Numbers 1 2 3 4a 4b 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 25b 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36
4:1 VA YEDABER YHVH EL MOSHEH VE EL AHARON LEMOR
וַיְדַבֵּר יְהוָה אֶל מֹשֶׁה וְאֶל אַהֲרֹן לֵאמֹר
KJ (King James translation): And the LORD spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying,
BN (BibleNet translation): Then YHVH spoke to Mosheh and to Aharon, saying:
4:2 NASO ET ROSH BENEY KEHAT MI TOCH BENEY LEVI LE MISHPECHOTAM LE VEIT AVOTAM
נָשֹׂא אֶת רֹאשׁ בְּנֵי קְהָת מִתּוֹךְ בְּנֵי לֵוִי לְמִשְׁפְּחֹתָם לְבֵית אֲבֹתָם
KJ: Take the sum of the sons of Kohath from among the sons of Levi, after their families, by the house of their fathers,
BN (provisional translation): Take the sum of the Beney Kehat from among the Beney Levi, by their families, by their clans.
NASO ET ROSH: The meaning - count them - appears to be the same, but the language is completely different, suggesting a different text from a different time. But "appears"... let us explore
Does their positioning here, after the completion of the Pidyon, suggest that they were not included in that count? No question that they are Leviyim - see Numbers 3:17; and 3:15 was explicit that all the sons of Levi should be counted; this Mosheh did for the Beney Kehat in verse 19. The total given at verse 39 definitely claims to be all the Leviyim, and is the number used for the "overage" for the Pidyon - so there is no census reason for Mosheh to be recounting Kehat now.
Then perhaps ROSH here has nothing to do with "sums", and more to do with "leadership" - the Prime Minister in modern Israel is the Rosh Ha Memshalah - the "Head of the Government". NASO then becomes a very neat pun: the verb is LINSO, which means "to take", but the same spelling would give NAS'I (נָשִׂיא), which today would be the President, but really means a "prince", or any other leader.
BN: (final translation): Gather up the leaders of the Beney Kehat from among the Beney Levi, by their families, by their clans.
4:3 MI BEN SHELOSHIM SHANAH VE MA'LAH VE AD BEN CHAMISHIM SHANAH KAL BA LA TSAVA LA'ASOT MELACHAH BE OHEL MO'ED
מִבֶּן שְׁלֹשִׁים שָׁנָה וָמַעְלָה וְעַד בֶּן חֲמִשִּׁים שָׁנָה כָּל בָּא לַצָּבָא לַעֲשׂוֹת מְלָאכָה בְּאֹהֶל מוֹעֵד
KJ: 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.
BN: From thirty years old and upward, until the age of fifty, all of these shall enter into service, to undertake work in the Tent of Meeting.
If this is the age of service for the Beney Kehat, is it also the age of service for the other Leviyim and Kohanim? And why these ages?
Would they have considered this an honour or a burden, a good job, a community responsibility, an obstacle to what they really wanted to do, a duty, a privilege?
TSAVA: I believe I commented previously, that TSAVA today implies army, indeed the Israel Defense Force is called TSAHAL (צהל), which is an acronym for Tseva Ha Haganah Le Yisra-El (צְבָא הַהֲגָנָה לְיִשְׂרָאֵל); but really the word means "service", and service can be military, civilian or clerical.
Why 30? They can soldier from 20 - but soldiers are obeyers of orders from their generals, so age is less important than physical strength. The duties of the Beney Kehat were given in Numbers 3:31: "And their duties were the ark, and the table, and the candlestick, and the altars, and the vessels of the Sanctuary with which the priests minister, and the screen, and everything that pertains to their usage", which is little more than a janatorial job that anyone with Key Stage 2 education could perform, so it can't be an issue of their needing experience and training. Perhaps it is about maturity, but I suspect that it was actually about numbers - there really aren't that many jobs, and the whole male section of the Kehati tribe is too many for so few; they will get bored, lazy, sloppy, feel unvalued... whereas limiting the number hopefully keeps them better engaged.
And when I say "there really aren't that many jobs", most of the rest of this chapter is their full Job Description, task by task... 8,600 of them were counted in Numbers 3:28, from one month to let's say seventy; seven decades, which averages about 1200 per decade, so there are more than 3000 "employees" for what follows - and in all honesty there isn't enough work for 50 of them, rotationally.
