Numbers 4:24
in Numbers 4This is the service of the Gershonite clans regarding work and transport:
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
This is the service of the families of the Gershonites, in serving and in bearing burdens:
KJV
This is the service of the families of the Gershonites, to serve, and for burdens:
⋯
This verse in Numbers 4
Commentary
6 notes on this verseThis is the service of the families of the Gershonites, to serve, and for burdens. The former of these phrases Aben Ezra interprets of setting up the tabernacle, making the bread (the shewbread), slaying (the sacrifices), and keeping, that is, watching and guarding, the tabernacle; and the latter of what they did when journeying, bearing and carrying the things assigned to them, afterwards mentioned.
This site's exposition
And the LORD said to Moses
on Numbers 4:21-28
Gershon's charge is the fabric of the tent: curtains, coverings, entrance curtains, courtyard curtains and ropes. Verse 27 puts every load under Aaron and his sons, “you are to assign to them all that they are responsible to carry”.
This site's exposition
regarding work and transport
The service had two halves. John Gill reports Aben Ezra's division: the work covers the tasks at a standing tent, and the transport the loads on the march. Aben Ezra counted the setting up of the tent, the making of the bread, the slaughtering and the guarding as the work.
The record, by era
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
A commentator
Charles Spurgeon1834–1892
The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 2829: “Lowly Service” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition) · Written before 1892.
THIS is the gist of the whole matter—"This is the service of the families of the Gershonites, to serve, and for burdens: and they shall bear . . . so shall they serve." The Gershonites were part of the tribe of Levi which God selected, instead of the first-born of all Israel, to serve Him in a very special manner. They were to act as the representatives and substitutes for all the first-born, who were set apart, as the Lord's in a very peculiar sense.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
This is the service of the families of the Gershonites, &c.--They were appointed to carry "the curtains of the tabernacle"--that is, the goats' hair covering of the tent--the ten curious curtains and embroidered hangings at the entrance, with their red morocco covering, &c.
A commentator
Charles Spurgeon1834–1892
The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 2829: “Lowly Service” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition) · Written before 1892.
proposed
THIS is the gist of the whole matter—"This is the service of the families of the Gershonites, to serve, and for burdens: and they shall bear . . . so shall they serve." The Gershonites were part of the tribe of Levi which God selected, instead of the first-born of all Israel, to serve Him in a very special manner. They were to act as the representatives and substitutes for all the first-born, who were set apart, as the Lord's in a very peculiar sense. The Levites were, therefore, to be regarded as the first-born—a name which is applied by the Apostle Paul to all the regenerate when he speaks of "the general assembly and church of the first-born, which are written in Heaven." Jesus Christ is the true First-Born and all Believers are predestinated to be conformed to the image of Him who is "the First-Born among many brethren." The chapter we read tells us how the Levites were to be consecrated to their service. They were to be sprinkled with the water of separation and both their bodies and their clothes were to be washed with water. "Be you clean, that bear the vessels of the Lord," is an injunction that is still binding upon Believers. We need to have both the water and the blood applied to us to prepare us for our solemn life-service as the consecrated Levites of God. "You are God's clergy," says the Apostle, according to the original. All who believe in Jesus, all the twice-born, all who are washed in His precious blood, all who are set apart by the Holy Spirit, are God's clerics, dedicated to His service even as the Levites were of old. Besides this, the Levites had all the hair of their bodies shaved off, as if to show us that in the day when we are consecrated to God, even our external life becomes changed.
The words behind it
6 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| זֹ֣את | zot | this | H2063 → | 603 times |
| עֲבֹדַ֔ת | ʾavodat | [is] [the] service of | H5656 → | 145 times |
| מִשְׁפְּחֹ֖ת | mishpechot | [the] clans of | H4940 → | 303 times |
| הַגֵּרְשֻׁנִּ֑י | hagereshuni | the Gershonite[s] | H1649 → | 13 times |
| לַעֲבֹ֖ד | laavod | to serve | H5647 → | 288 times |
| וּלְמַשָּֽׂא׃ | ulemasa' | and for carrying | H4853 → | 66 times |
זֹ֣אתthis
zotH2063 →603 times
עֲבֹדַ֔ת[is] [the] service of
ʾavodatH5656 →145 times
מִשְׁפְּחֹ֖ת[the] clans of
mishpechotH4940 →303 times
הַגֵּרְשֻׁנִּ֑יthe Gershonite[s]
hagereshuniH1649 →13 times
לַעֲבֹ֖דto serve
laavodH5647 →288 times
וּלְמַשָּֽׂא׃and for carrying
ulemasa'H4853 →66 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 4:15When 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.
- 1 Chronicles 13:9–10
When they came to the threshing floor of Chidon, Uzzah reached out and took hold of the ark, because the oxen had stumbled.
- Numbers 10:21
Then the Kohathites set out, transporting the holy objects; the tabernacle was to be set up before their arrival.
- 2 Samuel 6:6–7
Through
Numbers 4:47from thirty to fifty years old who came to do the work of serving and carrying the Tent of Meeting.
it leads to
- Numbers 4:15
When 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…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Romans 12:6–8
We have different gifts according to the grace given us. If one’s gift is prophecy, let him use it in proportion to his faith;
- 1 Corinthians 12:4–31
There are different gifts, but the same Spirit.
- Numbers 4:15
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Numbers
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; Charles Spurgeon, The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 2829: “Lowly Service” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament.