The Levite families: the Kohathites
1 Yahweh spoke to Moses and Aaron. He said:
2 “Take a census of those Le vites who are sons of Kohath, by sub-clans and families
3 count all the men between thirty and fifty years of age, those able to give military service who will be given tasks in the Tent of Meeting.
4 These are the duties of the sons of Kohath in the Tent of Meeting: they are to have charge of the most holy things.
5 When it is time to move from the camp, Aaron and his sons are to come and take down the veil of the screen. With it they shall cover up the ark of the Statement.
6 On top of this they shall put a covering of fine leather, and spread over the whole a cloth all of violet. Then they are to fix the poles to the ark.
7 Over the offertory table they are to spread a violet cloth and put on it the dishes, cups, bowls and jars for the wine offering; the bread offered to the Lord shall be perpetually on it.
8 Over these they shall spread a cloth of scarlet and cover the whole with a covering of fine leather. Then they are to fix the poles to the table.
9 They are then to take a cloth of violet and cover the light-bearing lampstand together with the lamps, tongs, trays and all the oil jars that belong to it.
10 They are to put it, with all its utensils, on a covering of fine leather and place it on the carrying frame.
11 Over the golden altar they must spread a violet cloth, and cover that with a covering of fine leather. Then they are to fix the poles to it.
12 They are also to take all the other objects used in the service of the sanctuary. They must put them all on a violet cloth, cover them with a covering of fine leather and place them together on the carrying frame.
13 When they have removed the ashes from the altar, they must spread a scarlet cloth over it,
14 and place on this all the objects used in the service at the altar: the fire pans, hooks, shovels, sprinkling basins and all the altar vessels. Over the whole they must spread a covering of fine leather. Then they are to fix the poles to it.
15 When Aaron and his sons have finished cov ering all the sacred objects and all the equip ment in preparation for moving from camp, the sons of Kohath are to come to carry the sacred things, but with out touching any of them; otherwise they would die. This is the duty given to the sons of Kohath in the Tent of Meeting.
16 Eleazar, son of Aaron the priest, is to watch over the oil for the light, the sweet-smelling incense, the grain offerings and the anointing oil; he must watch over the whole Holy Tent and everything in it: the sacred objects and their equipment.”
17 Yahweh spoke to Moses and Aaron. He said:
18 “Do not let the families of Kohath be cut off from the number of the Levites.
19 This is what you shall do for them, lest they die when they approach the most holy things: Aaron and his sons must go in and assign to each of them his task.
20 In this way they can go in and yet not look, even for a moment, on any of the holy things; if they do, they will die.”
The Gershonite families
21 Yahweh spoke to Moses and said to him:
22 “Take a census also of the sons of Ger shon, by families and sub-clans:
23 count the men between thirty and fifty years of age, those able to give military service, who will be given tasks in the Tent of Meeting.
24 These are the duties of the Ger shonites:
25 They are to carry the curtains of the Holy Tent, the Tent of Meeting with its covering and the other covering of fine leather that goes over it,
26 the screen for the entrance to the Tent of Meeting, the curtains for the court, the screen for the entrance to the court that is around the Holy Tent and the altar, the ropes and all the necessary equipment.
27 They are to be responsible for these things. These are the duties of the sons of Gershon. Their functions and their tasks are to be carried out under the direction of Aaron and his sons: you must see that they fulfill their duties.
28 Such shall be the duties of the Gershonites in the Tent of Meeting. Their work will be supervised by Ithamar, son of Aaron the priest.
The Merarite families
29 You are to count the sons of Merari, by sub-clans and families.
30 Count all the men between thirty and fifty years of age, those able to give military service, who will be given tasks in the Tent of Meeting.
31 The burden they are to carry and the duties that are to fall to them in the Tent of Meeting shall be as follows: the framework of the Holy Tent, its crossbars, its posts and bases,
32 the posts around the court with their bases, pegs, ropes and all the fittings used in setting them up. You are to draw up a list of their names with the duty that each man must fulfill.
33 These are the duties of the Merarite clans. All their duties in the Tent of Meet ing will be supervised by Ithamar, son of Aaron the priest.”
Census of the Levites
34 Moses, Aaron and the leaders of the community took a census of the sons of Kohath, by sub-clans and families,
35 of every man between thirty and fifty years of age, able to give military service and to be given tasks in the Tent of Meet ing,
36 the total of their clans was 2,750 men.
37 This was the number of the Kohathites, of all those who were given tasks in the Tent of Meeting whom Moses and Aaron counted at the Lord’s command given through Moses.
38 A census was taken of the sons of Ger shon,
39 by sub-clans and families, of every man between thirty and fifty years of age able to give military service and to be given tasks in the Tent of Meeting.
40 The total was 2,630 men.
41 This was the number of the Gershonites, of all those who were given tasks in the Tent of Meeting, whom Moses and Aaron counted at the Lord’s command.
42 A census was taken of the sons of Merari, by sub-clans and families,
43 of every man between thirty and fifty years of age, able to give military service and to be given tasks in the Tent of Meeting.
44 The total was 3,200 men.
45 This was the number of the Merarites whom Moses and Aaron counted at the Lord’s command through Moses.
46 The total number of Levites, counted according to clans and families—
47 all the men between thirty and fifty years of age, able to give military service and to be given tasks of carry ing burdens in the Tent of Meeting
48 amounted to 8,580.
49 At Yahweh’s command given through Moses, the census was taken to assign to every man his duty and his task; they were numbered as Yahweh had commanded Moses.
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Comments Numbers, Chapter 4
• 4.1 In Israel, every male born into the tribe of Levi was automatically a priest. Be sides, each family of that tribe was destined for some form of service. This is the lesson taught in the description of the census taking of the tribe of Levi. The Levites, con secrated to God’s service for their whole lives (and that of their sons) were, by their very presence, reminding Israel that they were a people destined for the service of God.
This Israelite clergy still had its place in the Temple at the time of Christ. From the very beginning the Church was free of this type of priesthood. For her there was no longer a “House of God” among the houses of the people (Jn 2:19; Rev 21:22): Jesus was the New Temple “for in Him dwells the fullness of God in bodily form” (Col 2:9). From then on the church no longer needs a “clergy” assuring the service of the Temple, it no longer needs “Levites.” What the church needs now are “ministers” who by their different services assure the growth of the entire Body (Eph 4:11-12).
But through the centuries the Church developed; entire nations following their king or prince joined the new religion and were baptized. The great majority of humans feel the need of a religion, without having heard the call to faith. So a majority was Christian simply because Christianity had dethroned ancient beliefs. In christiandom centuries, the Church became what the ancient Israel had been: a religious people animated by an invisible network of believers. Already the extension of Christian communities, those who worship in churches replacing meetings in private houses, had prepared the ground for more demanding ministries: the new situation originated a return to the perspectives of the Old Testa ment. From then on “priests” and “clergy” were needed to serve the “faithful,” those who “were only baptized.”
It was not until the twentieth century that baptism was reevaluated. Then it became clearer that ministries were needed but not all the ministries had to be entrusted to a celibate clergy, recruited in their youth and formed in seminaries, rather than being chosen within the Christian community for the gifts they proved to have.
Put out of the camp… (5:2). Let us not forget that all of this was written in figurative language. The camp stood for the Holy Place, for the Tem ple. It was a way of saying which people were not allowed to enter the Temple.