And when I say "there really aren't that many jobs", most of the rest of this chapter is their full Job Description, task by task... 8,600 of them were counted in Numbers 3:28, from one month to let's say seventy; seven decades, which averages about 1200 per decade, so there are more than 3000 "employees" for what follows - and in all honesty there isn't enough work for 50 of them, rotationally.
4:4 ZOT AVODAT BENEY KEHAT BE OHEL MO'ED KODESH HA KADASHIM
זֹאת עֲבֹדַת בְּנֵי קְהָת בְּאֹהֶל מוֹעֵד קֹדֶשׁ הַקֳּדָשִׁים
KJ: This shall be the service of the sons of Kohath in the tabernacle of the congregation, about the most holy things:
BN: These are the tasks of the Beney Kehat in the Tent of Meeting, the Holy of Holies.
4:5 U VA AHARON U VANAV BINSO'A HA MACHANEH VE HORIDU ET PAROCHET HA MASACHA VE CHISU VAH ET ARON HA EDUT
וּבָא אַהֲרֹן וּבָנָיו בִּנְסֹעַ הַמַּחֲנֶה וְהוֹרִדוּ אֵת פָּרֹכֶת הַמָּסָךְ וְכִסּוּ בָהּ אֵת אֲרֹן הָעֵדֻת
KJ: 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:
BN: When the camp sets forth, Aharon shall go in, with his sons, and they shall take down the veil of the screen, and cover the Ark of the Testimony with it.
4:6 VE NATNU ALAV KESU'I OR TACHAS U PHARSU VEGED KELIL TECHELET MI LEMA'LAH VE SAMU BA YADAV
וְנָתְנוּ עָלָיו כְּסוּי עוֹר תַּחַשׁ וּפָרְשׂוּ בֶגֶד כְּלִיל תְּכֵלֶת מִלְמָעְלָה וְשָׂמוּ בַּדָּיו
KJ: 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.
BN: And they shall put a covering of sealskin over it, and spread over it a cloth made entirely in blue, and they shall secure its staves.
TECHELET: See Exodus 28:4ff for the details of the three predominant colours, Techelet, Tola'at Shani (mentioned in verse 8, below), and Argaman (mentioned in verse 13, below)
4:7 VE AL SHULCHAN HA PANIM YIPHRESU BEGED TECHELET VE NATNU ALAV ET HA KE'AROT VE ET HA KAPOT VE ET HA MENAKIOT VE ET KESHOT HA NASECH VE LECHEM HA TAMID ALAV YIHEYEH
וְעַל שֻׁלְחַן הַפָּנִים יִפְרְשׂוּ בֶּגֶד תְּכֵלֶת וְנָתְנוּ עָלָיו אֶת הַקְּעָרֹת וְאֶת הַכַּפֹּת וְאֶת הַמְּנַקִּיֹּת וְאֵת קְשׂוֹת הַנָּסֶךְ וְלֶחֶם הַתָּמִיד עָלָיו יִהְיֶה
KJ: 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:
BN: And they shall spread a blue cloth over the table of showbread, and put on it the dishes, and the pans, and the bowls, and the jars for the libations; and the permanently-displayed bread shall be kept on it.
A small grammatical question: why was it VEGED in verse 6, but BEGED in verse 7, when the rest of the grammar, as well as the syntax, is identical? Methinks this is a scribal error by the Masoretes.
HA MENAKIOT: And since I'm mentioning matters that relate to the form of the scribing - of which there are interesting examples on almost every page, but they generally don't impact on meaning so I have passed them by - there is a most curious oddity here in the writing of HA MENAKIOT (הַמְּנַקִּיֹּת), the Yud Medugash not representing a double letter that has been singularised, but an accessory Vav that has been left out; it would have been more logical, and absolutely the norm, to scribe this as HA MENAKIYOT (הַמְּנַקִּיוֹת).
LECHEM HA TAMID: Are these the twelve loaves that were described in Leviticus 24:5; and is that the same as the shewbread, simply given here with yet a third different name?
