Numbers 4:16
Ver. 16. And to the office of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, [pertaineth] the oil for the light,.... The following things, to bear them, according to some Jewish writers; but rather it was to give the oil for the light, that is, the vessels, and so the vessels of the oil to the sons of the Kohathites; agreeably to which are the Targums of Onkelos and Jonathan, who paraphrase the words,
"and that which was delivered to Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, the oil for the light, &c.''
And indeed the words, as they are in the Hebrew text, may be rendered,
"and the oversight of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, shall be, or "let it be", the oil for the light, &c. {z};''
the same word being so rendered in a latter clause of this same text: he had the inspection of these, and on him lay to see to it, that these were carried by the Kohathites, the oil for the light of the lamps in the candlestick; of which see Ex 27:20;
and the sweet incense: to burn on the altar of incense, Ex 30:34;
and the daily meat offering; offered with the lambs morning and evening, Ex 29:40;
and the anointing oil; with which Aaron and his sons were anointed, the tabernacle and all its vessels, Ex 30:23;[and] the oversight of all the tabernacle, and of all that therein is,in the sanctuary, and in the vessels thereof: the former, the oil for the light, &c. were his immediate oversight and care; but the oversight of these by his brother Ithamar, according to the Jewish writers.{z} So Montanus, Tigurine version, Piscator. Numbers 4:17Ver. 17. And the Lord spake unto Moses, and unto Aaron,.... And gave them a very solemn and awful charge about this affair of the Kohathites, it being a very hazardous one they were employed in:saying; as follows. Numbers 4:18Ver. 18. Cut ye not off the tribe of the families of the Kohathites from among the Levites. Or give no occasion, as the Targum of Jonathan; or be not the cause of their cutting off, as Jarchi, through negligence or inadvertency of theirs, in packing up the above things, and delivering them to them. Numbers 4:19Ver. 19. But thus do unto them,.... As after directed:that they may live and not die; live long, and not die a sudden and violent death:when they approach unto the most holy things; the ark, the shewbread table, &c. to take them up and carry them:Aaron and his sons shall go in; into the holy and most holy places:and appoint them in everyone to his service, and to his burden; what everyone shall do, and how they shall take them up, and bear them. Numbers 4:20Ver. 20. But they shall not go in to see when the holy things are covered,.... They were not to be present while they were packing up, test they should see any of them with their eyes; they were not to go in until they were quite covered out of sight; which may signify the hiding of the mysteries of grace in those things under the former dispensation, when even the Levites themselves were not admitted to a sight of them; see Eph 3:4;lest they die; by the immediate hand of God. Numbers 4:21Ver. 21. And the Lord spake unto Moses,.... Though Aaron is not mentioned here, he was concerned in taking the sum of the Gershonites, as well as of the Kohathites, as appears from Nu 4:41;saying; as follows. Numbers 4:22Ver. 22. Take also the sum of the sons of Gershon,.... As well as of the sons of Kohath; for though Gershon was Levi's eldest son, yet his posterity were not excused from the service of the tabernacle, and bearing things of it in journeying:throughout the houses of their fathers, by their families; all in their several houses, and in the several families in those houses, that were of the age next mentioned, were to be numbered. Numbers 4:23Ver. 23. From thirty years old and upward, until fifty years old,shalt thou number them,.... Take an account how many there are of that age, and so fit for service {a}; See Gill on "Nu 4:3";to do the work in the tabernacle of the congregation; as the rest of the Levites; see Nu 4:3;{a} abu abul "ad militandum militiam", Montanus, Drusius. Numbers 4:24Ver. 24. This [is] the service of the families of the Gershonites, to serve, and for burdens. The former of these phrases Aben Ezra interprets of setting up the tabernacle, making the bread (the shewbread), slaying (the sacrifices), and keeping, that is, watching and guarding, the tabernacle; and the latter of what they did when journeying, bearing and carrying the things assigned to them, afterwards mentioned. Numbers 4:25Ver. 25. And they shall bear the curtains of the tabernacle,.... The ten curtains of fine linen, Ex 26:1;and the tabernacle of the congregation; the curtains of goats' hair made for a tent over it, as Jarchi, see Ex 26:7;his covering the covering of rams skins dyed red, Ex 26:14;and the covering of the badgers' skins that [is] above upon it; over all the rest:and the hanging for the door of the tabernacle of the congregation; the eastern vail, as Jarchi calls it, which was for the door of the tent that led into the tabernacle, the holy place, Ex 26:36. Numbers 4:26Ver. 26. And the hangings of the court,.... Which made the great court that