Skip to content
mannafest.faith

Numbers 4:12

in Numbers 4

They are to take all the utensils for serving in the sanctuary, place them in a blue cloth, cover them with fine leather, and put them on the carrying frame.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

and they shall take all the vessels of ministry, wherewith they minister in the sanctuary, and put them in a cloth of blue, and cover them with a covering of sealskin, and shall put them on the frame.

KJV

And they shall take all the instruments of ministry, wherewith they minister in the sanctuary, and put them in a cloth of blue, and cover them with a covering of badgers’ skins, and shall put them on a bar:

This verse in Numbers 4

Commentary

5 notes on this verse

This site's exposition

cover the lampstand used for light

on Numbers 4:9-14

The packing runs outward from the ark. The lampstand and loose utensils go on “the carrying frame”, since only the ark, the table and the two altars had poles of their own.

This site's exposition

all the utensils for serving in the sanctuary

Jamieson, Fausset and Brown, citing Exodus 31:10, take these as the priests' official dress, and John Wesley and John Gill read them the same way. Gill says they were bundled in one cloth and carried on a frame like the lampstand's. The priests' clothing traveled with the holy things.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices

A commentator

John Wesley

1703–1791

Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)

proposed

For safety, that these holy things might not be filled by rain, or tarnished by the sun. For decency, most of them had a cloth of blue, or purple, or scarlet over them; the ark, a cloth wholly of blue, perhaps an emblem of the azure skies, which are spread between us and the Majesty on high; It was a fit sign of the darkness of that dispensation.
And they shall take all the instruments of ministry, wherewith they minister in the sanctuary,.... The garments in which the priests, ministered in the sanctuary, which were laid up in proper places, and which they only wore when in service: and put them in a cloth of blue, and cover them with a covering of badgers' skins; all wrapped up in one bundle: and shall put them on a bar; the same sort of carriage on which the candlestick and its vessels were borne; see Gill on Num 4:10.

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

proposed

But when the cloud removed from the tabernacle, the sanctuary might be entered by the common priests, as to them was reserved the exclusive privilege of packing the sacred utensils; and it was not till the holy things were thus ready for carriage, that the Kohathites were allowed to approach.

The words behind it

21 Hebrew words

Every 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.

  • וְלָקְחוּ֩and they will take

    velakechuH3947 →966 times

  • אֶת־<obj.>

    ʾet-H853 →10935 times

  • כָּל־all

    kol-H3605 →5413 times

  • כְּלֵ֨י[the] articles of

    keleiH3627 →325 times

  • הַשָּׁרֵ֜ת<the> service

    hasharetH8335 →

  • אֲשֶׁ֧רwhich

    ʾasherH834 →5497 times

  • יְשָֽׁרְתוּ־they will serve

    yesharetu-H8334 →97 times

  • בָ֣םby <the> them

    vam

  • בַּקֹּ֗דֶשׁin the holy place

    bakodeshH6944 →469 times

  • וְנָֽתְנוּ֙and they will put [them]

    venatenuH5414 →2011 times

  • אֶל־into

    ʾel-H413 →5510 times

  • בֶּ֣גֶדa covering of

    begedH899 →217 times

  • תְּכֵ֔לֶתviolet stuff

    tekheletH8504 →49 times

  • וְכִסּ֣וּand they will cover

    vekhisuH3680 →152 times

  • אוֹתָ֔ם<obj.> them

    ʾotamH853 →10935 times

  • בְּמִכְסֵ֖הwith a covering of

    bemikhsehH4372 →16 times

  • ע֣וֹרskin of

    orH5785 →99 times

  • תָּ֑חַשׁdolphin

    tachashH8476 →14 times

  • וְנָתְנ֖וּand they will put [them]

    venatenuH5414 →2011 times

  • עַל־on

    ʾal-H5921 →5755 times

  • הַמּֽוֹט׃the carrying frame

    hamotH4132 →6 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

The walk

8 stops

Each 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 25:9

    You must make the tabernacle and design all its furnishings according to the pattern I show you.

    it leads to

    • Exodus 25:40

      See to it that you make everything according to the pattern shown you on the mountain.

    • Hebrews 8:5

      The place where they serve is a copy and shadow of what is in heaven. This is why Moses was warned when he was about to build the tabernacle: “See to it that you…

    • Acts 7:44

      Our fathers had the tabernacle of the Testimony with them in the wilderness. It was constructed exactly as God had directed Moses, according to the pattern he had seen.

    • Hebrews 9:9

      It is an illustration for the present time, because the gifts and sacrifices being offered were unable to cleanse the conscience of the worshiper.

    • 1 Chronicles 28:11–19

      Then David gave his son Solomon the plans for the portico of the temple, its buildings, storehouses, upper rooms, inner rooms, and the room for the mercy seat.

  • Through

    1 Chronicles 9:29

    Others were put in charge of the furnishings and other articles of the sanctuary, as well as the fine flour, wine, oil, frankincense, and spices.

    it leads to

    • 1 Chronicles 23:29

      as well as for the rows of the showbread, the fine flour for the grain offering, the wafers of unleavened bread, the baking, the mixing, and all measurements of quantity and size.

    • Exodus 30:23–38

      “Take the finest spices: 500 shekels of liquid myrrh, half that amount (250 shekels) of fragrant cinnamon, 250 shekels of fragrant cane,

  • Through

    Numbers 4:7

    Over the table of the Presence they are to spread a blue cloth and place the plates and cups on it, along with the bowls and pitchers for the drink offering. The regular bread…

    it leads to

    • Leviticus 24:5–8

      You are also to take fine flour and bake twelve loaves, using two-tenths of an ephah for each loaf,

Where this verse is studied

About Numbers

The Brazen Serpent, Anthony van Dyck, 1618 to 1620. Public domain.
The Brazen Serpent, Anthony van Dyck, 1618 to 1620. Public domain.

This page draws on Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; 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.