Numbers 3:28

3:28 Counting every male from a month old and upward, there were 8,600. They were responsible for the care ¹  of the sanctuary.

Numbers 7:8

7:8 and he gave four carts and eight oxen to the Merarites, as their service required, under the authority ²  of Ithamar son of Aaron the priest.

[3:28]  ¹ tn The construction here is a little different. The Hebrew text uses the participle in construct plural: שֹׁמְרֵי (shomÿrey, literally “keepers of”). The form specifies the duties of the 8,600 Kohathites. The genitive that follows this participle is the cognate מִשְׁמֶרֶת (mishmeret) that has been used before. So the expression indicates that they were responsible for the care of this part of the cult center. There is no reason to delete one of the forms (as does J. A. Paterson, Numbers, 42), for the repetition stresses the central importance of their work.

[7:8]  ² tn Heb “hand.”