The Levite families: the Kohathites
1 ① Yahweh spoke to Moses and Aaron. He said: 2“Take a census of those Levites who are sons of Kohath, by sub-clans and families 3count all the men between thirty and fifty years of age, those able to give military service who will be given tasks in the Tent of Meeting.
4These are the duties of the sons of Kohath in the Tent of Meeting: they are to have charge of the most holy things. 5When it is time to move from the camp, Aaron and his sons are to come and take down the veil of the screen. With it they shall cover up the ark of the Statement. 6On top of this they shall put a covering of fine leather, and spread over the whole a cloth all of violet. Then they are to fix the poles to the ark.
7Over the offertory table they are to spread a violet cloth and put on it the dishes, cups, bowls and jars for the wine offering; the bread offered to the Lord shall be perpetually on it. 8Over these they shall spread a cloth of scarlet and cover the whole with a covering of fine leather. Then they are to fix the poles to the table.
9They are then to take a cloth of violet and cover the light-bearing lampstand together with the lamps, tongs, trays and all the oil jars that belong to it. 10They are to put it, with all its utensils, on a covering of fine leather and place it on the carrying frame.
11Over the golden altar they must spread a violet cloth, and cover that with a covering of fine leather. Then they are to fix the poles to it.
12They are also to take all the other objects used in the service of the sanctuary. They must put them all on a violet cloth, cover them with a covering of fine leather and place them together on the carrying frame.
13When they have removed the ashes from the altar, they must spread a scarlet cloth over it, 14and place on this all the objects used in the service at the altar: the fire pans, hooks, shovels, sprinkling basins and all the altar vessels. Over the whole they must spread a covering of fine leather. Then they are to fix the poles to it.
15When Aaron and his sons have finished covering all the sacred objects and all the equipment in preparation for moving from camp, the sons of Kohath are to come to carry the sacred things, but without touching any of them; otherwise they would die. This is the duty given to the sons of Kohath in the Tent of Meeting. 16Eleazar, son of Aaron the priest, is to watch over the oil for the light, the sweet-smelling incense, the grain offerings and the anointing oil; he must watch over the whole Holy Tent and everything in it: the sacred objects and their equipment.”
17Yahweh spoke to Moses and Aaron. He said: 18“Do not let the families of Kohath be cut off from the number of the Levites. 19This is what you shall do for them, lest they die when they approach the most holy things: Aaron and his sons must go in and assign to each of them his task. 20In this way they can go in and yet not look, even for a moment, on any of the holy things; if they do, they will die.”
The Gershonite families
21Yahweh spoke to Moses and said to him:
22“Take a census also of the sons of Ger shon, by families and sub-clans: 23count the men between thirty and fifty years of age, those able to give military service, who will be given tasks in the Tent of Meeting.
24These are the duties of the Gershonites: 25They are to carry the curtains of the Holy Tent, the Tent of Meeting with its covering and the other covering of fine leather that goes over it, 26the screen for the entrance to the Tent of Meeting, the curtains for the court, the screen for the entrance to the court that is around the Holy Tent and the altar, the ropes and all the necessary equipment.
27They are to be responsible for these things. These are the duties of the sons of Gershon. Their functions and their tasks are to be carried out under the direction of Aaron and his sons: you must see that they fulfill their duties. 28Such shall be the duties of the Gershonites in the Tent of Meeting. Their work will be supervised by Ithamar, son of Aaron the priest.
The Merarite families
29You are to count the sons of Merari, by sub-clans and families. 30Count all the men between thirty and fifty years of age, those able to give military service, who will be given tasks in the Tent of Meeting.
31The burden they are to carry and the duties that are to fall to them in the Tent of Meeting shall be as follows: the framework of the Holy Tent, its crossbars, its posts and bases, 32the posts around the court with their bases, pegs, ropes and all the fittings used in setting them up. You are to draw up a list of their names with the duty that each man must fulfill.
33These are the duties of the Merarite clans. All their duties in the Tent of Meeting will be supervised by Ithamar, son of Aaron the priest.”
Census of the Levites
34Moses, Aaron and the leaders of the community took a census of the sons of Kohath, by sub-clans and families, 35of every man between thirty and fifty years of age, able to give military service and to be given tasks in the Tent of Meeting, 36the total of their clans was 2,750 men. 37This was the number of the Kohathites, of all those who were given tasks in the Tent of Meeting whom Moses and Aaron counted at the Lord’s command given through Moses.
38A census was taken of the sons of Gershon, 39by sub-clans and families, of every man between thirty and fifty years of age able to give military service and to be given tasks in the Tent of Meeting. 40The total was 2,630 men. 41This was the number of the Gershonites, of all those who were given tasks in the Tent of Meeting, whom Moses and Aaron counted at the Lord’s command.
42A census was taken of the sons of Merari, by sub-clans and families, 43of every man between thirty and fifty years of age, able to give military service and to be given tasks in the Tent of Meeting. 44The total was 3,200 men. 45This was the number of the Merarites whom Moses and Aaron counted at the Lord’s command through Moses.
46The total number of Levites, counted according to clans and families — 47all the men between thirty and fifty years of age, able to give military service and to be given tasks of carrying burdens in the Tent of Meeting 48amounted to 8,580. 49At Yahweh’s command given through Moses, the census was taken to assign to every man his duty and his task; they were numbered as Yahweh had commanded Moses.
- Num 4,1 In Israel, every male born into the tribe of Levi was automatically a priest. Besides, each family of that tribe was destined for some form of service. This is the lesson taught in the description of the census taking of the tribe of Levi. The Levites, consecrated to God's service for their whole lives (and that of their sons) were, by their very presence, reminding Israel that they were a people destined for the service of God. This Israelite clergy still had its place in the Temple at the time of Christ. From the very beginning the Church was free of this type of priesthood. For her there was no longer a House of God among the houses of the people (Jn 2:19; Rev 21:22): Jesus was the New Temple where the plenitude of the divinity dwells (Col 2:9). From then on the church no longer needs a clergy assuring the service of the Temple, it no longer needs Levites. What the church needs now are ministers who by their different services assure the growth of the entire Body (Eph 4:11-12). But through the centuries the Church developed; entire nations following their king or prince joined the new religion and were baptized. The great majority of humans feel the need of a religion, without having heard the call to faith. So a majority was Christian simply because Christianity had dethroned ancient beliefs. In christiandom centuries, the Church became what the ancient Israel had been: a religious people animated by an invisible network of believers. Already the extension of Christian communities, those who worship in churches replacing meetings in private houses, had prepared the ground for more demanding ministries: the new situation originated a return to the perspectives of the Old Testament. From then on priests and clergy were needed to serve the faithful, those who were only baptized. It was not until the twentieth century that baptism was reevaluated. Then it became clearer that ministries were needed but not all the ministries had to be entrusted to a celibate clergy, recruited in their youth and formed in seminaries, rather than being chosen within the Christian community for the gifts they proved to have. Expel from the camp... (5:2). Let us not forget that all of this was written in figurative language. The camp stood for the Holy Place, for the Temple. It was a way of saying which people were not allowed to enter the Temple.