surrounded the tabernacle, Ex 27:9;and the hanging for the door of the gate of the court; the eastern gate that led into the court, an hanging of twenty cubits, Ex 27:16;which [is] by the tabernacle, and by the altar round about; that is, which hangings that formed the court, and were round about the tabernacle, and the altar of burnt offering; See Gill on "Ex 26:36";and their cords; which fastened the hangings to pins or stakes fixed in the ground to keep them tight, that they might not be moved to and fro with the wind:and all the instruments of their service; in the court, as the tables on which the sacrifices were laid, and the hooks, and cords, and pins, on which they were hung and fastened, as Aben Ezra; see Eze 40:39;and all that is made for them; for the vessels of service, or for the tabernacle, or the altar, as the same writer intimates:so shall they serve; by bearing them and carrying them. Numbers 4:27Ver. 27. At the appointment of Aaron and his sons,.... As they shall order and direct:shall be all the service of the sons of the Gershonites; everyone of them was to take their share, as Aaron and his sons should appoint them:in all their burdens, and in all their service; what each of them should carry, and in what they should perform duty:and ye shall appoint to them in charge all their burdens; charge them carefully to keep all that were committed to them to bear, that none be lost, not a pin nor a cord. Numbers 4:28Ver. 28. This [is] the service of the families of the sons of Gershon,.... Which they should execute when the camp and tabernacle were in motion:in the tabernacle of the congregation in the court; where they should take up their burdens, or which lie in things respecting the tabernacle; this was the part they were to be employed in, namely, in taking care of the hangings of the tabernacle, &c.and their charge [shall be] under the hand of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest; the things committed to their care were delivered by him to them, and they were under his inspection and direction. Numbers 4:29Ver. 29. As for the sons of Merari,.... The third and youngest son of Levi:thou shalt number them after their families, by the house of their fathers; which is the form of expression used of them all;See Gill on "Nu 4:2". Numbers 4:30Ver. 30. From thirty years old and upward,.... The Septuagint version here, and in Nu 4:3, renders it, from twenty five years old and upward, agreeable to Nu 8:24, at the which age the Levites went into the tabernacle, to wait and to learn their business, but they did not enter upon it till thirty;even unto fifty years old shalt thou number them; at which age they were discharged from business:everyone that entereth into the service, to do the work of the tabernacle of the congregation; See Gill on "Nu 4:3". Numbers 4:31Ver. 31. And this [is] the charge of their burden,.... What should be committed to their care and charge, and they should bear and carry:according to all their service in the tabernacle of the congregation; which was assigned to them as their part, and which was very heavy and cumbersome, and therefore they had wagons allowed them, Nu 7:8;the boards of the tabernacle, and the bars thereof, and the pillars thereof, and sockets thereof; all these belonged to the holy and to the most holy place; see Ex 26:15. Numbers 4:32Ver. 32. And the pillars of the court round about, and their sockets,and their pins, and their cords,.... These belonged to the court of the tabernacle; the pillars were what the hangings were hung upon, and the sockets, into which the pillars were set, and the and cords, with which the hangings were fastened; see Ex 27:9;with all their instruments, and with all their service; whatever else were used in, and served for the support of this part of the tabernacle:and by name ye shall reckon the instruments of the charge of their burden; everything, even the least that were committed to their charge, and they were to bear and carry, either they themselves, or in wagons, were to be mentioned by name; and not only every board, pillar, and socket, were to be told out to them, and particularly named, how many they were, to what they belonged, from whence they were taken, and where to be replaced; but every pin, and cord, and the use of them, that so when they came to set up the tabernacle again, there might be nothing wanting in its place to secure it, and make it as firm as at first: such particular notice and care does God take of all his people, and Christ of all committed to him, and so should ministers of the word of all that are their charge, who must one day give an account to God, Heb 13:17. Numbers 4:33Ver. 33. This [is] the service of the families of the sons of Merari,.... The Mahlites and Mushites, namely, the service before observed, the particulars of which are given:according to all their service in the tabernacle of the congregation; agreeably to what was allotted to them in that part of the tabernacle they were concerned in:under the hand of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest; who had the oversight of these as well as of the Gershonites, as Eleazar had of the