The interval was not however wholly vacant, being occupied by the small camps of the Levites, who had the charge and custody of the tabernacle, and pitched their tents around it; the tents of Moses, Aaron, and the priests, occupying the most honourable place, fronting the entrance to the tabernacle, or rather to the court which contained it. The Jewish writers say that the circumference of the entire encampment was about twelve miles; a statement which would seem sufficiently moderate when we recollect the hollow square in the centre, and consider the vast extent of ground required for the tents of perhaps two

millions of people. This regular and admirable arrangement of so vast a host, under their ensigns, around the tabernacle, must have given a most striking and impressive appearance to the camp, as viewed from the hills. We know the effect which the view of it produced upon one person, who did view it from the hills, and then broke forth in rapture, exclaiming, How goodly are thy tents, O Jacob! and thy tabernacles, O Israel! As the valleys are they spread forth, as the trees of lign aloes which the Lord hath planted, and as cedar trees beside the waters.' (Num. xxiv. 5, 6.)

CHAPTER III.

1 The sons of Aaron. 5 The Levites are given to the priests for the service of the tabernacle, 11 instead of the firstborn. 14 The Levites are numbered by their families. 21 The families, number, and charge of "the Gershonites, 27 of the Kohathites, 33 of the Merarites. 38 The place and charge of Moses and Aaron. 40 The firstborn are freed by the Levites. 44 The overplus are redeemed.

THESE also are the generations of Aaron and Moses in the day that the LORD spake with Moses in mount Sinai.

2 And these are the names of the sons of Aaron; Nadab the 'firstborn, and Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar.

3 These are the names of the sons of Aaron, the priests which were anointed, whom he consecrated to minister in the priest's office.

3

4 And Nadab and Abihu died before the LORD, when they offered strange fire before the LORD, in the wilderness of Sinai, and they had no children and Eleazar and Ithamar ministered in the priest's office in the sight of Aaron their father.

5 ¶ And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,

6 Bring the tribe of Levi near, and present them before Aaron the priest, that they may

minister unto him.

7 And they shall keep his charge, and the charge of the whole congregation before the tabernacle of the congregation, to do the service of the tabernacle.

8 And they shall keep all the instruments of the tabernacle of the congregation, and the charge of the children of Israel, to do the service of the tabernacle.

9 And thou shalt give the Levites unto Aaron and to his sons: they are wholly given unto him out of the children of Israel.

10 And thou shalt appoint Aaron and his sons, and they shall wait on their priest's office and the stranger that cometh nigh shall be put to death.

11 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,

12 And I, behold, I have taken the Levites from among the children of Israel instead of all the firstborn that openeth the matrix among the children of Israel: therefore the Levites shall be mine;

13 Because all the firstborn are mine; for on the day that I smote all the firstborn in the land of Egypt I hallowed unto me all the firstborn in Israel, both man and beast: mine shall they be: I am the LORD.

14 ¶ And the LORD spake unto Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, saying,

15 Number the children of Levi after the house of their fathers, by their families every male from a month old and upward shalt thou number them.

16 And Moses numbered them according to the word of the LORD, as he was commanded.

17 And these were the sons of Levi by their names; Gershon, and Kohath, and Merari.

18 And these are the names of the sons of Gershon by their families; Libni, and Shimei.

19 And the sons of Kohath by their families; Amram, and lies; Amram, and Izehar, Hebron, and Uzziel.

20 And the sons of Merari by their families; Mahli, and Mushi. These are the families of the Levites according to the house of their fathers.

21 Of Gershon was the family of the Libnites, and the family of the Shimites: these are the families of the Gershonites.

22 Those that were numbered of them, according to the number of all the males, from a month old and upward, even those that were numbered of them were seven thousand and five hundred.

23 The families of the Gershonites shall pitch behind the tabernacle westward.

24 And the chief of the house of the father of the Gershonites shall be Eliasaph the son

of Lael.

Verse 12. I have taken the Levites.... instead of all the firstborn,' etc.-In memory of his avenging the cause of the Israelites upon the Egyptians by destroying their firstborn, it pleased God to direct that all the firstborn males should be set apart to himself (Exod. xiii. 12-16); and as the services of the Levites had not then been appropriated, it appears. in the first instance, as if it had been intended that the firstborn should occupy the position which was afterwards assigned to them. But God at the same time provided an opening for the future substitution of the Levites, by allowing the firstborn to be redeemed. Accordingly, when the Levites had signalized their zeal in the affair of the golden calf, the distinction of being consecrated to the Lord's service was transferred to the whole tribe of Levi, instead of being assigned to the firstborn of every tribe. The substitution was, in the first instance, formally made, as we see in this chapter: the firstborn of all the tribes, and the whole tribe of Levi, being respectively numbered, the former were found to exceed the latter by 273; the Levites were then understood to be taken in exchange for an equivalent number of firstborn, who of course paid no ransom; but there being no living substitutes for the surplus number of firstborn, they were redeemed at the rate of five shekels for each, the produce going to the use of the sanctuary. Besides serving as a memorial of God's judgment upon the Egyptians, the consecration of the firstborn was, in fact, a sort of recognition of the patriarchal usage, which assigned the priestly functions to him; and even the fine of redemption was a kind of declaration of his prior claim or obligation to perform those duties which the Lord saw fit to transfer to the tribe of Levi. The memorial and recognition did not, however, cease with the act of personal substitution, which seems to have cleared the redemption fine only in the instance before us. The previous law on the subject is repeated in chap. xviii., and it seems to have been still in force in the time of our Saviour. (See Luke ii. 23.)

