Numbers 1:53

1:53 But the Levites must camp around the tabernacle of the testimony, so that the Lord’s anger ¹  will not fall on the Israelite community. The Levites are responsible for the care ²  of the tabernacle of the testimony.”

Numbers 2:17

The Tribe in the Center

2:17 “Then the tent of meeting with the camp of the Levites will travel in the middle of the camps. They will travel in the same order as they camped, each in his own place ³  under his standard.

Numbers 4:46

4:46 All who were numbered of the Levites, whom Moses, Aaron, and the leaders of Israel numbered by their families and by their clans,

Numbers 7:5

7:5 “Receive these gifts ⁴  from them, that they may be ⁵  used in doing the work ⁶  of the tent of meeting; and you must give them to the Levites, to every man ⁷  as his service requires.” ⁸ 

Numbers 8:11-12

8:11 and Aaron is to offer ⁹  the Levites before the Lord as a wave offering from the Israelites, that they may do the work ¹⁰  of the Lord. 8:12 When ¹¹  the Levites lay their hands on the heads of the bulls, offer ¹²  the one for a purification offering and the other for a whole burnt offering to the Lord, ¹³  to make atonement for the Levites.

Numbers 8:15

8:15 “After this, the Levites will go in ¹⁴  to do the work ¹⁵  of the tent of meeting. So you must cleanse them ¹⁶  and offer them like a wave offering. ¹⁷ 

Numbers 8:21

8:21 The Levites purified themselves ¹⁸  and washed their clothing; then Aaron presented them like a wave offering before the Lord, and Aaron made atonement for them to purify them.

Numbers 18:6

18:6 I myself have chosen ¹⁹  your brothers the Levites from among the Israelites. They are given to you as a gift from the Lord, to perform the duties ²⁰  of the tent of meeting.

[1:53]  ¹ 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]  ² 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.

[2:17]  ³ tn The Hebrew expression is עַל־יָדוֹ (’al-yado, “upon his hand”). This clearly refers to a specifically designated place for each man.

[7:5]  ⁵ tn The object is not in the Hebrew text, but has been supplied.

[7:5]  ⁶ tn The verb is the perfect tense with vav (ו) consecutive; following the imperative, this could be given an independent volitive translation (“they shall be”), but more fittingly a subordinated translation expressing the purpose of receiving the gifts.

[7:5]  ⁷ tn The sentence uses the infinitive construct expressing purpose, followed by its cognate accusative: “[that they may be] for doing the work of” (literally, “serving the service of”).

[7:5]  ⁸ tn The noun אִישׁ (’ish) is in apposition to the word “Levites,” and is to be taken in a distributive sense: “to the Levites, [to each] man according to his service.”

[7:5]  ⁹ tn The expression כְּפִי (kÿfi) is “according to the mouth of.” Here, it would say “according to the mouth of his service,” which would mean “what his service calls for.”

[8:11]  ⁷ tn The Hebrew text actually has “wave the Levites as a wave offering.” The wave offering was part of the ritual of the peace offering and indicated the priest’s portion being presented to God in a lifted, waving motion for all to see. The Levites were going to be in the sanctuary to serve the Lord and assist the priests. It is unclear how Moses would have presented them as wave offerings, but the intent is that they would be living sacrifices, as Paul would later say in Rom 12:1 for all Christians.

[8:11]  ⁸ tn The construction emphasizes the spiritual service of the Levites, using the infinitive construct of עָבַד (’avad) followed by its cognate accusative.

[8:12]  ⁹ 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]  ¹⁰ tn The imperative is from the verb “to do; to make,” but in the sentence it clearly means to sacrifice the animals.

[8:12]  ¹¹ 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.

[8:15]  ¹¹ tn The imperfect tense could also be given the nuance of the imperfect of permission: “the Levites may go in.”

[8:15]  ¹² tn Heb “to serve.”

[8:15]  ¹³ tn The two verbs in the rest of this verse are perfect tenses with vav (ו) consecutive constructions, making them equal to the imperfect. Some commentators try to get around the difficulty of repetition by making these future perfects, “and you will have cleansed,” as opposed to a summary statement, “for thus you will cleanse….”

[8:15]  ¹⁴ tc The Greek text adds “before the Lord.”

[8:21]  ¹³ tn The verb is the Hitpael of חָטָּא (khatta’). In this stem the meaning of the root “to sin” is likely to be connected to the noun “sin/purification” offering in a denominative sense, although some would take it as a privative usage, “to remove sin.” The idea is clear enough: They performed all the ritual in order to purify themselves ceremonially.

[18:6]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “taken.”

[18:6]  ¹⁶ tn The infinitive construct in this sentence is from עָבַד (’avad), and so is the noun that serves as its object: to serve the service.