Numbers 1:50

1:50 But appoint ¹  the Levites over the tabernacle of the testimony, ²  over all its furnishings and over everything in it. They must carry ³  the tabernacle and all its furnishings; and they ⁴  must attend to it and camp around it. ⁵ 

Numbers 17:7-8

17:7 Then Moses placed the staffs before the Lord in the tent of the testimony. ⁶ 

17:8 On the next day Moses went into the tent of the testimony – and ⁷  the staff of Aaron for the house of Levi had sprouted, and brought forth buds, and produced blossoms, and yielded almonds! ⁸ 

Numbers 18:2

18:2 “Bring with you your brothers, the tribe of Levi, the tribe of your father, so that they may join ⁹  with you and minister to you while ¹⁰  you and your sons with you are before the tent of the testimony.

Acts 7:44

7:44 Our ancestors ¹¹  had the tabernacle ¹²  of testimony in the wilderness, ¹³  just as God ¹⁴  who spoke to Moses ordered him ¹⁵  to make it according to the design he had seen.

¹ tn The same verb translated “number” (פָּקַד, paqad) is now used to mean “appoint” (הַפְקֵד, hafqed), which focuses more on the purpose of the verbal action of numbering people. Here the idea is that the Levites were appointed to take care of the tabernacle. On the use of this verb with the Levites’ appointment, see M. Gertner, “The Masorah and the Levites,” VT 10 (1960): 252.

² tn The Hebrew name used here is מִשְׁכַּן הָעֵדֻת (mishkan ha’edut). The tabernacle or dwelling place of the Lord was given this name because it was here that the tablets of the Law were kept. The whole shrine was therefore a reminder (הָעֵדוּת, a “warning sign” or “testimony”) of the stipulations of the covenant. For the ancient Near Eastern customs of storing the code in the sanctuaries, see M. G. Kline, Treaty of the Great King, 14-19, and idem, The Structure of Biblical Authority, 35-36. Other items were in the ark in the beginning, but by the days of Solomon only the tablets were there (1 Kgs 8:9).

³ tn The imperfect tense here is an obligatory imperfect telling that they are bound to do this since they are appointed for this specific task.

⁴ tn The addition of the pronoun before the verb is emphatic – they are the ones who are to attend to the tabernacle. The verb used is שָׁרַת (sharat) in the Piel, indicating that they are to serve, minister to, attend to all the details about this shrine.

⁵ tn Heb “the tabernacle.” The pronoun (“it”) was used in the translation here for stylistic reasons.

⁶ tn The name of the tent now attests to the centrality of the ark of the covenant. Instead of the “tent of meeting” (מוֹעֵד, mo’ed) we now find the “the tent of the testimony” (הָעֵדֻת, ha’edut).

⁷ tn Here too the deictic particle (“and behold”) is added to draw attention to the sight in a vivid way.

⁸ sn There is no clear answer why the tribe of Levi had used an almond staff. The almond tree is one of the first to bud in the spring, and its white blossoms are a beautiful sign that winter is over. Its name became a name for “watcher”; Jeremiah plays on this name for God’s watching over his people (1:11-12).

⁹ sn The verb forms a wordplay on the name Levi, and makes an allusion to the naming of the tribe Levi by Leah in the book of Genesis. There Leah hoped that with the birth of Levi her husband would be attached to her. Here, with the selection of the tribe to serve in the sanctuary, there is the wordplay again showing that the Levites will be attached to Aaron and the priests. The verb is יִלָּווּ (yillavu), which forms a nice wordplay with Levi (לֵוִי). The tribe will now be attached to the sanctuary. The verb is the imperfect with a vav (ו) that shows volitive sequence after the imperative, here indicating a purpose clause.

¹⁰ tn The clause is a circumstantial clause because the disjunctive vav (ו) is on a nonverb to start the clause.

¹¹ tn Or “forefathers”; Grk “fathers.”

¹² tn Or “tent.”

¹³ tn Or “desert.”

¹⁴ tn Grk “the one”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

¹⁵ tn The word “him” is not in the Greek text, but is implied. Direct objects were often omitted in Greek when clear from the context, but must be supplied for the modern English reader.