15. From a month old and upward.'-The males in the other tribes were numbered from twenty years old and upwards. The cause of the distinction is obvious. The general enumeration was chiefly for military purposes, and therefore only comprehended those supposed to be fit for war; but the Levites being exempt from military service, the distinction was not necessary, and all the males

above a month old were numbered. The result displays remarkably the very inferior numbers of this tribe; for with all this advantage, of nearly a hundred per cent., in the calculation, its numbers only reach to 22,000, being about 10,000 less than the males above twenty in Manasseh, which was, at this census, the smallest of the other tribes. It should be observed that the total number stated in v. 39 is less by 300 than is obtained by casting up the component numbers as given in verses 22, 28, and 34. The mistake is doubtless in one of the items, but is not agreed in which. It probably arose from one letter being mistaken for another of similar form, but different numerical value, which is a fruitful source of many errors in numbers found in the present Hebrew text and propagated in translations.

17. Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.'-These were, as the text informs us, the sons of Levi, and ancestors of the three sub-tribes, to which Moses found it convenient to assign distinct departments of service about the tabernacle. This distinction had a particular reference to the migratory state of the Israelites at the time these regulations were established; and their duties, of course, underwent considerable modification when the nation became settled in Canaan, and particularly after the temple was built. David and Solomon, in particular, made a new and different arrangement of their duties and distribution of their num bers, as we shall have occasion to notice under 1 Chron. xxvi. Their duties, as defined here and elsewhere in the Pentateuch, were to act as general assistants to the priests in various capacities. They set up the tabernacle, took it down, and conveyed it from place to place. They also formed its guard when stationary; and although they might not themselves offer sacrifices, they rendered important services by killing, flaying, and preparing the victims; for the duties in sacrifice to which the priests alone were competent, seem to be only those of sprinkling the blood, and laying on the altar the parts to be consumed. In the distribution of duties to the three families, we perceive that the Kohathites had the charge of removing the most sacred and precious things of the sanctuary. This was doubtless intended as an honourable distinction, for which they were probably indebted to the circumstance that the priestly family was taken from this division of the Levitical tribe.

CHAPTER IV.

1 The age and time of the Levites' service. 4 The carriage of the Kohathites, when the priests have taken down the tabernacle. 16 The charge of Eleazar. 17 The office of the priests. 21 The carriage of the Gershonites. 29 The carriage of the Merarites. 34 The number of the Kohathites, 38 of the Gershonites, 42 and of the Merarites.

AND the LORD spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying,

2 Take the sum of the sons of Kohath from among the sons of Levi, after their families, by the house of their fathers,

3 From thirty years old and upward even until fifty years old, all that enter into the host, to do the work in the tabernacle of the congregation.

4 This shall be the service of the sons of Kohath in the tabernacle of the congregation, about the most holy things:

5 And when the camp setteth forward, Aaron shall come, and his sons, and they shall take down the covering vail, and cover the ark of testimony with it:

6 And shall put thereon the covering of badgers' skins, and shall spread over it a cloth wholly of blue, and shall put in the staves thereof.

7 And upon the table of 'shewbread they shall spread a cloth of blue, and put thereon the dishes, and the spoons, and the bowls, and covers to cover withal: and the continual bread shall be thereon:

8 And they shall spread upon them a cloth of scarlet, and cover the same with a covering of badgers' skins, and shall put in the staves thereof.

9 And they shall take a cloth of blue, and cover the candlestick of the light, and his lamps, and his tongs, and his snuffdishes, and

1 Exod. 25. 30.

2 Or, pour out withal.

3 Exod. 25. 31.

4 Exod. 25. 37, 39.

all the oil vessels thereof, wherewith they minister unto it:

10 And they shall put it and all the vessels thereof within a covering of badgers' skins, and shall put it upon a bar.

11 And upon the golden altar they shall spread a cloth of blue, and cover it with a covering of badgers' skins, and shall put to the staves thereof:

12 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:

13 And they shall take away the ashes from the altar, and spread a purple cloth

thereon:

14 And they shall put upon it all the vessels thereof, wherewith they minister about it, even the censers, the fleshhooks, and the shovels, and the 'basons, all the vessels of the altar; and they shall spread upon it a covering of badgers' skins, and put to the staves of it.

15 And when Aaron and his sons have made an end of covering the sanctuary, and all the vessels of the sanctuary, as the camp is to set forward; after that, the sons of Kohath shall come to bear it: but they shall not touch any holy thing, lest they die. These things are the burden of the sons of Kohath in the tabernacle of the congregation.

16 ¶ And to the office of Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest pertaineth the oil for the light, and the 'sweet incense, and the daily meat offering, and the anointing oil, and the oversight of all the tabernacle, and of all that therein is, in the sanctuary, and in the vessels thereof.

17 ¶ And the LORD spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying,

18 Cut ye not off the tribe of the families of the Kohathites from among the Levites:

19 But thus do unto them, that they may live, and not die, when they approach unto the most holy things: Aaron and his sons shall go in, and appoint them every one to his service and to his burden:

20 But they shall not go in to see when the holy things are covered, lest they die.

21 And the LORD spake unto Moses, ¶ saying,

22 Take also the sum of the sons of Gershon, throughout the houses of their fathers, by their families;

23 From thirty years old and upward until

fifty years old shalt thou number them; all that enter in to perform the service, to do the work in the tabernacle of the congregation.

24 This is the service of the families of the Gershonites, to serve, and for "burdens:

25 And they shall bear the curtains of the tabernacle, and the tabernacle of the congregation, his covering, and the covering of the badgers' skins that is above upon it, and the hanging for the door of the tabernacle of the congregation,

26 And the hangings of the court, and the hanging for the door of the gate of the court, which is by the tabernacle and by the altar round about, and their cords, and all the instruments of their service, and all that is made for them so shall they serve.

27 At the appointment of Aaron and his sons shall be all the service of the sons of the Gershonites, in all their burdens, and in all their service: and ye shall appoint unto them in charge all their burdens.

28 This is the service of the families of the sons of Gershon in the tabernacle of the congregation: and their charge shall be under the hand of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest.

29 As for the sons of Merari, thou shalt number them after their families, by the house of their fathers;

30 From thirty years old and upward even unto fifty years old shalt thou number them, every one that entereth into the "service, to do the work of the tabernacle of the congregation.

31 And this is the charge of their burden, according to all their service in the tabernacle of the congregation; "the boards of the tabernacle, and the bars thereof, and the pillars thereof, and sockets thereof,

32 And the pillars of the court round about, and their sockets, and their pins, and their cords, with all their instruments, and with all their service: and by name ye shall reckon the instruments of the charge of their

burden.

33 This is the service of the families of the sons of Merari, according to all their service, in the tabernacle of the congregation, under the hand of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest.

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,

10 Heb. mouth.

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,

39 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.

Verse 3. From thirty years old and upward.'-This appears to contradict chap. viii. 24, where twenty-five years is mentioned as the age at which the service of the Levites commenced. Maimonides and other Jewish writers account for the variation by stating, that, from twenty-five to thirty years of age, the Levites attended in order to be instructed in their duties, but did not enter upon actual service until they were full thirty years of age. Aben Ezra, and other Rabbins, however, affirm that the Levites did enter on the easier and lighter parts of the service, such as keeping watch and bearing a part in the choir, at twenty-five, but did not, until thirty-five, enter on the more laborious branches of Levitical duty. The Jews, indeed, inform us that the Levites passed through four stages of preparation for their peculiar office. From one month old to their twentieth year they were instructed in the law of God; from twenty to twenty-five, in the functions of their ministry; and from thence to thirty they served a sort of apprenticeship, beginning to exercise themselves in some of the lower branches of the sacred service; and, lastly, when they had attained their thirtieth year, they were fully instituted in their office. Jennings points out the analogy between this and the usages among the virgin priestesses of Vesta. They were bound to the strictest chastity for thirty years, the first ten of which they spent in learning the mysteries of their profession; the second ten they

ministered in holy things; and the last ten they were employed in bringing up young novices. (See Jennings's Jewish Antiquities.) David altered to twenty years the period for the commencement of the Levitical service, and to this he was avowedly influenced by the consideration that their labours had become less onerous, and required less bodily strength than in the times when they had charge of a movable tabernacle. [APPENDIX, No. 7.]

until fifty years.'-This direction, for the cessation of the services of the Levites at the age of fifty, is more fully repeated in chap. viii. 28, but it is there immediately added, that although they were no longer to perform the customary service, they remained still in attendance to keep the charge,' etc. From this it seems that they were not dismissed when they reached the age of fifty: but, while thenceforth exempted from all laborious employment, continued to exercise the easier parts of their ministry, and perhaps instructed the younger Levites in the duties of their office. The exceptions from laborious service probably referred in a particular manner to the toilsome duty of conveying the tabernacle and its various utensils. The Levites also were so numerous, in proportion to the work they had to do, that there was the less occasion to require from individuals a protracted period of active service.