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Numbers Chapter
Eight
New King James Version (NKJV)
INTRODUCTION TO NUMBERS 8
In
this chapter orders are given for the lighting the seven lamps of the
candlestick, Numbers 8:1; and
for the consecration of the Levites to their office, by a purification of them,
Numbers 8:5; by a
separation of them from the children of Israel, and the imposition of their
hands on them, and of the hands of the Levites on the offerings offered for
them, Numbers 8:9; and
being thus given to the Lord, and claimed as his, instead of the firstborn of
Israel, they are given to Aaron and his sons to do service in the tabernacle, Numbers 8:16; and
their age at which they were to enter into service and cease from it is fixed, Numbers 8:23.
Numbers 8:1 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:
YLT
1And Jehovah speaketh unto
Moses, saying,
And the Lord spake unto Moses,.... Whether immediately
after the offerings of the princes, or at another time, is not certain; Aben
Ezra thinks it was in the night God spake unto him, because then the lamps were
lighted and burning:
saying; as follows.
Numbers 8:2 2 “Speak to Aaron, and say to him, ‘When you arrange the
lamps, the seven lamps shall give light in front of the lampstand.’”
YLT
2`Speak unto Aaron, and thou
hast said unto him, In thy causing the lights to go up, over-against the face
of the candlestick do the seven lights give light.'
Speak unto Aaron, and say unto him,.... It being his work to
light the lamps, though, as Ben Gersom observes, it was not incumbent on an
high priest alone to do this, for it also belonged to the sons of Aaron, who
were common priests, Exodus 27:21;
though it is probable that as this was the first time of lighting them, it
might be done by Aaron himself, his sons attending and assisting him; in which
he was an eminent type of Christ, the great High Priest, who lights the lamps
in all his golden candlesticks, the churches, Revelation 1:20,
and from whom they have all their light and all the supplies of it:
when thou lightest the lamps; which was done at
evening, Exodus 30:8;
pointing at the great light set up by Christ, the light of the world, in the
evening of it, in the last days:
the seven lamps shall give light over against the candlestick; the Targum of
Jonathan is,"at the same time of thy lighting the lamps over against the
candlestick, there shall be seven lamps giving light: three on the west side
and three on the east side, and the seventh in the middle:'and in the like
order Jarchi places them, who observes, that the three eastward looked over
against the middlemost, the wicks that were in them; and so the three westward,
the tops of the wicks were over against the middlemost: and he also observes,
that the middlemost lamp was no other than the body of the candlestick, and so
all the rest of the lamps were over against and looked to that; and this is the
sense of MaimonidesF13Hilchot Beth Hacbehirah, c. 3. sect. 8. , and
other Jewish writers; but the truer meaning of the phrase is, that the seven
lamps gave light, as they were to do, to that part of the holy place that was
opposite to the candlestick, the north part of it, where stood the shewbread
table, the candlestick being in the south, Exodus 40:22; that
the table of the Lord might have light, as it was proper it should; and the
priests might see to set on and take off the bread, which otherwise they could
not, there being no window in the place; See Gill on Exodus 25:37.
Numbers 8:3 3 And Aaron did so; he arranged the lamps to face toward
the front of the lampstand, as the Lord commanded
Moses.
YLT
3And Aaron doth so;
over-against the face of the candlestick he hath caused its lights to go up, as
Jehovah hath commanded Moses.
And Aaron did so, he lighted the lamps thereof over against the
candlestick,.... As God had taken up his residence in the most holy place, as
appears by the voice speaking from off the mercy seat, Numbers 7:89; and
sacrifices were begun to be offered in the outward court on the altar of burnt
offering, it was proper that the service of God in the holy place should also
be set on foot; as placing of the shewbread on the shewbread table, and burning
incense on the golden altar of incense; which could not well be done until the
lamps were lighted, and therefore orders were given for the lighting them,
which was accordingly done by Aaron:
as the Lord commanded Moses; Exodus 25:37.
Numbers 8:4 4 Now this workmanship of the lampstand was
hammered gold; from its shaft to its flowers it was hammered work.
According to the pattern which the Lord had shown
Moses, so he made the lampstand.