4:8 U PHARSU ALEYHEM BEGED TOLA'AT SHANI VE CHISU OTO BE MICHSEH OR TACHASH VE SAMU ET BADAV
וּפָרְשׂוּ עֲלֵיהֶם בֶּגֶד תּוֹלַעַת שָׁנִי וְכִסּוּ אֹתוֹ בְּמִכְסֵה עוֹר תָּחַשׁ וְשָׂמוּ אֶת בַּדָּיו
KJ: 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.
BN: And they shall spread over them a cloth of scarlet, and cover it with a covering of sealskin, and secure its staves.
4:9 VE LAK'CHU BEGED TECHELET VE CHISU ET MENORAT HA MA'OR VE ET NEROTEYHA VE ET MALKACHEYHA VE ET MACHTOTEYHA VE ET KOL KELEY SHAMNAH ASHER YESHARTU LAH BAHEM
וְלָקְחוּ בֶּגֶד תְּכֵלֶת וְכִסּוּ אֶת מְנֹרַת הַמָּאוֹר וְאֶת נֵרֹתֶיהָ וְאֶת מַלְקָחֶיהָ וְאֶת מַחְתֹּתֶיהָ וְאֵת כָּל כְּלֵי שַׁמְנָהּ אֲשֶׁר יְשָׁרְתוּ לָהּ בָּהֶם
KJ: 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 all the oil vessels thereof, wherewith they minister unto it:
BN: And they shall take a cloth of blue, and cover the candlestick of the light, and its lamps, and its tongs, and its snuff-dishes, and all of its oil vessels that are used in the ministry.
4:10 VE NATNU OTAH VE ET KOL KELEYHA EL MICHSEH OR TACHASH VE NATNU AL HA MOT
וְנָתְנוּ אֹתָהּ וְאֶת כָּל כֵּלֶיהָ אֶל מִכְסֵה עוֹר תָּחַשׁ וְנָתְנוּ עַל הַמּוֹט
KJ: And they shall put it and all the vessels thereof within a covering of badgers' skins, and shall put it upon a bar.
BN: And they shall put it, and all its vessels, inside a covering of sealskin, and place it on the bar.
MOT: Not to be confused with MOT = 'Death', which is spelled with a final Tav (ת).
4:11 VE AL MIZBACH HA ZAHAV YIPHRESU BEGED TECHELET VE CHISU OTO BE MICHSEH OR TACHASH VE SAMU ET BADAV
וְעַל מִזְבַּח הַזָּהָב יִפְרְשׂוּ בֶּגֶד תְּכֵלֶת וְכִסּוּ אֹתוֹ בְּמִכְסֵה עוֹר תָּחַשׁ וְשָׂמוּ אֶת בַּדָּיו
KJ: 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:
BN: And they shall spread a cloth of blue across the golden altar, and cover it with a covering of sealskin, and secure its staves.
This level of mundane micro-management is of interest because it provides a detailed account of the Mishkan, though it is quite bizarre in itself: this is the deity, with an entire cosmos to take care of, needing to make sure the Jaffa Cakes are in aisle 5, underneath the Digestive biscuits and not above them, and the Jaffa bananas in aisle 7, but not too close to the plantain, because some people can't tell the difference; oh, and put the price tag on the left of the bananas and the right of the plantain, just to be sure. And death if you get it wrong (see verse 15)! (I wonder if the clergy also had zero hours contracts, or were they regarded as "independent contractors"? - No, Mosaic law would prohibit either of those possibilities; cf Leviticus 19:13 et al; and anyway, this was much more an Internship than paid employment!)
4:12 VE LAK'CHU ET KOL KELEY HA SHARET ASHER YESHARTU VAM BA KODESH VE NATNU EL BEGED TECHELET VE CHISU OTAM BE MICHSEH OR TACHASH VE NATNU AL HA MOT
וְלָקְחוּ אֶת כָּל כְּלֵי הַשָּׁרֵת אֲשֶׁר יְשָׁרְתוּ בָם בַּקֹּדֶשׁ וְנָתְנוּ אֶל בֶּגֶד תְּכֵלֶת וְכִסּוּ אוֹתָם בְּמִכְסֵה עוֹר תָּחַשׁ וְנָתְנוּ עַל הַמּוֹט
KJ: 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:
BN: And they shall take all the utensils used for ministry, with which they minister in the Sanctuary, and put them in a blue cloth, and cover them with a sealskin cover, and place them on the bar.
