Numbers 4:1

This chapter might well be titled "Instructions regarding the Moving of the Tabernacle." It details the marshalling of the three families of the Levites, their organization for the purpose, the appointment of their specific duties, the enumeration of what each group was detailed to do, and the appointment of appropriate commanders. The first part of the chapter reveals what had to be done before the moving process was initiated, the preparatory work to be done by Aaron and his sons.

"And Jehovah spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying, Take the sum of the sons of Kohath from among the sons of Levi, by their families, by their fathers' houses, from thirty years old and upward even until fifty years old, all that enter upon the service, to do the work in the tent of meeting. This is the service of the sons of Kohath in the tent of meeting, about the most holy things: when the camp setteth forward, Aaron shall go in, and his sons, and they shall take down the veil of the screen, and cover the ark of the testimony with it, and shall put thereon a covering of sealskin, and shall spread over it a cloth all of blue, and shall put in the staves thereof. And upon the table of showbread they shall spread a cloth of blue, and put thereon the dishes, and the spoons, and the bowls, and the cups wherewith to pour out; and the continual bread shall be thereon: and they shall spread upon them a cloth of scarlet, and cover the same with a covering of sealskin, and shall put in the staves thereof. And they shall take a cloth of blue, and cover the candlestick of the light, and its lamps, and its snuffers, and its snuff dishes, 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 sealskin, and shall put it upon the frame. And upon the golden altar they shall spread a cloth of blue, and cover it with a covering of sealskin, and shall put in the staves thereof: and they shall take all the vessels of ministry, wherewith they minister in the sanctuary, and put them in a cloth of blue, and cover them with a covering of sealskin, and shall put them on the frame. 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, the fire pans, the flesh-hooks, and the shovels, and the basins, all the vessels of the altar; and they shall spread upon it a covering of sealskin, and put in the staves thereof. And when Aaron and his sons have made an end of covering the sanctuary, and all the furniture 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 the sanctuary, lest they die. These things are the burden of the sons of Kohath in the tent of meeting. And the charge of Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest shall be the oil for the light, and the sweet incense, and the continual meal-offering, and the anointing oil, the charge of all the tabernacle, and of all that therein is, the sanctuary, and the furniture thereof."

"The sons of Kohath ..." (Numbers 4:2). Despite the fact of Kohath's not being the oldest of the sons of Levi, he takes precedence here because both Moses and Aaron were of this branch of the family, and to them went the honor of moving the "most holy" things (Numbers 4:4).

"To do the work in the tent of meeting ..." (Numbers 4:3). The Hebrew phrase from which this rendition comes "signifies military service, and is used here with special reference to the service of the Levites as the sacred militia ("militia sacra") of Jehovah."[1] John Marsh thought the terminology here "reflects the change after the exile from a monarchy to a theocracy,"[2] but, on the contrary, it reflects the conditions of the theocracy that existed long before the monarchy arose. In fact, the true theocracy existed only before the monarchy, the monarchy being, de facto, a rejection of the theocracy. The status of Israel after the exile was not that of God's wife, but that of God's slave, as evident in Hosea, third chapter.

"From thirty years old and upward ..." (Numbers 4:3). This minimal age of thirty was reduced to "twenty-five" in Numbers 8:23-26, probably for the purpose of allowing a five-year apprenticeship. To question the accuracy of this account on the basis of 1 Chronicles 23:24-27, where the age was reduced to "twenty," is unacceptable. The Jews of the whole temple era departed in many particulars from the Word of God.

"A covering of sealskin ..." (Numbers 4:6). The actual meaning of the word here rendered "sealskin" is not known.[3] Plaut gave "dolphin" as a "reasonable guess." Orlinsky also preferred "dolphin skins."[4] The KJV has "badger skins," and the RSV has "goatskins." "Sea-cow" is the rendition favored by Keil and Whitelaw.[5] The perspective here is of those times of Israel's habitation of the Nile delta and their wilderness journeys close to the Red Sea. Evidently, some marine creature was the source of these skins. Certainly, there is not anything here that favors a "date after the exile,"[6] as suggested by Gray.

"When the camp setteth forward ..." (Numbers 4:5). These words, along with Numbers 4:15, make it clear that before the Kohathites could even TOUCH any of the sacred furniture, Aaron and his sons were required to make it ready.

The Ark. This was to be covered by the veil that screened off the Holy of Holies. This was to be covered with the skin covering, and over that there was to be placed a cloth of blue, a color that would be exposed during the march, making the ark easily identified.

The Table. This was to include all the articles usually used in connection with it, and the whole was to be covered with a cloth of scarlet, with a skin covering over all.

The Candlestick. This was to include snuff dishes, etc., with all vessels pertaining to it, the whole to be covered with a cloth of blue, with a skin covering over all.

The Golden Altar. A cloth of blue was to be spread over this with a sealskin over all.

The Great Bronze (Copper) Altar. The ashes were to be removed and all of the shovels, vessels, flesh-hooks, etc., connected with service at the altar were to be placed around it, the whole to be covered with a purple cloth, with a skin covering over all.

"And put in the staves thereof ..." (Numbers 4:6,8,11,14). This recurring instruction shows that preparatory to wrapping and covering the sacred articles with the colored cloths and skin coverings, the staves were to be first removed. This is a variation of the instruction pertaining to the times when the various articles were properly installed to fulfill their normal function. During those times, the staves were "not to be taken out" (Exodus 25:15ff). Critical scholars are really hard pressed for something to criticize when they make a "contradiction" out of this variation, as did both Gray and Noth.[7] The very commandment to wrap (or cover) each article with cloth, the staves being conspicuously omitted in each commandment, inherently carries with it the instruction that the staves were to be first removed. The commandment to put them in, repeated four times, proves this. There is no contradiction here, the various instructions applying to different situations. In their normal placement, the staves were to be left in, when made ready for travel, they were removed (necessarily) for the wrapping, and replaced for the purpose of their transportation.

Such things as the holy oil of anointing, the sweet incense, the oil for the light, and other similar essences, including the meal-offering, were not to be moved even by the Levites, but were to be transported by Eleazar himself.

When all of these preparations were carefully made, then, and then only were the Kohathites permitted to enter and remove the sacred furniture.

It is a matter of wonder and amazement that no instructions were here given for the transporting of the great bronze laver, certainly one of the principal features of the whole complex, stationed near the door and the great bronze altar. The Septuagint (LXX) adds the following to Numbers 4:14.

"And they shall take a purple cloth and cover the laver and its foot, and they shall put it into a blue cover of skin, and put it on bars."[8]

Most of the scholars do not allow the validity of this, but its appearance also in the Samaritan Version raises some possibility that the passage is authentic. If it is, the omission from the Masoretic Text would be accounted for, as Carson said, "on the basis of a scribal accident."[9]

"And the charge of Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest ..." (Numbers 4:16). It is not specifically stated here that Eleazar was over the Kohathites; but, "it appears from a comparison of Numbers 4:16,28 and Numbers 4:33 that the ministry of the Kohathites were superintended by Eleazar, and that of the Gershonites and the Merarites by Ithamar."[10]