Bible Strands
Numbers 3:28
The number of all the males a month old or more was 8,600. They were responsible for the duties of the sanctuary.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The narrator records a census of the Kohathite clan for Moses and Aaron during the wilderness encampment. This count establishes the specific workforce assigned to the Tabernacle's maintenance.
The words — The phrase בְּמִסְפַּר כָּל־זָכָר מִבֶּן חֹדֶשׁ וָמַעְלָה (be./mis.par kol-za.Khar mi./ben Cho.desh va./Ma.'e.la) literally translates to "by the number of every male from a son of a month and upwards." This phrasing establishes the minimum age threshold for the census count.
The thread — This census methodology reappears in Numbers 4:35 for the Kohathites, though that later count specifies men aged thirty to fifty. The assigned sanctuary duties are detailed in Numbers 3:7 and 3:31.
Why it lands — The text demands recognition that sanctuary service required a documented, age-qualified workforce. It establishes administrative order as a prerequisite for sacred duties.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
In the number of all the males, from a month old and upward, were eight thousand and six hundred, keeping the charge of the sanctuary.
Cross-references
- Numbers 3:7 They are to perform duties for him and for the whole congregation before the Tent of Meeting, attending to the service of the tabernacle.
- Numbers 3:31 Their duties were the ark, the table, the lampstand, the altars, the articles of the sanctuary used with them, and the curtain—all the service for these items.
- Numbers 4:35 everyone from thirty to fifty years old who came to serve in the work at the Tent of Meeting.