YLT
4And this [is] the work of
the candlestick: beaten work of gold; unto its thigh, unto its flower it [is]
beaten work; as the appearance which Jehovah shewed Moses, so he hath made the
candlestick.
And this work of the candlestick was of beaten gold,.... As it is
also said to be; See Gill on Exodus 25:31; and
See Gill on Exodus 25:36,
unto the shalt thereof, unto the flowers thereof, was
beaten work; of which, see Exodus 25:31,
according unto the pattern which the Lord had showed Moses; when on Mount
Sinai with him:
so he made the candlestick; that is, ordered it to
be made, and took care that it was made exactly to the pattern he had of it;
otherwise Bezaleel was the artificer; and so the Targum of Jonathan here
expresses him by name.
Numbers 8:5 5 Then the Lord spoke to
Moses, saying:
YLT
5And Jehovah speaketh unto
Moses, saying,
And the Lord spake unto Moses,.... the same time the
order about lighting the lamps was given; and this section is joined to the
former, Aben Ezra thinks, to show that Aaron employed himself in lighting the
lamps, but in the rest of the services the Levites helped him, and stood before
him to do what he commanded them: they were ordered to be taken and given to
Aaron before; and they were numbered, and their services appointed to each
division of them; and now they are ordered to be ordained and consecrated to
their office:
saying; as follows.
Numbers 8:6 6 “Take the Levites from among the children of Israel and
cleanse them ceremonially.
YLT
6`Take the Levites from the
midst of the sons of Israel, and thou hast cleansed them.
Take the Levites from among the children of Israel,.... Among
whom they were mixed, as were all the tribes mixed together as Aben Ezra says,
before they took their journey from Mount Sinai; however, from hence forward,
they were distinguished from Israelites, as they are both in Scripture and in
Jewish writings; see 1 Chronicles 9:2;
though this seems to design no other but their appointment and separation to
their work and service, as ministers to the priests of the Lord; and so as
Aaron did not assume the honour of priesthood to himself but was called of God,
the Levites did not take the honour of their office to themselves but had it by
the appointment and call of God:
and cleanse them; with water, by sprinkling the water of purification
on them, and by washing their bodies and clothes with water; which outward
washing was a sign of moral purity, which was necessary to their employment in
the service of the sanctuary; for though there was no particular uncleanness on
them, either ceremonial or moral, but what was common to men; yet it was
proper, by such outward rites, to put them and others in mind, that they which
are employed about holy things should be eminently pure and holy; and as their
business was to carry holy things, to bear the sacred vessels of the sanctuary
from place to place when needful, they ought of all men to be clean, Isaiah 52:11, and
in this they were emblems of the ministers of the word, who ought to be pure,
as in heart, so in life and conversation, and be examples of purity to others, 2 Corinthians 6:6.
Numbers 8:7 7 Thus you shall do to them to cleanse them: Sprinkle
water of purification on them, and let them shave all their body, and let them
wash their clothes, and so make themselves clean.
YLT
7`And thus thou dost to them
to cleanse them: sprinkle upon them waters of atonement, and they have caused a
razor to pass over all their flesh, and have washed their garments, and
cleansed themselves,
And thus shall thou do unto them, to cleanse them,.... Or order
Aaron to do unto them; the cleansing of the Levites was the work of Aaron,
either by himself or by his order; in which he was a type of Christ, who is the
refiner and purifier of the sons of Levi, Malachi 3:3,
sprinkle water of purifying upon them; or
"water of sin"F14מי חטאת "aquas peccati", Montanus; "aquam
peccati", Piscator, Drusius; "the sin water", Ainsworth. ; water
which purifies from sin, in a ceremonial sense; and this was water mixed with
the ashes of the red heifer, which was the purification of persons deified by
the dead, as Jarchi observes; and though the law concerning the red heifer, and
of making the water of purification, is not made mention of till afterwards, Numbers 19:1, yet
it was very probably given before; and the Jews sayF15Seder Olam
Rabba, c. 7. p. 22. , it was on the second of Nisan, or the first month, which
was the day after the tabernacle was erected, that Eleazar the priest burnt the
red heifer and sprinkled all Israel; this only "sanctified to the
purifying of the flesh", Hebrews 9:13, in a
ceremonial sense, but was typical of the blood of Christ, which "purges
the conscience from dead works"; that so men may be fitted and qualified,
as the Levites were, "to serve the living God", Hebrews 9:14,
and let them shave all their flesh; the hair of their
bodies, in all parts thereof; even the beard, as Aben Ezra notes, some say; yet
not the corners of it; but the whole hair of the body, everywhere, was to be
shaved off; to denote the most perfect purity, and a removal of all superfluity
of haughtiness and excrescences of the flesh from them: so the Egyptian priests
used to shave their whole body every third day, lest there should be anything
filthy in those that served the godsF16Herodot. Enterpe, sive, l. 2.
