Numbers 4:5

4:5 When it is time for the camp to journey, ¹  Aaron and his sons must come and take down the screening curtain and cover the ark of the testimony with it.

Numbers 4:49

4:49 According to the word of the Lord they were numbered, ²  by the authority of Moses, each according to his service and according to what he was to carry. ³  Thus were they numbered by him, ⁴  as the Lord had commanded Moses.

Numbers 7:9

7:9 But to the Kohathites he gave none, because the service of the holy things, which they carried ⁵  on their shoulders, was their responsibility. ⁶ 

¹ tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive construct in an adverbial clause of time; literally it says “in the journeying of the camp.” The genitive in such constructions is usually the subject. Here the implication is that people would be preparing to transport the camp and its equipment.

² tn The verb is the simple perfect tense – “he numbered them.” There is no expressed subject; therefore, the verb can be rendered as a passive.

³ tn Or “his burden.”

⁴ tn The passive form simply reads “those numbered by him.” Because of the cryptic nature of the word, some suggest reading a preterite, “and they were numbered.” This is supported by the Greek, Syriac, Targum, and Vulgate. It would follow in the emendation that the relative pronoun be changed to “just as” (כַּאֲשֶׁר, ka’asher). The MT is impossible the way it stands; it can only be rendered into smooth English by adding something that is missing.

⁵ tn The verb is the imperfect tense, but it describes their customary activity – they had to carry, they used to carry.

⁶ tn Heb “upon them,” meaning “their duty.”