Numbers 4:3

4:3 from thirty years old and upward to fifty years old, all who enter the company ¹  to do the work in the tent of meeting.

Numbers 4:1

The Service of the Kohathites

4:1 ² Then the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron:

Numbers 23:24

23:24 Indeed, the people will rise up like a lioness,

and like a lion raises himself up;

they will not lie down until they eat their ³  prey,

and drink the blood of the slain.” ⁴ 

¹ tn The word “company” is literally “host, army” (צָבָא, tsava’). The repetition of similar expressions makes the translation difficult: Heb “all [who] come to the host to do work in the tent.”

² sn The chapter has four main parts to it: Kohathites (1-20), Gershonites (21-28), Merarites (29-33) and the census of the Levites (34-49).

³ tn The pronoun “their” has been supplied for clarity; it is not present in the Hebrew text.

⁴ sn The oracle compares Israel first to a lion, or better, lioness, because she does the tracking and hunting of food while the lion moves up and down roaring and distracting the prey. But the lion is also the traditional emblem of Judah, Dan and Gad, as well as the symbol of royalty. So this also supports the motif of royalty as well as power for Israel.