4:13 VE DISHNU ET HA MIZBE'ACH U PHARSU ALAV BEGED ARGAMAN
וְדִשְּׁנוּ אֶת הַמִּזְבֵּחַ וּפָרְשׂוּ עָלָיו בֶּגֶד אַרְגָּמָן
KJ: And they shall take away the ashes from the altar, and spread a purple cloth thereon:
BN: And they shall take away the ashes from the altar, and spread a purple cloth on it.
4:14 VE NATNU ALAV ET KAL KELAV ASHER YESHARTU ALAV BAHEM ET HA MACHTOT ET HA MIZLAGOT VE ET HA YA'IM VE ET HA MIZRAKOT KOL KELEY HA MIZBE'ACH U PHARSU ALAV KESU'I OR TACHASH VE SAMU VADAV
וְנָתְנוּ עָלָיו אֶת כָּל כֵּלָיו אֲשֶׁר יְשָׁרְתוּ עָלָיו בָּהֶם אֶת הַמַּחְתֹּת אֶת הַמִּזְלָגֹת וְאֶת הַיָּעִים וְאֶת הַמִּזְרָקֹת כֹּל כְּלֵי הַמִּזְבֵּחַ וּפָרְשׂוּ עָלָיו כְּסוּי עוֹר תַּחַשׁ וְשָׂמוּ בַדָּיו
KJ: 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.
BN: And they shall put on it all of the utensils that are used for the various aspects of ministry that it serves: the fire-pans, the flesh-hooks, the shovels, the basins, all the utensils pertaining to the altar; and they shall spread on it a covering of sealskin, and secure its staves.
VADAV: It has been BADAV until now; why does it change? Same as VEGED-BEGED earlier? (This is an issue of grammar, not vocabulary; there are rules for when an initial-letter Bet (ב) loses its dagesh and is therefore pronounced as a Vet, and there are rules for placing ET before an accusative, and this does not seem to me to follow either of those rules, where verse 11 clearly did).
4:15 VE CHILAH AHARON U VANAV LECHASOT ET HA KODESH VE ET KOL KELEY HA KODESH BINSO'A HA MACHANEH VE ACHAREY CHEN YAVO'U VENEY KEHAT LASET VE LO YIGU EL HA KODESH VA METU ELEH MASA VENEY KEHAT BO OHEL MO'ED
וְכִלָּה אַהֲרֹן וּבָנָיו לְכַסֹּת אֶת הַקֹּדֶשׁ וְאֶת כָּל כְּלֵי הַקֹּדֶשׁ בִּנְסֹעַ הַמַּחֲנֶה וְאַחֲרֵי כֵן יָבֹאוּ בְנֵי קְהָת לָשֵׂאת וְלֹא יִגְּעוּ אֶל הַקֹּדֶשׁ וָמֵתוּ אֵלֶּה מַשָּׂא בְנֵי קְהָת בְּאֹהֶל מוֹעֵד
KJ: 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.
BN: And when Aharon and his sons have finished covering the holy furniture, and all the holy vessels, and the camp is ready to set forth, after that the sons of Kehat shall come to carry them; but they shall not touch the holy things, lest they die. These are the details of the burden of the Beney Kehat in the tent of meeting.
And then we discover that these aren't the tasks of the Beney Kehat anyway - Aharon and his three sons have these jobs, one of whom is indeed Kehat, but not his BENEY. All the Beney Kehat will do is act as pall-bearers - and they are forbidden to touch any of the items listed above (worth taking a look at the story of David trying to move the Ark to Yeru-Shala'im, and the disastrous accidental touching that wrecked that - 2 Samuel 6:1-9, or read a fuller essay on the subject here, elaborating the role of the Beney Kehat, and adding a reminder to me - that we need to look ahead to Numbers 7:9 for confirmation of this being their sole role)
4:16 U PHEKUDAT EL-AZAR BEN AHARON HA KOHEN SHEMEN HA MA'OR U KETORET HA SAMIM U MINCHAT HA TAMID VE SHEMEN HA MISHCHAH PEKUDAT KAL HA MISHKAN VE CHOL ASHER BO BE KODESH U VE CHELAV
וּפְקֻדַּת אֶלְעָזָר בֶּן אַהֲרֹן הַכֹּהֵן שֶׁמֶן הַמָּאוֹר וּקְטֹרֶת הַסַּמִּים וּמִנְחַת הַתָּמִיד וְשֶׁמֶן הַמִּשְׁחָה פְּקֻדַּת כָּל הַמִּשְׁכָּן וְכָל אֲשֶׁר בּוֹ בְּקֹדֶשׁ וּבְכֵלָיו
KJ: And to the office of Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest pertaineththe 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.
