listed with the plates and dishes.
4:9: The lampstand was the seven-branched gold lamp standing in the outer room, burning olive oil. The wick trimmers were tongs for pinching off charred wick, and the trays were for carrying the burnt ends away.
4:11: The gold altar stood inside the tent and was used only for burning incense. It is a different object from the bronze altar of verse 13, which stood outside in the open courtyard.
4:13: The bronze altar in the courtyard was where animal sacrifices were burned, so the ash had to be shovelled out before it could be packed and carried.
4:14: Firepans (KJV "censers") held live coals; the meat forks lifted portions of the sacrifice off the fire; the sprinkling bowls caught blood and threw it against the sides of the altar.
4:15: The wrapping is done by Aaron and his sons, who are priests; the Kohathites, though Levites of the same descent, are not priests, and their job begins only once everything is covered.
4:16: Eleazar was Aaron's eldest surviving son. The anointing oil was a perfumed olive oil used to set objects and people apart for sacred use; the daily grain offering was flour and oil presented morning and evening.
4:18: "Wiped out" (KJV "cut off") means destroyed or eliminated, the warning is that mishandling the holy objects could cost the whole clan its existence.
4:20: "Even for a moment" renders an unusual Hebrew phrase, literally something like "as a swallowing." It may mean "for an instant," or it may mean "while the holy things are being covered over"; translators are divided.
4:22: Gershon was Levi's eldest son. His clan drew the fabric of the sanctuary: curtains, coverings and door screens.
4:24: "Burdens" again means loads to carry. Where the Kohathites take the sacred furniture, the Gershonites are assigned the fabric: curtains, coverings and screens.
4:25: The structure had layers, and the Hebrew distinguishes them: "the tabernacle" proper was the set of decorated linen curtains, "the tent" was the goat-hair covering stretched over them, and further hides went over that. A "screen" was a curtain hung across a doorway in place of a door.
4:26: The courtyard was a rectangular enclosure fenced by linen hangings on posts, surrounding the tent and the bronze altar. The ropes were guy lines, as on any large tent.
4:28: Ithamar was Aaron's youngest son. He and Eleazar were the two who remained after Aaron's other two sons died.
4:29: Merari was Levi's youngest son. His clan drew the heavy structural work, the timber frame of the tabernacle and the posts of the courtyard.
4:31: The walls were made of upright acacia-wood frames; crossbars slid through rings to lock the frames together, and each frame stood in heavy silver bases, or sockets, resting on the ground.
4:32: Tent pegs driven into the ground, with ropes running to the tops of the posts, held the courtyard hangings upright.
4:34: The "chief of the congregation" were the leaders chosen from each tribe.
4:36: These totals count only men aged thirty to fifty. An earlier census in Numbers 3 counted all Levite males from a month old and reached about twenty two thousand, so these smaller figures are the working-age portion of a much larger tribe.
4:48: This figure counts only men aged thirty to fifty who were fit for carrying duty. The earlier count of the Levites, which came to twenty-two thousand, included every male from a month old upward, so the two numbers are measuring different things.
4:49: "Load" (KJV "burden") translates a Hebrew word that covers both the physical thing a man carried and the responsibility assigned to him for it.

Read Numbers 4