Numbers 7:9

7:9 But to the Kohathites he gave none, because the service of the holy things, which they carried ¹  on their shoulders, was their responsibility. ² 

Numbers 1:50

1:50 But appoint ³  the Levites over the tabernacle of the testimony, ⁴  over all its furnishings and over everything in it. They must carry ⁵  the tabernacle and all its furnishings; and they ⁶  must attend to it and camp around it. ⁷ 

Numbers 18:23

18:23 But the Levites must perform the service ⁸  of the tent of meeting, and they must bear their iniquity. ⁹  It will be a perpetual ordinance throughout your generations that among the Israelites the Levites ¹⁰  have no inheritance. ¹¹ 

¹ tn The verb is the imperfect tense, but it describes their customary activity – they had to carry, they used to carry.

² tn Heb “upon them,” meaning “their duty.”

³ 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.

⁴ 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).

⁵ 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.

⁶ 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.

⁷ tn Heb “the tabernacle.” The pronoun (“it”) was used in the translation here for stylistic reasons.

⁵ tn The verse begins with the perfect tense of עָבַד (’avad) with vav (ו) consecutive, making the form equal to the instructions preceding it. As its object the verb has the cognate accusative “service.”

⁶ sn The Levites have the care of the tent of meeting, and so they are responsible for any transgressions against it.

⁷ tn Heb “they”; the referent (the Levites) has been supplied in the translation for clarity.

⁸ tn The Hebrew text uses both the verb and the object from the same root to stress the point: They will not inherit an inheritance. The inheritance refers to land.