Numbers 4:15

4:15 “When Aaron and his sons have finished ¹  covering ²  the sanctuary and all the furnishings of the sanctuary, when the camp is ready to journey, then ³  the Kohathites will come to carry them; ⁴  but they must not touch ⁵  any ⁶  holy thing, or they will die. ⁷  These are the responsibilities ⁸  of the Kohathites with the tent of meeting.

Numbers 4:19

4:19 but in order that they will live ⁹  and not die when they approach the most holy things, do this for them: Aaron and his sons will go in and appoint ¹⁰  each man ¹¹  to his service and his responsibility.

Numbers 4:27

4:27 “All the service of the Gershonites, whether ¹²  carrying loads ¹³  or for any of their work, will be at the direction of ¹⁴  Aaron and his sons. You will assign them all their tasks ¹⁵  as their responsibility.

Numbers 4:31-32

4:31 This is what they are responsible to carry as their entire service in the tent of meeting: the frames ¹⁶  of the tabernacle, its crossbars, its posts, its sockets, 4:32 and the posts of the surrounding courtyard with their sockets, tent pegs, and ropes, along with all their furnishings and everything for their service. You are to assign by names the items that each man is responsible to carry. ¹⁷ 

Numbers 4:47

4:47 from thirty years old and upward to fifty years old, everyone who entered to do the work of service and the work of carrying ¹⁸  relating to the tent of meeting –

Numbers 4:49

4:49 According to the word of the Lord they were numbered, ¹⁹  by the authority of Moses, each according to his service and according to what he was to carry. ²⁰  Thus were they numbered by him, ²¹  as the Lord had commanded Moses.

[4:15]  ¹ tn The verb form is the Piel perfect with a vav (ו) consecutive; it continues the future sequence, but in this verse forms a subordinate clause to the parallel sequential verb to follow.

[4:15]  ² tn The Piel infinitive construct with the preposition serves as the direct object of the preceding verbal form, answering the question of what it was that they finished.

[4:15]  ³ tn Heb “after this.”

[4:15]  ⁴ tn The form is the Qal infinitive construct from נָשָׂא (nasa’, “to lift, carry”); here it indicates the purpose clause after the verb “come.”

[4:15]  ⁵ tn The imperfect tense may be given the nuance of negated instruction (“they are not to”) or negated obligation (“they must not”).

[4:15]  ⁶ tn Here the article expresses the generic idea of any holy thing (R. J. Williams, Hebrew Syntax, 19, §92).

[4:15]  ⁷ tn The verb is the perfect tense with a vav (ו) consecutive, following the imperfect tense warning against touching the holy thing. The form shows the consequence of touching the holy thing, and so could be translated “or they will die” or “lest they die.” The first is stronger.

[4:15]  ⁸ tn The word מַשָּׂא (massa’) is normally rendered “burden,” especially in prophetic literature. It indicates the load that one must carry, whether an oracle, or here the physical responsibility.

[4:19]  ⁹ 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.

[4:19]  ¹⁰ tn The perfect tense with vav (ו) consecutive continues the instruction for Aaron.

[4:19]  ¹¹ tn The distributive sense is obtained by the repetition, “a man” and “a man.”

[4:27]  ¹² tn The term “whether” is supplied to introduce the enumerated parts of the explanatory phrase.

[4:27]  ¹³ 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).

[4:27]  ¹⁴ 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.

[4:27]  ¹⁵ tn Or “burden.”

[4:31]  ¹⁶ sn More recent studies have concluded that these “boards” were made of two long uprights joined by cross-bars (like a ladder). They were frames rather than boards, meaning that the structure under the tent was not a solid building. It also meant that the “boards” would have been lighter to carry.

[4:32]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “you shall assign by names the vessels of the responsibility of their burden.”

[4:47]  ¹⁸ tn The text multiplies the vocabulary of service here in the summary. In the Hebrew text the line reads literally: “everyone who came to serve the service of serving, and the service of burden.” The Levites came into service in the shrine, and that involved working in the sanctuary as well as carrying it from one place to the next.

[4:49]  ¹⁹ tn The verb is the simple perfect tense – “he numbered them.” There is no expressed subject; therefore, the verb can be rendered as a passive.

[4:49]  ²⁰ tn Or “his burden.”

[4:49]  ²¹ tn The passive form simply reads “those numbered by him.” Because of the cryptic nature of the word, some suggest reading a preterite, “and they were numbered.” This is supported by the Greek, Syriac, Targum, and Vulgate. It would follow in the emendation that the relative pronoun be changed to “just as” (כַּאֲשֶׁר, ka’asher). The MT is impossible the way it stands; it can only be rendered into smooth English by adding something that is missing.