c. 37. : this cleansing of the Levites was after the same manner as lepers were
cleansed: and Jarchi observes, from one of their writers, that because the
Levites gave an atonement for the firstborn, who committed idolatry, which is
called the sacrifices of the dead, and the leper is called a dead man, they
were obliged to shaving as the lepers; but Ben Gersom gives a better reason for
the shaving of them; that it was to put them in mind that they should forsake
material (or corporeal) things, and employ themselves in the service of God;
see Acts 6:2 2 Timothy 2:4,
and let them wash their clothes; and much more their
bodies, as Chaskuni, after the manner of those who were polluted by touching a
dead body; typical of the saints having their bodies washed with pure water,
and their garments washed and made white in the blood of the Lamb, Hebrews 10:22,
and so make themselves clean; the Targum of Jonathan
adds, in forty seahs of water; and according to the sense of that paraphrase,
both the bodies and clothes of the Levites were dipped in water.
Numbers 8:8 8 Then let them take a young bull with its grain offering
of fine flour mixed with oil, and you shall take another young bull as a sin
offering.
YLT
8and have taken a bullock, a
son of the herd, and its present, flour mixed with oil, -- and a second bullock
a son of the herd thou dost take for a sin-offering,
Then let them take a young bullock,.... Of two years old, as
the Jewish writers gather from the other in the next clause, being called the
second; though the wise men say one of three years old is fit for such a
sacrifice; nay, others say, if four or five years old; but the decision is
according to the wise menF17Misn. Parah, c. 1. sect. 2. &
Bartenora in ib. .
with his meat offering, even fine flour mingled with oil: which always
went along with a burnt offering, and consisted of three tenth deals of line
flour, and half an hin of oil, Numbers 28:12,
and another young bullock shalt thou take for a sin offering; which was the
offering for the sin of the whole congregation of Israel, through ignorance;
and this being for all the Levites, and they being instead of the firstborn of
Israel, such an offering was required; and though there was no particular sin
charged upon them, but it became necessary for their perfect cleansing and
expiation.
Numbers 8:9 9 And you shall bring the Levites before the tabernacle
of meeting, and you shall gather together the whole congregation of the
children of Israel.
YLT
9and thou hast brought near
the Levites before the tent of meeting, and thou hast assembled the whole
company of the sons of Israel,
And thou shalt bring the Levites before the tabernacle of the
congregation,.... Not without it, but within it, in the court of the
tabernacle, at least at the door of it, where stood the altar of burnt
offering, on which sacrifices for them were now to be offered:
and thou shalt gather the whole assembly of the children of Israel
together; the heads of the tribes, and elders of the people, as Aben Ezra
interprets this phrase in Leviticus 8:3;
where the whole congregation is said to be assembled at the consecration of the
priests, as here at the consecration of the Levites, having a concern therein,
as well as to be spectators and witnesses of this solemn affair; and no doubt
as many of them as could conveniently assemble at the door of the tabernacle
did, though every individual of that large body of people could not possibly do
it.
Numbers 8:10 10 So you shall bring the Levites before the Lord, and the children of Israel shall lay their hands on the Levites;
YLT
10and thou hast brought near
the Levites before Jehovah, and the sons of Israel have laid their hands on the
Levites,
And thou shalt bring the Levites before the Lord,.... From the
door of the tabernacle, to the altar of burnt offering, where the Lord was in
some sense present to accept the sacrifices offered to him:
and the children of Israel shall put their hands upon the Levites; as were used
to be put upon sacrifices, for the Levites were themselves offered for an
offering of the children of Israel, as is expressed in Numbers 8:11; by
which rite they signified that they voluntarily parted with them, and gave them
up to the Lord, and transferred their service to them, in which they were to
serve in their room and stead; these, according to some Jewish writers, were
the firstborn of Israel that laid their hands on the Levites, a type of the
general assembly and church of the firstborn; or rather the princes and heads
of the tribes, who represented the whole body. Some think by this rite is
signified the consent of the people in the designation and appointment of the
ministers of the word to their work and office; but what in the New Testament
seems to answer to this is, the laying of the hands of the presbytery on
ministers of the word, 1 Timothy 4:14.
Numbers 8:11 11 and Aaron shall offer the Levites before the Lord like a wave offering from the children of Israel, that they
may perform the work of the Lord.
YLT
11and Aaron hath waved the
Levites -- a wave-offering before Jehovah, from the sons of Israel, and they
have been -- for doing the service of Jehovah.
And Aaron shall offer the Levites before the Lord,.... Or
"wave"F18והניף "et
motabit", Tigurine version; "et faciet elevare", Pagninus,
Montanus, Vatablus; "et agitabit", Drusius; "et agitato",
Piscator. them, as a wave offering, which was moved to and fro, backwards and
forwards; not that they were actually so waved and moved to and fro by Aaron,
which could not be done by him; though it is possible he might make such a
motion himself, and they might do the like after him, thereby signifying that
they belonged unto the Lord of the whole earth; and some think this testified
their readiness to serve the Lord; to which may be added their constant
employment in his service, being always in motion, doing one piece of service
or another continually; as the people of God, and especially the ministers of
the word, should be always abounding: in the work of the Lord. Ainsworth
supposes that the troubles and afflictions of the ministers of God are figured
hereby:
for an offering of the
children of Israel; to the Lord, hereby devoting them to his service:
that they may execute the service of the Lord; for them, in
their room and stead, do what otherwise they must have done; see Numbers 3:7; with
this compare Isaiah 66:20.
Numbers 8:12 12 Then the Levites shall lay their hands on the heads of
the young bulls, and you shall offer one as a sin offering and the other as a
burnt offering to the Lord, to make atonement for the
Levites.
YLT
12`And the Levites lay their
hands on the head of the bullocks, and make thou the one a sin-offering, and
the one a burnt-offering to Jehovah, to atone for the Levites,
And the Levites shall lay their hands on the heads of the bullocks,.... Or
"on the head"F19על ראש "super caput", Tigurine version. Pagninus,
Montanus, Junius & Tremellius. ; on the head of everyone of them, as Aben
Ezra, thereby, as it were, transferring their sins to them, for these were to
make atonement for them, as the latter part of the verse shows; and this was a
figure of the imputation of sin to Christ, and taught that doctrine, and led
the faith of the offerers to the sin bearing and sin atoning Saviour:
and thou shall offer the one for a sin offering, and the
other for a burnt offering, unto the Lord; that is, shall order to
be offered; for not Moses, but Aaron, offered these offerings, as Aben Ezra
observes, of which this is a proof, that Aaron is said to make the atonement
for them, Numbers 8:21, for
which purpose these sacrifices were offered, particularly the first; and the
latter by way of thanksgiving for atonement made by the former: so it follows:
to make an atonement for the Levites; who could not
be admitted to service until their sins were expiated; as no man is worthy to
be employed in the work of God, but such for whom reconciliation for their sins
is made by the blood and sacrifice of Christ, by which they are purged from
dead works to serve the living God.
Numbers 8:13 13 “And you shall stand the Levites before Aaron and his
sons, and then offer them like a wave offering to the Lord.
YLT
13and thou hast caused the
Levites to stand before Aaron, and before his sons, and hast waved them -- a
wave-offering to Jehovah;
And thou shalt set the Levites before Aaron, and before his sons,.... After
atonement was made for them, as Aben Ezra observes; then they were presented to
Aaron and his sons, to whom they were given to he their ministers, and
assistants to them:
and offer them for an offering unto the Lord: or, and
"waved them", &c. as before, that is, order them to be waved; for
not Moses, but Aaron, did this, and indeed was done already; and therefore
should rather be rendered, as by Bishop Patrick, after thou hast offered, or
waved them.
Numbers 8:14 14 Thus you shall separate the Levites from among the
children of Israel, and the Levites shall be Mine.
