Numbers 4:34-49

D. THE CENSUS OF THE PRIESTLY FAMILIES vv. 34-49
TEXT

Numbers 4:34. And Moses and Aaron and the chief of the congregation numbered the sons of the Kohathites after their families, and after the house of their fathers, 35. From thirty years old and upward even unto fifty years old, every one that entereth into the service, for the work in the tabernacle of the congregation: 36. And those that were numbered of them by their families were two thousand seven hundred and fifty. 37. These were they that were numbered of the families of the Kohathites, all that might do service in the tabernacle of the congregation, which Moses and Aaron did number according to the commandment of the Lord by the hand of Moses. 38. And those that were numbered of the sons of Gershon, throughout their families, and by the house of their fathers, 30. From thirty years old and upward even unto fifty years old, every one that entereth into the service, for the work in the tabernacle of the congregation, 40. even those that were numbered of them, throughout their families, by the house of their fathers, were two thousand and six hundred and thirty. 41. These are they that were numbered of the families of the sons of Gershon, of all that might do service in the tabernacle of the congregation, whom Moses and Aaron did number according to the commandment of the Lord.

42. And those that were numbered of the families of the sons of Merari, throughout their families, by the house of their fathers, 43. From thirty years old and upward even unto fifty years old, every one that entereth into the service, for the work in the tabernacle of the congregation, 44. Even those that were numbered of them after their families, were three thousand and two hundred. 45. These be those that were numbered of the families of the sons of Merari, whom Moses and Aaron numbered according to the word of the Lord by the hand of Moses. 46. All those that were numbered of the Levites, whom Moses and Aaron and the chief of Israel numbered, after their families, and after the house of their fathers, 47. From thirty years old and upward even unto fifty years old, every one that came to do the service of the ministry, and the service of the burden in the tabernacle of the congregation, 48. Even those that were numbered of them, were eight thousand and five hundred and fourscore. 49. According to the commandment of the Lord they were numbered by the hand of Moses, every one according to his service, and according to his burden: thus were they numbered of him, as the Lord commanded Moses.

PARAPHRASE

Numbers 4:34. And Moses and Aaron and the princes of the congregation counted the sons of the Kohathites by their families and by their fathers-' houses, 35. from thirty years of age up to fifty, everyone who entered the service for work in the Tent of Meeting. 36. And those who were counted of them by their families were 2,750. 37. These were the men counted from the Kohathite families, all who were serving in the Tent of Meeting, whom Moses and Aaron counted according to the commandment of the Lord by the hand of Moses. 38. And those who were counted of the sons of Gershon, by their families, and by the house of their fathers, from thirty years of age and up to fifty, everyone who enters into the service for work in the Tent of Meeting. 40. And those who were counted by them, by families, by their fathers-' houses, were 2,630. 41. These are the men counted of the families of the sons of Gershon, of all who might do service in the Tent of Meeting, whom Moses and Aaron counted according to the commandment of the Lord.

42. And those who were counted of the families of the sons of Merari, by their families, by their fathers-' houses, from thirty years old up to fifty, everyone who enters into the service, for work in the Tent of Meeting, even those who were counted of them by their families, were 3,200. 45. These are the men counted of the families of the sons of Merari, whom Moses and Aaron counted, according to the word of the Lord, by the hand of Moses. 46. All of the men counted of the Levites, whom Moses and Aaron and the princes of Israel counted, by their families and by their fathers-' houses, from thirty years of age and up to fifty, everyone who came to do the work of serving and the work of carrying in the Tent of Meeting48. those who were counted of them were 8,500. 49. They were counted by the hand of Moses according to the commandment of the Lord, everyone according to his service, and according to his burden; thus they were counted, as the Lord commanded Moses.

COMMENTARY

PC proposes that the numbering in this census is rounded out by tens rather than to show each individual. Further, it is said, the task of carrying all the items of the Tabernacle as listed would not have required such a large number of people; hence, the duties were also assigned by units of ten. It is also suggested that something has disturbed the relative numbers between the Merarites and the other families, with such an abnormally high percentage of those counted being between thirty and fifty years of age. In the ordinary situation, we might expect the age bracket to account for about one-fourth of the total population; the Merarites double this figure. We are given no explanation of the fact. The same source advances the possible thoughts that an abnormally high number of children of this tribe might have been slaughtered as infants in Egypt, or that they may suddenly have reduced the number of marriages. We can only speculate on the actual solution.

QUESTIONS AND RESEARCH ITEMS

92.

Is the suggestion that the census here is computed by tens out of harmony with the totals from the other tribes?

93.

What advantage would there be to tallying in this fashion?

94.

What explanations might be offered for the unusually high percentage of Merarites between the ages of thirty and fifty?