🔢WEB · Numbers 3:31
What does Numbers 3:31 mean?
"Their duty shall be the ark, the table, the lamp stand, the altars, the vessels of the sanctuary with which they minister, and the screen, and all its service."
— Numbers 3:31 (World English Bible)
Surrounding context
According to the number of all the males, from a month old and upward, there were eight thousand six hundred, keeping the requirements of the sanctuary.
The families of the sons of Kohath shall encamp on the south side of the tabernacle.
The prince of the fathers’ house of the families of the Kohathites shall be Elizaphan the son of Uzziel.
Their duty shall be the ark, the table, the lamp stand, the altars, the vessels of the sanctuary with which they minister, and the screen, and all its service.
Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest shall be prince of the princes of the Levites, with the oversight of those who keep the requirements of the sanctuary.
Of Merari was the family of the Mahlites, and the family of the Mushites. These are the families of Merari.
Those who were counted of them, according to the number of all the males, from a month old and upward, were six thousand two hundred.
Explanation
Numbers 3:31 is describing the specific job assignment given to one branch of the Levite tribe, the Kohathites, during Israel's time in the wilderness. In plain language, it says that this group was responsible for the most sacred furnishings of the Tabernacle: the Ark of the Covenant, the table for the bread of the presence, the golden lampstand, the altars (both the altar of incense and the altar of burnt offering), the various sacred vessels used in worship, and the veil or screen that separated the Holy Place from the Most Holy Place. Essentially, they were charged with the core objects of Israel's worship system.
The context is the broader organization of the Levites recorded in Numbers 3 and 4. After Israel left Egypt and built the Tabernacle at Mount Sinai, God set apart the tribe of Levi for special service instead of ordinary military or agricultural roles like the other tribes. Moses, under God's direction, divided the Levites into three clans—Gershon, Kohath,
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