Numbers 8:24
in Numbers 8“This applies to the Levites: Men twenty-five years of age or older shall enter to perform the service in the work at the Tent of Meeting.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
This is that which belongeth unto the Levites: from twenty and five years old and upward they shall go in to wait upon the service in the work of the tent of meeting:
KJV
This is it that belongeth unto the Levites: from twenty and five years old and upward they shall go in to wait upon the service of the tabernacle of the congregation:
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This verse in Numbers 8
Commentary
7 notes on this verseFrom twenty and five years old - See the note on Num 4:3, where the two terms of twenty-five and thirty years are reconciled.
This site's exposition
from twenty and five years old and upward
on Numbers 8:24-25
Numbers 4:3 set the Levite's entry at thirty years old and upward and this verse sets it at twenty and five, and the difference stands in the text without being explained there. Adam Clarke and John Gill both carry the old reading that the five years were a training, the young Levite learning the service from twenty five and bearing it from thirty, which the Jewish teachers hold. Others read chapter 4 as the age for carrying the sanctuary on the march and this chapter as the age for the ordinary service of the tent. Fifty ends it on either reading, and no such limit is written anywhere for the priests.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
What is indicated by the twentyfifth year, in which the flower of young manhood blooms, except those battles against every vice? And what is meant by fifty, which contains the repose of the jubilee, except the internal peace that comes when the war of the …
The Medieval Church1 voice
A commentator
PateriusEXPOSITION OF THE OLD AND NEW TESTAMENT, NUMBERS 4 · Written before 606.
proposed
What is indicated by the twenty-fifth year, in which the flower of young manhood blooms, except those battles against every vice? And what is meant by fifty, which contains the repose of the jubilee, except the internal peace that comes when the war of the …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
The work then required that strength of body and the work now requires that maturity of judgment and steadiness of behaviour which men rarely arrive at till about that age; and novices are in danger of being lifted up with pride. They were to have a writ of ease at fifty years old; then they were to return from the warfare, as the phrase is (
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
This is it that belongeth unto the Levites,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Twenty and five years old and upward - The permanent limit as distinguished from the temporary Num 4:3, Num 4:23, Num 4:30, though David found it necessary to extend the period of the Levites’ service by causing it to commence at 20 years of age 1Ch 23:24-28. This rule continued in force from the time of David downward (compare on 2Ch 31:17; Ezr 3:8).
The words behind it
14 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| זֹ֖את | zot | this | H2063 → | 603 times |
| אֲשֶׁ֣ר | ʾasher | [is that] which | H834 → | 5497 times |
| לַלְוִיִּ֑ם | lalviyim | [is] to the Levites | H3881 → | 291 times |
| מִבֶּן֩ | miben | from a son of | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| חָמֵ֨שׁ | chamesh | five | H2568 → | 343 times |
| וְעֶשְׂרִ֤ים | veesrim | and twenty | H6242 → | 315 times |
| שָׁנָה֙ | shanah | year[s] | H8141 → | 877 times |
| וָמַ֔עְלָה | vama'lah | and up -wards | H4605 → | 140 times |
| יָבוֹא֙ | yavo' | he will go | H935 → | 2568 times |
| לִצְבֹ֣א | litzvo' | to serve | H6633 → | 14 times |
| צָבָ֔א | tzava' | service | H6635 → | 485 times |
| בַּעֲבֹדַ֖ת | baavodat | in [the] service of | H5656 → | 145 times |
| אֹ֥הֶל | ʾohel | [the] tent of | H168 → | 345 times |
| מוֹעֵֽד׃ | moed | meeting | H4150 → | 223 times |
זֹ֖אתthis
zotH2063 →603 times
אֲשֶׁ֣ר[is that] which
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
לַלְוִיִּ֑ם[is] to the Levites
lalviyimH3881 →291 times
מִבֶּן֩from a son of
mibenH1121 →4930 times
חָמֵ֨שׁfive
chameshH2568 →343 times
וְעֶשְׂרִ֤יםand twenty
veesrimH6242 →315 times
שָׁנָה֙year[s]
shanahH8141 →877 times
וָמַ֔עְלָהand up -wards
vama'lahH4605 →140 times
יָבוֹא֙he will go
yavo'H935 →2568 times
לִצְבֹ֣אto serve
litzvo'H6633 →14 times
צָבָ֔אservice
tzava'H6635 →485 times
בַּעֲבֹדַ֖תin [the] service of
baavodatH5656 →145 times
אֹ֥הֶל[the] tent of
ʾohelH168 →345 times
מוֹעֵֽד׃meeting
moedH4150 →223 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
Numbers 4:23from thirty to fifty years old, counting everyone who comes to serve in the work at the Tent of Meeting.
it leads to
- Numbers 4:3
men from thirty to fifty years old—everyone who is qualified to serve in the work at the Tent of Meeting.
- 1 Timothy 1:18
Timothy, my child, I entrust you with this command in keeping with the previous prophecies about you, so that by them you may fight the good fight,
- Numbers 4:3
Through
Numbers 4:3men from thirty to fifty years old—everyone who is qualified to serve in the work at the Tent of Meeting.
it leads to
- Numbers 4:23
from thirty to fifty years old, counting everyone who comes to serve in the work at the Tent of Meeting.
- Luke 3:23
Jesus Himself was about thirty years old when He began His ministry. He was regarded as the son of Joseph, the son of Heli,
- 2 Kings 11:4–12
Then in the seventh year, Jehoiada sent for the commanders of hundreds, the Carites, and the guards, and had them brought into the house of the LORD. There he made a covenant with them…
- Ephesians 6:10–18
Finally, be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power.
- Numbers 8:24–26
“This applies to the Levites: Men twenty-five years of age or older shall enter to perform the service in the work at the Tent of Meeting.
- Numbers 4:23
Through
1 Chronicles 23:3The Levites thirty years of age or older were counted, and the total number of men was 38,000.
it leads to
- 1 Chronicles 23:24
These were the descendants of Levi by their families—the heads of families, registered individually by name—those twenty years of age or older who worked in the service of the house of the LORD.
- 1 Chronicles 23:24
About Numbers
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Pacian of Barcelona, Commentary (church-history corpus) and Paterius, EXPOSITION OF THE OLD AND NEW TESTAMENT, NUMBERS 4.