Numbers 1:50
in Numbers 1Instead, you are to appoint the Levites over the tabernacle of the Testimony, all its furnishings, and everything in it. They shall carry the tabernacle and all its articles, care for it, and camp around it.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
but appoint thou the Levites over the tabernacle of the testimony, and over all the furniture thereof, and over all that belongeth to it: they shall bear the tabernacle, and all the furniture thereof; and they shall minister unto it, and shall encamp round about the tabernacle.
KJV
But thou shalt appoint the Levites over the tabernacle of testimony, and over all the vessels thereof, and over all things that belong to it: they shall bear the tabernacle, and all the vessels thereof; and they shall minister unto it, and shall encamp round about the tabernacle.
⋯
This verse in Numbers 1
Commentary
5 notes on this verseThe tabernacle of testimony - So called here, and Exod. xxxviii, 21, because it was made chiefly for the sake of the ark of the testimony, which is often called the testimony.
This site's exposition
thou shalt appoint the Levites over the tabernacle of testimony
on Numbers 1:50-53
Levi is taken off one service and put to another, taking the tabernacle down, setting it up, bearing it and camping around it. The stranger that cometh nigh shall be put to death, and the stranger meant is any Israelite outside Levi, a rule repeated at 3:10, 3:38 and 18:7 and tested by Korah in chapter 16. Israel pitches by standard at a distance, Levi forms a ring between, and verse 53 states the reason outright, that there be no wrath upon the congregation. The word standard occurs at verse 52 for the first time in Scripture, before chapter 2 names the four.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
But thou shalt appoint the Levites over the tabernacle of testimony,....
Thus we all are unfit and unworthy to have fellowship with God until we are first called by his grace into the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, and so, being the spiritual seed of that great high priest, are made priests to our God; and it is promised that God would take Levites to himself, even from the Gentiles, Isa. lxvi.
Note, Great care must be taken to prevent sin, because the preventing of sin is the preventing of wrath. It was their further honour that as Israel, being a holy people, was not reckoned among the nations, so they, being a holy tribe, were not reckoned among other Israelites, but numbered afterwards by themselves,
The words behind it
26 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְאַתָּ֡ה | veatah | and you | H859 → | 1094 times |
| הַפְקֵ֣ד | hafked | appoint | H6485 → | 303 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| הַלְוִיִּם֩ | halviyim | the Levites | H3881 → | 291 times |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | over | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| מִשְׁכַּ֨ן | mishkan | [the] tabernacle of | H4908 → | 139 times |
| הָעֵדֻ֜ת | haedut | the testimony | H5715 → | 59 times |
| וְעַ֣ל | veal | and over | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| כָּל־ | kol- | all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| כֵּלָיו֮ | kelav | articles its | H3627 → | 325 times |
| וְעַ֣ל | veal | and over | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| כָּל־ | kol- | all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| אֲשֶׁר־ | ʾasher- | that | H834 → | 5497 times |
| לוֹ֒ | lo | [belongs] to <the> it | ||
| הֵ֜מָּה | hemah | they | H1992 → | 553 times |
| יִשְׂא֤וּ | yisu | they will carry | H5375 → | 656 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| הַמִּשְׁכָּן֙ | hamishkan | the tabernacle | H4908 → | 139 times |
| וְאֶת־ | veet | and <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| כָּל־ | kol- | all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| כֵּלָ֔יו | kelav | articles its | H3627 → | 325 times |
| וְהֵ֖ם | vehem | and they | H1992 → | 553 times |
| יְשָׁרְתֻ֑הוּ | yeshartuhu | they will serve it | H8334 → | 97 times |
| וְסָבִ֥יב | vesaviv | and around | H5439 → | 336 times |
| לַמִּשְׁכָּ֖ן | lamishkan | <to> the tabernacle | H4908 → | 139 times |
| יַחֲנֽוּ׃ | yachanu | they will encamp | H2583 → | 143 times |
וְאַתָּ֡הand you
veatahH859 →1094 times
הַפְקֵ֣דappoint
hafkedH6485 →303 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
הַלְוִיִּם֩the Levites
halviyimH3881 →291 times
עַל־over
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
מִשְׁכַּ֨ן[the] tabernacle of
mishkanH4908 →139 times
הָעֵדֻ֜תthe testimony
haedutH5715 →59 times
וְעַ֣לand over
vealH5921 →5755 times
כָּל־all
kol-H3605 →5413 times
כֵּלָיו֮articles its
kelavH3627 →325 times
וְעַ֣לand over
vealH5921 →5755 times
כָּל־all
kol-H3605 →5413 times
אֲשֶׁר־that
ʾasher-H834 →5497 times
לוֹ֒[belongs] to <the> it
lo
הֵ֜מָּהthey
hemahH1992 →553 times
יִשְׂא֤וּthey will carry
yisuH5375 →656 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
הַמִּשְׁכָּן֙the tabernacle
hamishkanH4908 →139 times
וְאֶת־and <obj.>
veetH853 →10935 times
כָּל־all
kol-H3605 →5413 times
כֵּלָ֔יוarticles its
kelavH3627 →325 times
וְהֵ֖םand they
vehemH1992 →553 times
יְשָׁרְתֻ֑הוּthey will serve it
yeshartuhuH8334 →97 times
וְסָבִ֥יבand around
vesavivH5439 →336 times
לַמִּשְׁכָּ֖ן<to> the tabernacle
lamishkanH4908 →139 times
יַחֲנֽוּ׃they will encamp
yachanuH2583 →143 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Exodus 31:18When the LORD had finished speaking with Moses on Mount Sinai, He gave him the two tablets of the Testimony, tablets of stone inscribed by the finger of God.
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 4:13
He declared to you His covenant, which He commanded you to follow—the Ten Commandments that He wrote on two tablets of stone.
- Exodus 32:15–16
Then Moses turned and went down the mountain with the two tablets of the Testimony in his hands. They were inscribed on both sides, front and back.
- Deuteronomy 5:22
The LORD spoke these commandments in a loud voice to your whole assembly out of the fire, the cloud, and the deep darkness on the mountain; He added nothing more. And He wrote them…
- Exodus 24:12
Then the LORD said to Moses, “Come up to Me on the mountain and stay here, so that I may give you the tablets of stone, with the law and commandments I have written…
- Exodus 8:19
“This is the finger of God,” the magicians said to Pharaoh. But Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he would not listen to them, just as the LORD had said.
- Deuteronomy 4:13
Through
Numbers 4:15When Aaron and his sons have finished covering the holy objects and all their equipment, as soon as the camp is ready to move, the Kohathites shall come and do the carrying. But they…
it leads to
- 2 Samuel 6:6–7
When they came to the threshing floor of Nacon, Uzzah reached out and took hold of the ark of God, because the oxen had stumbled.
- Numbers 7:9
But he did not give any to the Kohathites, since they were to carry on their shoulders the holy objects for which they were responsible.
- Deuteronomy 31:9
So Moses wrote down this law and gave it to the priests, the sons of Levi, who carried the ark of the covenant of the LORD, and to all the elders of Israel.
- 2 Samuel 6:6–7
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Numbers

This page draws on John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: The Pentateuch and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.