Kohathites; though as Eleazar was the chief of the tribe of Levi, it is thought that Ithamar acted under him, Nu 3:32. Numbers 4:34Ver. 34. And Moses and Aaron, and the chief of the congregation,numbered the sons of the Kohathites,.... Perhaps these chiefs were the same with those who were concerned with Moses and Aaron in numbering all the tribes whose names were given, Nu 1:5; the Kohathites are begun with, according to the divine direction, and then the Gershonites and Merarites in their order; and in Nu 4:34 is only an account of the numbering of each of them, as ordered by the Lord, and this account is expressed in the same terms in them all; there remains nothing to be observed but the particular sums of each of them, the number of the Kohathites from thirty years old even to fifty, men able and fit for business, were 2750, Nu 4:36; whereas their number from a month old were 8600, Nu 3:28; so that not a third part of them were at an age for service: the number of the Gershonites were 2630, Nu 4:40; whose number of males in all were 7500, Nu 3:22; so that they were rather more than a third part who were able-bodied then and fit for business; and the number of the Merarites were 3200, Nu 4:44; and as the number of males of a month old and upwards were 6200, Nu 3:34; there were more than half of them able and fit men for service; in which, as Ainsworth observes, may be seen the wisdom of divine Providence, that whereas the service of the Kohathites and Gershonites were the lightest, and what was committed to them the easiest of carriage, they had the fewer hands of able men to be employed, though their numbers of individuals were the greatest; and the Merarites, who had the smallest number of males, yet having the heaviest work to do in carrying burdens, loading and unloading wagons, were superior to the rest in their number of able bodied men; and thus God makes good his promise, that as the day of his people is, their strength shall be; whatever work and service God calls men to, he will fit them for it: the sum total of the Levites, in the several divisions of them, who were between: thirty and fifty years of age, in which they performed their office, was 8580, Nu 4:48; a small number, as the above writer observes, of such as warred the spiritual warfare in the sanctuary of God, when the tribe of Judah afforded 74,600 for the outward warfare.after their families, and after the house of their fathers;See Gill on "Nu 4:2". Numbers 4:35Ver. 35. From thirty years old and upward even unto fifty years old,.... See Gill on "Nu 4:34". Numbers 4:36Ver. 36. And those that were numbered of them by their families,....See Gill on "Nu 4:34". Numbers 4:37Ver. 37. These [were] they that were numbered of the families of the Kohathites,.... See Gill on "Nu 4:34". Numbers 4:38Ver. 38. And those that were numbered of the sons of Gershon,....See Gill on "Nu 4:34". Numbers 4:39Ver. 39. From thirty years old and upward even unto fifty years old,.... See Gill on "Nu 4:34". Numbers 4:40Ver. 40. Even those that were numbered of them,....See Gill on "Nu 4:34"; Numbers 4:41Ver. 41. These [are] they that were numbered of the families,....See Gill on "Nu 4:34"; Numbers 4:42Ver. 42. And those that were numbered of the families of the sons of Merari,.... See Gill on "Nu 4:34"; Numbers 4:43Ver. 43. From thirty years old and upward even unto fifty years old,.... See Gill on "Nu 4:34". Numbers 4:44Ver. 44. Even those that were numbered of them after their families,.... See Gill on "Nu 4:34". Numbers 4:45Ver. 45. These [be] those that were numbered of the families of the sons of Merari,.... See Gill on "Nu 4:34"; Numbers 4:46Ver. 46. All those that were numbered of the Levites, whom Moses and Aaron and the chief of Israel numbered,.... See Gill on "Nu 3:34". Numbers 4:47Ver. 47. From thirty years old and upward even unto fifty years old,.... See Gill on "Nu 4:34". Numbers 4:48Ver. 48. Even those that were numbered of them,....See Gill on "Nu 4:34". Numbers 4:49Ver. 49. According to the commandment of the Lord, they were numbered by the hand of Moses,.... Aaron and the chief of the congregation of Israel assisting it:everyone according to his service; called in Nu 4:47 "the service of the ministry", or "service of service", which Jarchi interprets of that part of the service of the Levites, which lay in singing the song with cymbals and harps; which, he says, was a service to another service; though it seems to be better explained, by Chaskuni, of their taking down and setting up of the tabernacle, which was a service incumbent on all the Levites:and according to his burden: called "the service of the burden", Nu 4:47; which the last mentioned writer restrains to the ark, table, candlestick, and altars, which the Kohathites carried on their shoulders; but may be extended to what each of them bore and carried when journeying:thus were they numbered of him, as the Lord commanded Moses; from thirty years old to fifty, as Jarchi observes; for that was the order given to Moses by the Lord, which he punctually attended to, as a faithful servant in the house of God.
John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible.