Numbers 4
TSK
And the LORD spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying,
Take the sum of the sons of Kohath from among the sons of Levi, after their families, by the house of their fathers,
From thirty years old and upward even until fifty years old, all that enter into the host, to do the work in the tabernacle of the congregation.
This shall be the service of the sons of Kohath in the tabernacle of the congregation, about the most holy things:
And when the camp setteth forward, Aaron shall come, and his sons, and they shall take down the covering vail, and cover the ark of testimony with it:

and when

Numbers 2:16,17 All that were numbered in the camp of Reuben were an hundred thousand …

Numbers 10:14 In the first place went the standard of the camp of the children …

Aaron shall come. The law prohibiting any person, except the high priest on one day in the year, to enter into the most holy place, must have admitted an exception while the Israelites were in the wilderness; that exception, therefore, is here expressly made; and the directions given respecting it must be religiously observed, or the service could not be safely performed. While the cloud rested on the tabernacle, the general rule was in force; but when it was removed, then the priests might enter to prepare the sacred vessels for removal.

Numbers 4:15 And when Aaron and his sons have made an end of covering the sanctuary, …

Numbers 3:27-32 And of Kohath was the family of the Amramites, and the family of …

they shall

Exodus 26:31-33 And you shall make a veil of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine …

Exodus 36:35 And he made a veil of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined …

Exodus 40:3 And you shall put therein the ark of the testimony, and cover the …

Isaiah 25:7 And he will destroy in this mountain the face of the covering cast …

Matthew 27:51 And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in two from the top …

Hebrews 9:3 And after the second veil, the tabernacle which is called the Holiest of all;

Hebrews 10:20 By a new and living way, which he has consecrated for us, through …

and cover

Exodus 25:10-22 And they shall make an ark of shittim wood: two cubits and a half …

Exodus 37:1-9 And Bezaleel made the ark of shittim wood: two cubits and a half …

2 Samuel 6:2-9 And David arose, and went with all the people that were with him …

And shall put thereon the covering of badgers' skins, and shall spread over it a cloth wholly of blue, and shall put in the staves thereof.

badgers' skins. This was not the covering of badgers' skins made for the tabernacle, which was carried by the Gershonites, but one made for the purpose of concealing and sheltering the ark when it was to be carried. a cloth.

Numbers 4:7,8,11-13 And on the table of show bread they shall spread a cloth of blue, …

Exodus 35:19 The cloths of service, to do service in the holy place, the holy …

Exodus 39:1,41 And of the blue, and purple, and scarlet, they made cloths of service, …

and shall put, Wesamoo baddaiv, rather, 'and adjust the staves thereof;' i.e. dispose them rightly under the covering, that they might be laid on their shoulders; for the staves were never taken out of the rings. the staves

Exodus 25:13-15 And you shall make staves of shittim wood, and overlay them with gold…

1 Kings 8:7,8 For the cherubim spread forth their two wings over the place of the …

And upon the table of shewbread they shall spread a cloth of blue, and put thereon the dishes, and the spoons, and the bowls, and covers to cover withal: and the continual bread shall be thereon:

the table

Exodus 25:23-30 You shall also make a table of shittim wood: two cubits shall be …

Exodus 37:10-16 And he made the table of shittim wood: two cubits was the length …

Leviticus 24:5-8 And you shall take fine flour, and bake twelve cakes thereof: two …

cover withal, or, pour out withal. the continual. The Israelites, without doubt, were able to procure corn enough from the adjacent countries, even when in the wilderness, to make the shewbread, and to present the daily meat offerings.

And they shall spread upon them a cloth of scarlet, and cover the same with a covering of badgers' skins, and shall put in the staves thereof.
And they shall take a cloth of blue, and cover the candlestick of the light, and his lamps, and his tongs, and his snuffdishes, and all the oil vessels thereof, wherewith they minister unto it:
And they shall put it and all the vessels thereof within a covering of badgers' skins, and shall put it upon a bar.
And upon the golden altar they shall spread a cloth of blue, and cover it with a covering of badgers' skins, and shall put to the staves thereof:
And they shall take all the instruments of ministry, wherewith they minister in the sanctuary, and put them in a cloth of blue, and cover them with a covering of badgers' skins, and shall put them on a bar:
And they shall take away the ashes from the altar, and spread a purple cloth thereon:
And they shall put upon it all the vessels thereof, wherewith they minister about it, even the censers, the fleshhooks, and the shovels, and the basons, all the vessels of the altar; and they shall spread upon it a covering of badgers' skins, and put to the staves of it.
And when Aaron and his sons have made an end of covering the sanctuary, and all the vessels of the sanctuary, as the camp is to set forward; after that, the sons of Kohath shall come to bear it: but they shall not touch any holy thing, lest they die. These things are the burden of the sons of Kohath in the tabernacle of the congregation.
And to the office of Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest pertaineth the oil for the light, and the sweet incense, and the daily meat offering, and the anointing oil, and the oversight of all the tabernacle, and of all that therein is, in the sanctuary, and in the vessels thereof.

the office. Eleazar himself, perhaps with the other priests, was required to carry the oil for the light, the incense, and the flour for the daily meat offering, and the holy ointment; besides superintending the Levites. It may be supposed, that he himself carried no more of the oil than for present use

Numbers 3:32 And Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest shall be chief over the chief …

the oil

Exodus 25:6 Oil for the light, spices for anointing oil, and for sweet incense,

Exodus 27:20,21 And you shall command the children of Israel, that they bring you …

