Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Numbers 8:23

And the LORD spoke unto Moses, saying,

Num 8:23-26

The Levites; from twenty and five years.

Service

I. The service God demands of all levites.

1. Burden-bearing.

2. Singing.

3. Study of the law, Search the Scriptures.

4. Attendance on the ordinances of the sanctuary.

II. God demands the service in our prime. From twenty and five.

III. God demands this service when it can be most easily rendered. He suits the burden to the back. All He asks is, that we shall do what we can. (R. A. Griffin.)

The Divine Master and His human servants

I. The necessity of fitness for the divine service. In learning any handicraft or trade, years are spent under instructors; for the practice of law or medicine men must have special training; and is it not important that they who engage in religious services should be qualified for such services?

II. The variety of employment in the divine service.

1. An encouragement to persons of feeble powers and narrow opportunities to try to do good.

2. A rebuke to those who plead inability as an excuse for their indolence in religious service.

III. The care of the great master for his servants. Conclusion. This subject supplies–

1. Encouragement to enter into this service. Come thou with us, &c.

2. Encouragement to persevere in this service. A glorious reward awaits those who patiently continue in well-doing. (W. Jones.)

Age and youth in relation to service

1. They were to enter upon the service at twenty-five years old (Num 8:24). They were not charged with the carrying of the tabernacle and the utensils of it till they were thirty years old (Num 4:3). But they were entered to be otherwise serviceable at twenty-five years old–a very good age for ministers to begin their public work. The work then required that strength of body, and the work now requires that maturity of judgment and staidness of behaviour which men rarely arrive at till about that age : and novices are in danger of being lifted up with pride.

2. They were to have a writ of ease at fifty years old; then they were to return from the warfare, as the phrase is (Num 8:25), not cashiered with disgrace–but preferred rather to the rest, which their age required, to be loaded with the honours of their office, as hitherto they had been with the burdens of it. They shall minister with their brethren in the tabernacle, to direct the junior Levites, and set them in; and they shall keep the charge, as guards upon the avenues of the tabernacle, to see that no stranger intruded, nor any person in his uncleanness; but they shall not be put upon any service which may be a fatigue to them. If Gods grace provide that men shall have ability according to their work, mans prudence should take care that men have work but according to their ability. The aged are most fit for truths, and to keep the charge; the younger are most fit for work, and to do the service. Those that have used the office of a servant well, purchase to themselves a good degree (1Ti 3:13). Yet indeed gifts are not tied to ages (Job 32:9), but all these worketh that one and the self-same Spirit. (Matthew Henry, D. D.)

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Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell

And the Lord spake unto Moses,…. At the same time he gave the instructions about the consecration of the Levites, the time of their entrance on their service, and of leaving it, was fixed:

saying; as follows.

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

The Levitical period of service is fixed here at twenty-five years of age and upwards to the fiftieth year. “ This is what concerns the Levites, ” i.e., what follows applies to the Levites. “ From the age of twenty-five years shall he (the Levite) come to do service at the work of the tabernacle; and at fifty years of age shall he return from the service of the work, and not work any further, but only serve his brethren at the tabernacle in keeping charge, ” i.e., help them to look after the furniture of the tabernacle. “Charge” ( mishmereth ), as distinguished from “work,” signified the oversight of all the furniture of the tabernacle (see Num 3:8); “work” (service) applied to laborious service, e.g., the taking down and setting up of the tabernacle and cleaning it, carrying wood and water for the sacrificial worship, slaying the animals for the daily and festal sacrifices of the congregation, etc.

Num 8:26

“So shalt thou do to the Levites (i.e., proceed with them) in their services.” from , attendance upon an official post. Both the heading and final clause, by which this law relating to the Levites’ period of service is bounded, and its position immediately after the induction of the Levites into their office, show unmistakeably that this law was binding for all time, and was intended to apply to the standing service of the Levites at the sanctuary; and consequently that it was not at variance with the instructions in ch. 4, to muster the Levites between thirty and fifty years of age, and organize them for the transport of the tabernacle on the journey through the wilderness (Num 4:3-49). The transport of the tabernacle required the strength of a full-grown man, and therefore the more advanced age of thirty years; whereas the duties connected with the tabernacle when standing were of a lighter description, and could easily be performed from the twenty-fifth year (see Hengstenberg’s Dissertations, vol. ii. pp. 321ff.). At a later period, when the sanctuary was permanently established on Mount Zion, David employed the Levites from their twentieth year (1Ch 23:24-25), and expressly stated that he did so because the Levites had no longer to carry the dwelling and its furniture; and this regulation continued in force from that time forward (cf. 2Ch 31:17; Ezr 3:8). But if the supposed discrepancy between the verses before us and Num 4:3, Num 4:47, is removed by this distinction, which is gathered in the most simple manner from the context, there is no ground whatever for critics to deny that the regulation before us could have proceeded from the pen of the Elohist.

Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament

Verses 23-26:

Chapter 4:3 sets the age at which the Tabernacle service was to begin at thirty, while the present text specifies twenty-five. There is no conflict. The reference in chapter 4:3 is to the carrying of the Tabernacle furniture as Israel traveled. This would require men of maturity and strength. The present text refers to the ordinary ministry of the Tabernacle. It was designed for the time when Israel would settle in the Land of Promise. At that time the Levites would be assigned forty-eight cities throughout the Land, and would serve by courses in the Tabernacle ministry. There would be a need for many more to serve at that time. In David’s time, the need became so acute that the age was lowered to twenty, 1Ch 23:24-27.

The Levites were to “wait upon the service,” literally “to war the warfare.” This typifies the Christian warfare, 2Ti 2:2; Eph 6:11-17; 1Ti 6:12.

“Charge,” mishmereth, “a thing to be watched.” This appears to refer to the service of the Tabernacle furniture and appurtenances.

“Service,” adobah, refering to the preparation of the various sacrifices, and to the transporting of the Tabernacle and its furnishings.

These were important to the Tabernacle ministry. Without them the office and ministry of the priesthood would be ineffective. This illustrates the importance of every member of the Lord’s churches today, in their specific area of ministry. Without them, the work of pastor would be ineffective.

Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary

C. LIMITS OF AGE AND SERVICE FOR THE LEVITES vv. 2326
TEXT

Num. 8:23. And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, 24, This is it that belongeth unto the Levites: from twenty and five years old and upward they shall go in and wait upon the service of the tabernacle of the congregation: 25. And from the age of fifty years they shall cease waiting upon the service thereof, and shall serve no more: 26. But shall minister with their brethren in the tabernacle of the congregation, to keep the charge, and shall do no service. Thus shalt thou do unto the Levites touching their charge.

PARAPHRASE

Num. 8:23. Now the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 24. This is the regulation of the Levites: from twenty-five years of age and up they shall go in to do service in the work of the Tent of Meeting. 25. But at the age of fifty they shall retire from service in the work, and not work any more. 26. However, they may help their brothers in the Tent of Meeting, to keep an obligation; but they shall not do any work themselves. You shall use this regulation upon the Levites in their commission.

COMMENTARY

In Num. 4:3-49, the ages for service among the Levites is given at thirty to fifty: but a careful reading will show the logical difference between the two prescriptions. In the earlier passage, the assignment is for the transportation of the tabernacle and its trappings; in the passage before us, the Levites are to render all the services necessary to its use. Such duties would include the tasks of cleaning, preparing the wood and water for sacrifices, slaughter of the animals, and dismantling or assembling the entire sanctuary. As KD well points out, The transport of the tabernacle required the strength of a full-grown man, and therefore the more advanced age of thirty years; whereas the duties connected with the tabernacle when standing were a lighter description, and could easily be performed from the twenty-fifth year, p. 49.

When David established the tabernacle permanently on Mount Zion, he utilized the services of Levites as young as twenty (1Ch. 23:24-25), saying specifically that this put an end to the transportation of the dwelling and its furnishings. It is most likely that such younger workers would have served only in a kind of apprenticeship, however.

Upon reaching the age of fifty, service was no longer compulsory among the Levites. They might, nevertheless, offer their assistance, and they were held in high honor among their younger counterparts.

QUESTIONS AND RESEARCH ITEMS

155.

Is there a contradiction between the regulations here, calling for the service of the Levites between ages 2550 and that of Num. 4:3-49, in which the ages are set at 3050? Explain and defend your answer.

156.

What logical division of the work of the Levites might depend upon their ages?

157.

How was David justified in using Levites as young as age 20 in service of the tabernacle?

158.

What special activities might have been performed by Levites who had reached the retirement age?

Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series

AGE LIMITS TO LEVITICAL SERVICE, Num 8:23-26.

There is great propriety in fixing the limits of active service in the case of all who are set apart to an office for life. Yet the priests for some reason were not restricted in this respect. The office of the sons of Aaron did not require the same degree of physical strength as that of the Levites; whereas, the service of the latter being more severe, especially until the tabernacle was permanently located, it was more necessary that they should be protected by the law. See Num 4:3. For the discrepancy between twenty-five years, the lower limit in this chapter, and thirty years, as prescribed in chapter iv, see General Remarks, (2,) at the end of the latter chapter. “In Moses’s time the Levites from the age of twenty-five were employed in the lighter kinds of service, while, for the transportation of the heavier materials of the tabernacle, when the Israelites were on the march, men older and stronger were required. After the temple was built, its much less onerous service permitted the standard of age to be lowered to twenty years. After the age of fifty the Levites were simply to keep the charge, or guard, in the tabernacle, but were exempted from all laborious duties.” Haley.

Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments