Bilangan 3:28

3:28 Counting every male from a month old and upward, there were 8,600. They were responsible for the care ¹  of the sanctuary.

Bilangan 3:1

The Sons of Aaron

3:1 ² Now these are the records ³  of Aaron and Moses when ⁴  the Lord spoke with Moses on Mount Sinai.

1 Tawarikh 23:29

23:29 They also took care of ⁵  the bread that is displayed, the flour for offerings, the unleavened wafers, the round cakes, the mixing, and all the measuring. ⁶ 

[3:28]  ¹ tn The construction here is a little different. The Hebrew text uses the participle in construct plural: שֹׁמְרֵי (shomÿrey, literally “keepers of”). The form specifies the duties of the 8,600 Kohathites. The genitive that follows this participle is the cognate מִשְׁמֶרֶת (mishmeret) that has been used before. So the expression indicates that they were responsible for the care of this part of the cult center. There is no reason to delete one of the forms (as does J. A. Paterson, Numbers, 42), for the repetition stresses the central importance of their work.

[3:1]  ² sn For significant literature for this chapter, see M. Aberbach and L. Smolar, “Aaron, Jeroboam, and their Golden Calves,” JBL 86 (1967): 129-40; G. Brin, “The First-born in Israel in the Biblical Period” (Ph.D. diss., University of Tel Aviv, 1971); S. H. Hooke, “Theory and Practice of Substitution,” VT 2 (1952): 2-17; and J. Morgenstern, “A Chapter in the History of the High Priesthood,” AJSL 55 (1938): 1-24.

[3:1]  ³ tn The construction is וְאֵלֶּה תּוֹלְדֹת (vÿ’elleh tolÿdot), which was traditionally translated “now these are the generations,” much as it was translated throughout the book of Genesis. The noun can refer to records, stories, genealogies, names, and accounts of people. Here it is the recorded genealogical list with assigned posts included. Like Genesis, it is a heading of a section, and not a colophon as some have suggested. It is here similar to Exodus: “these are the names of.” R. K. Harrison, Numbers (WEC), 62, insists that it is a colophon and should end chapter 2, but if that is followed in the Pentateuch, it creates difficulty throughout the narratives. See the discussion by A. P. Ross, Creation and Blessing, 69-74.

[3:1]  ⁴ tn The expression in the Hebrew text (“in the day of”) is idiomatic for “when.”

[23:29]  ⁵ tn Heb “with respect to.”

[23:29]  ⁶ tn The Hebrew terms מְשׂוּרָה (mÿsurah) and מִדָּה (middah) refer to different types of measurements.