YLT
14and thou hast separated the
Levites from the midst of the sons of Israel, and the Levites have become Mine;
Thus shalt thou separate the Levites from among the children of
Israel,.... By sprinkling the water of purification upon them; by
offering sacrifices for them; by presenting them before the Lord, with the
hands of the people of Israel put upon them; by offering and waving them before
the Lord, and by setting them before Aaron and his sons, as their ministers:
and the Levites shall be mine: in a special and
peculiar manner devoted to his service, and by him given to his priests for
that purpose; so the Targums of Onkelos and Jonathan,"and the Levites
shall minister before me.'
Numbers 8:15 15 After that the Levites shall go in to service the
tabernacle of meeting. So you shall cleanse them and offer them like a
wave offering.
YLT
15and afterwards do the
Levites come in to serve the tent of meeting, and thou hast cleansed them, and
hast waved them -- a wave-offering.
And after that shall the Levites go in,.... Not into
the sanctuary, where only the priests entered, much less into the most holy
place, where only the high priest went, and that but once a year, in neither of
which places the Levites had anything to do, but into the court of the
tabernacle:
to do the service of the tabernacle of the congregation: to watch
there, and to assist the priests at the altar of burnt offering, to take down
the tabernacle and bear the vessels of it, and set it up, as occasion required:
and thou shalt cleanse them, and offer them for an offering; cleanse them
by sprinkling the water of purifying on them, and offer them by waving them as
before; and indeed this is no new thing which is here observed, but what was
already done, and therefore should be rendered, "when thou shalt have
cleansed them", or "after thou hast cleansed them", &c. and
so the particle "vau" is sometimes usedF20See Noldius, p.
289,290,299. .
Numbers 8:16 16 For they are wholly given to Me from among the
children of Israel; I have taken them for Myself instead of all who open the
womb, the firstborn of all the children of Israel.
YLT
16`For they are certainly
given to Me out of the midst of the sons of Israel, instead of him who openeth
any womb -- the first-born of all -- from the sons of Israel I have taken them
to Myself;
For they are wholly given unto me from among the children
of Israel,.... All of them, entirely, and most certainly; or, "given,
given"F21נתנים נתנים
"dati, dati", Pagninus, Montanus, Vatablus; so Drusius and Ainsworth.
, which is repeated for the confirmation of it; or because of their being twice
given, first to the Lord by the children of Israel, and then by the Lord to
Aaron and his sons, as Chaskuni; though Jarchi interprets it of the different
parts of their service they were devoted to, given for bearing and carrying the
vessels of the sanctuary, and given for the song, or to be singers in the
temple:
instead of such as open, every womb, even instead of the
firstborn of all the children of Israel have I taken them unto me; See Gill on Numbers 3:12, and
See Gill on Numbers 3:13.
Numbers 8:17 17 For all the firstborn among the children of Israel are
Mine, both man and beast; on the day that I struck all the firstborn in
the land of Egypt I sanctified them to Myself.
YLT
17for Mine [is] every
first-born among the sons of Israel, among man and among beast; in the day of
my smiting every first-born in the land of Egypt I sanctified them for Myself;
For all the firstborn of the children of Israel are mine,
both men and beasts,.... Not only
in common with other of his creatures, but in a special respect on account of
his signal deliverance of them; they were his, as Jarchi expresses it, by the
line of judgment, or rule of justice and equity, because he protected them
among the firstborn of the Egyptians, saved them when he slew theirs, as
follows:
in the day that I smote every firstborn in the land of Egypt; both of men
and beasts:
I sanctified them for myself; claimed them as his own,
and set them apart for his own use, or ordered them to be set apart: see Exodus 13:2.
Numbers 8:18 18 I have taken the Levites instead of all the firstborn
of the children of Israel.
YLT
18and I take the Levites
instead of every first-born among the sons of Israel:
And I have taken the Levites for all the firstborn of the children
of Israel. Gave up his right in the firstborn, and instead of them took the
Levites for his use and service: see Numbers 3:12.
Numbers 8:19 19 And I have given the Levites as a gift to Aaron and
his sons from among the children of Israel, to do the work for the children of
Israel in the tabernacle of meeting, and to make atonement for the children of
Israel, that there be no plague among the children of Israel when the children
of Israel come near the sanctuary.”