Leviticus 24:2 Command the children of Israel, that they bring to you pure oil olive …

the sweet

Exodus 30:34-38 And the LORD said to Moses, Take to you sweet spices, stacte, and …

the daily

Exodus 29:39-41 The one lamb you shall offer in the morning; and the other lamb you …

the anointing

Exodus 30:23-33 Take you also to you principal spices, of pure myrrh five hundred …

the oversight

Luke 4:18 The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach …

Acts 20:28 Take heed therefore to yourselves, and to all the flock, over the …

1 Corinthians 4:1 Let a man so account of us, as of the ministers of Christ, and stewards …

1 Timothy 2:5 For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man …

Hebrews 3:1,6 Why, holy brothers, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the …

1 Peter 2:25 For you were as sheep going astray; but are now returned to the Shepherd …

1 Peter 5:1 The elders which are among you I exhort, who am also an elder, and …

And the LORD spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying,

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Cut ye not off the tribe of the families of the Kohathites from among the Levites:
But thus do unto them, that they may live, and not die, when they approach unto the most holy things: Aaron and his sons shall go in, and appoint them every one to his service and to his burden:
But they shall not go in to see when the holy things are covered, lest they die.
And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,

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Take also the sum of the sons of Gershon, throughout the houses of their fathers, by their families;
From thirty years old and upward until fifty years old shalt thou number them; all that enter in to perform the service, to do the work in the tabernacle of the congregation.
This is the service of the families of the Gershonites, to serve, and for burdens:

burdens, or carriage

And they shall bear the curtains of the tabernacle, and the tabernacle of the congregation, his covering, and the covering of the badgers' skins that is above upon it, and the hanging for the door of the tabernacle of the congregation,
And the hangings of the court, and the hanging for the door of the gate of the court, which is by the tabernacle and by the altar round about, and their cords, and all the instruments of their service, and all that is made for them: so shall they serve.
At the appointment of Aaron and his sons shall be all the service of the sons of the Gershonites, in all their burdens, and in all their service: and ye shall appoint unto them in charge all their burdens.

appointment. Heb. mouth. The Levites were under the command of the priests. Eleazar exercised this authority in general, as next in succession to Aaron; and he in particular was placed over the Kohathites; while Ithamar, his younger brother, commanded the Gershonites and Merarites.

Luke 1:70 As he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets, which have been since …

1 Corinthians 11:2 Now I praise you, brothers, that you remember me in all things, and …

This is the service of the families of the sons of Gershon in the tabernacle of the congregation: and their charge shall be under the hand of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest.
As for the sons of Merari, thou shalt number them after their families, by the house of their fathers;
From thirty years old and upward even unto fifty years old shalt thou number them, every one that entereth into the service, to do the work of the tabernacle of the congregation.
And this is the charge of their burden, according to all their service in the tabernacle of the congregation; the boards of the tabernacle, and the bars thereof, and the pillars thereof, and sockets thereof,
And the pillars of the court round about, and their sockets, and their pins, and their cords, with all their instruments, and with all their service: and by name ye shall reckon the instruments of the charge of their burden.
This is the service of the families of the sons of Merari, according to all their service, in the tabernacle of the congregation, under the hand of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest.
And Moses and Aaron and the chief of the congregation numbered the sons of the Kohathites after their families, and after the house of their fathers,
From thirty years old and upward even unto fifty years old, every one that entereth into the service, for the work in the tabernacle of the congregation:
And those that were numbered of them by their families were two thousand seven hundred and fifty.

In the third chapter we have an account of the whole number of the Levites; and here of those only who were able to serve the Lord in the sanctuary. We find that the whole number of the Levites amounted to

These were they that were numbered of the families of the Kohathites, all that might do service in the tabernacle of the congregation, which Moses and Aaron did number according to the commandment of the LORD by the hand of Moses.

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And those that were numbered of the sons of Gershon, throughout their families, and by the house of their fathers,

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From thirty years old and upward even unto fifty years old, every one that entereth into the service, for the work in the tabernacle of the congregation,

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Even those that were numbered of them, throughout their families, by the house of their fathers, were two thousand and six hundred and thirty.
These are they that were numbered of the families of the sons of Gershon, of all that might do service in the tabernacle of the congregation, whom Moses and Aaron did number according to the commandment of the LORD.
And those that were numbered of the families of the sons of Merari, throughout their families, by the house of their fathers,

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From thirty years old and upward even unto fifty years old, every one that entereth into the service, for the work in the tabernacle of the congregation,

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Even those that were numbered of them after their families, were three thousand and two hundred.
These be those that were numbered of the families of the sons of Merari, whom Moses and Aaron numbered according to the word of the LORD by the hand of Moses.
All those that were numbered of the Levites, whom Moses and Aaron and the chief of Israel numbered, after their families, and after the house of their fathers,

no reference

From thirty years old and upward even unto fifty years old, every one that came to do the service of the ministry, and the service of the burden in the tabernacle of the congregation,
Even those that were numbered of them, were eight thousand and five hundred and fourscore.
According to the commandment of the LORD they were numbered by the hand of Moses, every one according to his service, and according to his burden: thus were they numbered of him, as the LORD commanded Moses.
Treasury of Scriptural Knowledge by R. A. Torrey [ca. 1880]
Expanded version courtesy INT Bible ©2013, Used by permission

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