Numbers 4:17

The duties of the Kohathites come first because they handled the most holy objects (see 3:27–32). This might be because Aaron and the priests came from this clan (1 Chronicles 6:2–3). Their tasks included carrying, setting up, and folding up these holy and very important coverings and furnishings.

The items entrusted to Kohath's descendants were very valuable. These included:

• the ark of the Testimony,

• the table of the Bread of the Presence,

• the lampstand (Hebrew menorah),

• the gold incense altar, and

• the altar for sacrifices.

Exodus 25–30 first describes these objects. But Numbers shows how the Hebrews used them in daily life. The Kohathites carried these items on poles or in frames. They could not touch them or enter the sanctuary to look at them, or they would die.

• This section continues the discussion from 3:21–37 about the duties of the three Levite clans. The Levites carried and cared for the Tent of Meeting while traveling and camping. Other tribes always surrounded them to protect them and their valuable cargo (2:17). They placed the holy items of God in the center of the tribes. The priests and their Levitical assistants kept these items holy by separating them.

• God, in his holiness, deserves to have the details of his will given careful attention. The Tent of Meeting and its furnishings were holy. The tribe of Levi had to maintain the difference between holy and common, and between ceremonially clean and unclean. This is why there is so much information about the duties of the three Levite clans.

Israel's priests and Levites had duties like moving, assembling, protecting, and maintaining the Tent of Meeting. The way God organized the tribes highlighted his concern for these priestly tasks.