Matthew Henry on Numbers 4:1-20
We have here a second muster of the tribe of Levi. As that tribe was taken out of all Israel to be God's peculiar, so the middle-aged men of that tribe were taken from among the rest to be actually employed in the service of the tabernacle. Now observe,
I. Who were to be taken into this number. All the males from thirty years old to fifty. Of the other tribes, those that were numbered to go forth to war were from twenty years old and upward, but of the Levites only from thirty to fifty; for the service of God requires the best of our strength, and the prime of our time, which cannot be better spent than to the honour of him who is the first and best. And a man may make a good soldier much so…
Read the whole note in the consoleJohn Gill on Numbers 4:1
And the Lord spake unto Moses, and unto Aaron,.... After they had taken the number of the Levites, and made an exchange of the firstborn of Israel for them; and now they are ordered to number them a second time, and take out from them such as were fit for service:
saying; as follows.
John Calvin on Numbers 4:1-3
Numbers 4:1-3, 21-23, 29, 30, 34-49
1. And the Lord spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying,
1. Loquutus est Jehova ad Mosen et Aharon, dicendo:
2. Take the sum of the sons of Kohath from among the sons of Levi, after their families, by the house of their fathers,
2. Tolle summam filiorum Cehath e medio filiorum Levi, per familias suas, per domos patrum suorum.
3. From thirty years old and upward, even until fifty years old, all that enter into the host, to do the work in the tabernacle of the congregation.
3. Ab eo qui natus est triginta annos et supra, usque ad eum qui natus est quinquaginta annos, quotquot ingrediuntur congregationem, ut faciant opus in tabernaculo conventionis.
2…
Read the whole note in the consoleTyndale Open Study Notes on Numbers 4:1-49
This section expands the discussion begun in 3:21-37 on the duties of the three clans of Levites. The Levites—on the march and encamped—carried and cared for the Tabernacle and were always surrounded by the other tribes so that they and their precious cargo would be safe (2:17). The sacred things associated with God were placed in the middle of the tribes, and the role of the priests and their Levitical assistants was to keep them holy by keeping them separate. • God, in his holiness, is worthy of attention to the details of his will. His Tabernacle and its furnishings were sacred, and the tribe of Levi was responsible to maintain the distinction between holy and common, between clean and un…