YLT
19`And I give the Levites
gifts to Aaron and to his sons, from the midst of the sons of Israel, to do the
service of the sons of Israel in the tent of meeting, and to make atonement for
the sons of Israel, and there is no plague among the sons of Israel in the sons
of Israel's drawing nigh unto the sanctuary.'
And I have given the Levites as a gift to Aaron and his
sons, from among the children of Israel,.... Or I have given the
Levites that were given; that is, the Lord gave to Aaron and his sons the
Levites, that were first given to him; as they were, when brought before him,
and the children of Israel laid hands on them, and they were offered before the
Lord, Numbers 8:10,
to do the service of the children of Israel in the tabernacle of
the congregation; to do what otherwise they must have done, watch and guard the
tabernacle, carry the sacrifices to the priests, assist them at the altar, take
down and set up the tabernacle, and carry it, and the vessels of it, from place
to place:
and to make an atonement for the children of Israel; not by
offering sacrifices for them, which was the work of the priests, but by being
now offered themselves, Numbers 8:10; that
they themselves might be the atonement of their souls as Aben Ezra expresses
it, as well as they were by their service hereafter a means of preserving the
Israelites from death; which may be interpreted of making an atonement, which
Phinehas is said to do by his deed, though no sacrifice was offered, Numbers 25:7; which
sense seems to be confirmed by what follows:
that there be no plague among the children of Israel, when the
children of Israel come nigh to the sanctuary; by approaching nearer
than they should, touching what they ought not, intruding themselves into
service they were not called to, or doing it amiss, not being instructed in it,
or inured to it as the Levites were. The phrase, "the children of
Israel", is five times used in this verse, to denote the love of God to
them, as Jarchi observes.
Numbers 8:20 20 Thus Moses and Aaron and all the congregation of the
children of Israel did to the Levites; according to all that the Lord commanded Moses concerning the Levites, so the children of Israel
did to them.
YLT
20And Moses doth -- Aaron
also, and all the company of the sons of Israel -- to the Levites according to
all that Jehovah hath commanded Moses concerning the Levites; so have the sons
of Israel done to them.
And Moses and Aaron, and all the congregation of the children of
Israel,.... The several parties concerned in the consecration of the
Levites: these
did to the Levites according unto all that the Lord commanded
Moses,
so did the children of Israel unto them: which, as
Jarchi notes, is said to the praise of them that did it, and of what was done
by them; everything was done that was ordered, and in the manner in which it
was prescribed; Moses sprinkled, or ordered to be sprinkled, the water of
purification on them, and set them before the tabernacle, and before the Lord;
the children of Israel laid their hands on them, and Aaron waved them, offered
the sacrifices for them.
Numbers 8:21 21 And the Levites purified themselves and washed their
clothes; then Aaron presented them like a wave offering before the Lord, and Aaron made atonement for them to cleanse them.
YLT
21And the Levites cleanse
themselves, and wash their garments, and Aaron waveth them a wave-offering
before Jehovah, and Aaron maketh atonement for them to cleanse them,
And the Levites were purified,.... From sin, by the
sprinkling of the sin water, or water of purification on them, Numbers 8:7,
and they washed their clothes; that they might have no
defilement about them, neither in their bodies, nor in their garments:
and Aaron offered them as an offering before the Lord; a wave
offering, as in Numbers 8:11,
and Aaron made an atonement for them to cleanse them; by offering
the sacrifices for them, Numbers 8:12.
Numbers 8:22 22 After that the Levites went in to do their work in the
tabernacle of meeting before Aaron and his sons; as the Lord commanded Moses concerning the Levites, so they did to them.
YLT
22and afterwards have the
Levites gone in to do their service in the tent of meeting, before Aaron and
before his sons; as Jehovah hath commanded Moses concerning the Levites, so
they have done to them.
And after that went the Levites in,.... Into the court of
the tabernacle, being at the door of it when the above rites and ceremonies of
their consecration were performed:
to do their service in the tabernacle of the congregation, before
Aaron and his sons; in their presence, and by their order, as they should direct
them:
as the Lord had commanded Moses, so did they unto them; Aaron and his
sons did to the then present Levites according to the command of God by Moses;
they exactly observed every punctilio of it, and complied with it; and this the
sons of Aaron did continually to the sons of the Levites, as Aben Ezra remarks,
in all succeeding ages; when the Levites were consecrated to their service, the
same things were done unto them that are here ordered.
