Numbers 4:1-3

New English Translation

Footnotes

1. Numbers 4:1 sn The chapter has four main parts to it: Kohathites (1-20), Gershonites (21-28), Merarites (29-33) and the census of the Levites (34-49).
2. Numbers 4:2 tn Heb “lift up the head.” The form נָשֹׂא (nasoʾ) is the Qal infinitive absolute functioning here as a pure verb form. This serves to emphasize the basic verbal root idea (see GKC 346 §113.bb).sn The census of chapter 3 was to register all male Levites from a month old and up. It arranged the general duties of each of the tribes. The second census of Levites now will focus on those between 30 and 50 years of age, those who were actually in service. These are the working Levites. The duties here will be more specific for each of the families. The Kohathites, although part of the ordinary ministry of Levites, were a special group chosen to handle the most holy furnishings. J. Milgrom shows three aspects of their service: (1) skilled labor (מְלָאכָה, m^elaʾkhah) or “work,” (2) physical labor (עֲבֹדָה, ʿavodah) or “service,” and (3) assisting the priests (שָׁרֵת, sharet) or “ministering” (see his Studies in Levitical Terminology, 1:60-70).
3. Numbers 4:3 tn The word “company” is literally “host, army” (צָבָא, tsavaʾ). The repetition of similar expressions makes the translation difficult: Heb “all [who] come to the host to do work in the tent.”