Bible Strands
Numbers 4:43
everyone from thirty to fifty years old who came to serve in the work at the Tent of Meeting.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Moses and Aaron record the census of the Levitical clans at the Lord’s command, concluding the enumeration of the Merarite families. This verse specifies the age bracket required for men to perform duties at the Tent of Meeting.
The words — The phrase בֶּן־שָׁלֹשִׁים וְעַד־בֶּן־חֲמִשִּׁים שָׁנָה literally reads "a son of thirty and up to a son of fifty years." It establishes a fixed chronological boundary for labor eligibility.
The thread — This thirty-to-fifty service limit appears in Numbers 8:24 and 1 Chronicles 23:24, where the lower age is subsequently reduced to twenty. The metric consistently defines a designated period of Levitical work responsibility.
Why it lands — The text states that sacred service is restricted to a specific age range, then requires readers to accept divine boundaries for religious duty. It demands adherence to objective qualifications rather than subjective readiness.
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
From thirty years old and upward even unto fifty years old, every one that entereth into the service, for the work in the tabernacle of the congregation,