BN: And the responsibility of El-Azar the son of Aharon the priest shall be the oil for the light, and the sweet incense, and the continual meal-offering, and the anointing oil: he shall have charge of all the tabernacle, and of all that is in it, whether it be the Sanctuary, or its furniture.
Given that specific items in this list have already been designated to Aharon's other sons and grandsons, "charge" here can only mean a senior management role, oversight and supervision, rather than what is called in Yiddish "tachlis", the actual doing of any work that might involve, let alone dirty the hands. Corporate executive in today's parlance.
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4:17 VA YEDABER YHVH EL MOSHEH VE EL AHARON LEMOR
וַיְדַבֵּר יְהוָה אֶל מֹשֶׁה וְאֶל אַהֲרֹן לֵאמֹר
KJ: And the LORD spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying,
BN: Then YHVH spoke to Mosheh and to Aharon, saying:
4:18 AL TACHRITU ET SHEVET MISHPECHOT HA KEHATI MITOCH HA LEVIYIM
אַל תַּכְרִיתוּ אֶת שֵׁבֶט מִשְׁפְּחֹת הַקְּהָתִי מִתּוֹךְ הַלְוִיִּם
KJ: Cut ye not off the tribe of the families of the Kohathites from among the Levites:
BN: Do not cut off the tribe of the families of the Beney Kenat from among the Leviyim.
Why would he cut them off; or why would they find themselves cut off? An issue of resentment amongst the other groups? Or is this indeed, as suggested above, a caste system, in which the tasks given to the Beney Kehat render them in some form Harijan? And this instruction to ensure that "lower caste" does not come to mean "untouchable" - itself an ironic term for we moderns to be using, given the text of verse 15.
4:19 VE ZOT ASU LAHEM VE CHAYU VE LO YAMUTU BE GISHTAM ET KODESH HA KEDASHIM AHARON U VANAV YAVO'U VE SAMU OTAM ISH ISH AL AVODATO VE EL MASA'O
וְזֹאת עֲשׂוּ לָהֶם וְחָיוּ וְלֹא יָמֻתוּ בְּגִשְׁתָּם אֶת קֹדֶשׁ הַקֳּדָשִׁים אַהֲרֹן וּבָנָיו יָבֹאוּ וְשָׂמוּ אוֹתָם אִישׁ אִישׁ עַל עֲבֹדָתוֹ וְאֶל מַשָּׂאוֹ
KJ: 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:
BN: But do thus unto them, that they may live, and not die, when they approach the most holy things: Aharon and his sons shall go in, and appoint each one of them to his service and to his duties.
I do not have an explanation for this. Neither does Rashi- I checked. More work needed. I am guessing that the issue is about the physical contact, whether in a pure or an impure state being irrelevant; the work they are going to do, in a confined space, cleaning and moving and wrapping and unwrapping, makes it highly likely that, on some occasion when distraction occurs or concentration slips or tiredness intervenes, the edge of a finger or a foot accidentally touches the tip of a nail from some minor ancillary item in some obscure cupboard misplaced in the edges of the holy tent - and even for this the punishment is theoretically death - or is it even less than that; that they might not even touch said object, but merely see it, while blinking, out of the corner of an eye, in shadow - "see" the very next verse.
4:20 VE LO YAVO'U LIROT KE VALA ET HA KODESH VA METU
וְלֹא יָבֹאוּ לִרְאוֹת כְּבַלַּע אֶת הַקֹּדֶשׁ וָמֵתוּ
KJ: But they shall not go in to see when the holy things are covered, lest they die.
BN: But they shall not go in to see the holy things as they are being covered, lest they die.
The chapter does not in fact end here, but the sedra does; whence my breaking this into two parts.
Click here to continue Numbers 4 at verse 21.
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