Numbers 4:19

4:19 but in order that they will live ¹  and not die when they approach the most holy things, do this for them: Aaron and his sons will go in and appoint ²  each man ³  to his service and his responsibility.

Numbers 4:27

4:27 “All the service of the Gershonites, whether ⁴  carrying loads ⁵  or for any of their work, will be at the direction of ⁶  Aaron and his sons. You will assign them all their tasks ⁷  as their responsibility.

Numbers 8:22

8:22 After this, the Levites went in to do their work in the tent of meeting before Aaron and before his sons. As the Lord had commanded Moses concerning the Levites, so they did.

¹ tn The word order is different in the Hebrew text: Do this…and they will live. Consequently, the verb “and they will live” is a perfect tense with a vav (ו) consecutive to express the future consequence of “doing this” for them.

² tn The perfect tense with vav (ו) consecutive continues the instruction for Aaron.

³ tn The distributive sense is obtained by the repetition, “a man” and “a man.”

⁴ tn The term “whether” is supplied to introduce the enumerated parts of the explanatory phrase.

⁵ tn Here again is the use of the noun “burden” in the sense of the loads they were to carry (see the use of carts in Num 7:7).

⁶ tn The expression is literally “upon/at the mouth of” (עַל־פִּי, ’al-pi); it means that the work of these men would be under the direct orders of Aaron and his sons.

⁷ tn Or “burden.”