Bible Strands
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.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — God commands Moses to present the tribe of Levi to Aaron the priest so they may assist him in the wilderness camp.
The words — The Hebrew verb שָמְרוּ (sha.meru) means "they will keep" or "perform duties," paired with מִשְמֶ֙רֶת (mish.me.ret), literally "duty" or "charge." These terms define the Levites' assigned responsibility to maintain and serve at the Tent of Meeting.
The thread — This duty structure recurs in Numbers 1:50, where Levites are appointed over the tabernacle and its furnishings, and in Numbers 8:11–15, where Aaron presents them before the Lord to serve after purification.
Why it lands — The text requires readers to recognize that sacred service is a defined, communal responsibility delegated to a specific tribe under priestly oversight. It asks for obedient participation in the prescribed order of worship without personal innovation.
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
And they shall keep his charge, and the charge of the whole congregation before the tabernacle of the congregation, to do the service of the tabernacle.
Cross-references
- Numbers 1:50 Instead, you are to appoint the Levites over the tabernacle of the Testimony, all its furnishings, and everything in it. They shall carry the tabernacle and all its articles, care for it, and camp around it.
- Numbers 8:11 Aaron is to present the Levites before the LORD as a wave offering from the sons of Israel, so that they may perform the service of the LORD.
- Numbers 8:15 After you have cleansed them and presented them as a wave offering, they may come to serve at the Tent of Meeting.
- Numbers 3:32 The chief of the leaders of the Levites was Eleazar son of Aaron the priest; he oversaw those responsible for the duties of the sanctuary.
- Numbers 8:24 “This applies to the Levites: Men twenty-five years of age or older shall enter to perform the service in the work at the Tent of Meeting.
- Numbers 31:30 From the Israelites’ half, take one out of every fifty, whether persons, cattle, donkeys, sheep, or other animals, and give them to the Levites who keep charge of the tabernacle of the LORD.”
- 1 Chronicles 23:28 but their duty was to assist the descendants of Aaron with the service of the house of the LORD, being responsible for the courts and chambers, the purification of all the holy things, and the work of the service of the house of God,
- 1 Chronicles 26:20 Now their fellow Levites were in charge of the treasuries of the house of God and the treasuries of the dedicated things.
- 1 Chronicles 26:22 the sons of Jehieli, Zetham, and his brother Joel. They were in charge of the treasuries of the house of the LORD.
- 1 Chronicles 26:26 This Shelomith and his brothers were in charge of all the treasuries for the things dedicated by King David, by the heads of families who were the commanders of thousands and of hundreds, and by the army commanders.