Numbers 1:51

1:51 Whenever the tabernacle is to move, ¹  the Levites must take it down, and whenever the tabernacle is to be reassembled, ²  the Levites must set it up. ³  Any unauthorized person ⁴  who approaches it must be killed.

Numbers 1:53

1:53 But the Levites must camp around the tabernacle of the testimony, so that the Lord’s anger ⁵  will not fall on the Israelite community. The Levites are responsible for the care ⁶  of the tabernacle of the testimony.”

Numbers 3:12

3:12 “Look, ⁷  I myself have taken the Levites from among the Israelites instead of ⁸  every firstborn who opens the womb among the Israelites. So the Levites belong to me,

Numbers 8:12

8:12 When ⁹  the Levites lay their hands on the heads of the bulls, offer ¹⁰  the one for a purification offering and the other for a whole burnt offering to the Lord, ¹¹  to make atonement for the Levites.

Numbers 35:2

35:2 “Instruct the Israelites to give ¹²  the Levites towns to live in from the inheritance the Israelites ¹³  will possess. You must also give the Levites grazing land around the towns.

[1:51]  ¹ tn The construction uses the infinitive construct with the temporal preposition; the “tabernacle” is then the following genitive. Literally it is “and in the moving of the tabernacle,” meaning, “when the tabernacle is supposed to be moved,” i.e., when people are supposed to move it. The verb נָסָע (nasa’) means “pull up the tent pegs and move,” or more simply, “journey.”

[1:51]  ² tn Here we have the parallel construction using the infinitive construct in a temporal adverbial clause.

[1:51]  ³ tn Heb “raise it up.”

[1:51]  ⁴ tn The word used here is זָר (zar), normally translated “stranger” or “outsider.” It is most often used for a foreigner, an outsider, who does not belong in Israel, or who, although allowed in the land, may be viewed with suspicion. But here it seems to include even Israelites other than the tribe of Levi.

[1:53]  ⁵ tc Instead of “wrath” the Greek text has “sin,” focusing the emphasis on the human error and not on the wrath of God. This may have been a conscious change to explain the divine wrath.

[1:53]  ⁶ tn The main verb of the clause is the perfect tense with vav (ו) consecutive, וְשָׁמְרוּ (vÿshamÿru) meaning they “shall guard, protect, watch over, care for.” It may carry the same obligatory nuance as the preceding verbs because of the sequence. The object used with this is the cognate noun מִשְׁמֶרֶת (mishmeret): “The Levites must care for the care of the tabernacle.” The cognate intensifies the construction to stress that they are responsible for this care.

[3:12]  ⁹ tn The particle הִנֵּה (hinneh) here carries its deictic force, calling attention to the fact that is being declared. It is underscoring the fact that the Lord himself chose Levi.

[3:12]  ¹⁰ tn Literally “in the place of.”

[8:12]  ¹³ tn The clause begins with a vav (ו) on the noun “the Levites,” indicating a disjunctive clause. Here it is clearly a subordinate clause prior to the instruction for Moses, and so translated as a circumstantial clause of time.

[8:12]  ¹⁴ tn The imperative is from the verb “to do; to make,” but in the sentence it clearly means to sacrifice the animals.

[8:12]  ¹⁵ sn The “purification offering” cleansed the tabernacle from impurity, and the burnt offering atoned by nullifying and removing the effects of sin in the Levites.

[35:2]  ¹⁷ tn The verb is the perfect tense with vav (ו) consecutive: “command…and they will give,” or “that they give.”

[35:2]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “they”; the referent (the Israelites) has been specified in the translation for clarity.