Numbers 8:23 23 Then the Lord spoke to
Moses, saying,
YLT
23And Jehovah speaketh unto
Moses, saying,
And the Lord spake unto Moses,.... At the same time he
gave the instructions about the consecration of the Levites, the time of their
entrance on their service, and of leaving it, was fixed:
saying; as follows.
Numbers 8:24 24 “This is what pertains to the Levites:
From twenty-five years old and above one may enter to perform service in the
work of the tabernacle of meeting;
YLT
24`This [is] that which [is]
the Levites': from a son of five and twenty years and upward he doth go in to
serve the host in the service of the tent of meeting,
This is it that belongeth unto the Levites,.... The fixed
and settled time for their service, as is after related:
from twenty and five years old and upward, they shall go in to
wait upon the service of the tabernacle of the congregation; in Numbers 4:3; the
time for the Levites entering on the work of the tabernacle is fixed to thirty
years and upward, which Jarchi reconciles thus; at twenty five years old the
Levite goes in to learn the rites of service, and he learns five years, and when
thirty years of age he services; the same is observed by othersF23Ben
Gersom in loc. Bartenora in Pirke Abot, c. 5. sect. 21. ; but what Aben Ezra
proposes seems much better; at thirty years of age a Levite entered into the
service of bearing and carrying burdens; and at twenty five years of age he
entered into the service of the tent or tabernacle, where he was employed in
lighter service, such as opening and shutting the doors of the sanctuary,
keeping out strangers and unclean persons, and singing the songs of the
sanctuary; but was not concerned till thirty years of age in carrying the
vessels of the sanctuary on the shoulders, as the Kohathites; or in taking down
and setting up the tabernacle, loading and unloading the wagons, as the
Gershonites and Merarites; which is the business assigned unto them, and spoken
of in Numbers 4:22, where
the age of thirty years, and upward, is mentioned, as the time of their entrance
on it, Numbers 4:23.
Numbers 8:25 25 and at the age of fifty years they must cease
performing this work, and shall work no more.
YLT
25and from a son of fifty
years he doth return from the host of the service, and doth not serve any more,
And from the age of fifty years they shall cease waiting upon the
service thereof,.... The heavy service of it:
and shall serve no more; by bearing and carrying the
vessels of the sanctuary upon their shoulders, as Jarchi interprets it; this,
according to the Jewish writers, was only in force while the tabernacle was in
the wilderness, and was moved from place to place: but when it had a fixed
habitation, and that laborious service of bearing and carrying the vessels of
it ceased, years made no difference in the Levites, or disqualified them for
service; for it is saidF24Maimon. & Bartenora in Misn. Cholin,
c. 1. sect. 6. , that the Levites were not bound by this law, but in the time
of the tabernacle; but when it was at Shiloh, and at Jerusalem, where there was
no bearing and carrying upon the shoulder, the Levites were not rejected on
account of years, only for their voice, when they had lost that, and could not
sing.
Numbers 8:26 26 They may minister with their brethren in the
tabernacle of meeting, to attend to needs, but they themselves shall do
no work. Thus you shall do to the Levites regarding their duties.”
YLT
26and he hath ministered with
his brethren in the tent of meeting, to keep the charge, and doth not do
service; thus thou dost to the Levites concerning their charge.'
But shall minister with their brethren in the tabernacle of the
congregation,.... By giving advice, instructing younger Levites, and doing
lighter service. Jarchi says, they shall return to shutting of doors, singing
and loading wagons; but the last especially seems too burdensome: the ministry
of such is explained by the next clause:
to keep the charge; of the tabernacle, to watch and observe
that no stranger or unclean person enter into it; and this they were capable of
when at the age of fifty, and upwards:
and shall do no service; heavy and laborious:
thus thou shall do unto the Levites touching their charge; dismiss them
from service when at such an age, or however make their service easier; for
this respects ancient men, as Aben Ezra notes; though it may include both their
entrance on their work, and their cessation from it.
──《John Gill’s
Exposition of the Bible》