And their charge shall be the ark, and the table, and the candlestick, and the altars, and the vessels of the sanctuary wherewith they minister, and the hanging, and all the service thereof.

NUMBERS 3:31KJV
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Numbers 3:31 (KJV)

What does Numbers 3:31 mean?

Numbers 3:31 lists the sacred objects entrusted to one group of Levites, the family of Kohath. Their responsibility included the furnishings used inside the tent where Israel worshipped God, along with the equipment and work connected with those objects.

God gives these instructions to Moses as he assigns duties among the Levite families. The “hanging” was a curtain associated with the tent. The “candlestick” was a lampstand, rather than a holder for wax candles.

The Hebrew behind Numbers 3:31

  • “charge” — מִשְׁמֶרֶת (mishmeret): This word carries the sense of a duty or responsibility. Here it identifies the objects placed in the Kohathites’ care.
  • “service” — עֲבֹדָה (avodah): This word often means work or service. Here it points to the work associated with the listed objects, not merely the objects themselves.

Why Numbers 3:31 matters

  • The objects were part of a shared arrangement, not the responsibility of every Levite in the same way. Other Levite families had different assignments, including parts of the tent itself (Numbers 3:25–26, 36–37).
  • Care for the objects involved limits on handling them. Numbers 4:15 says Aaron and his sons were to cover the sacred objects before the Kohathites carried them, and the Kohathites were not to touch them.

Where else these words appear

“hanging” Hebrew H4539 · used in 25 verses

  • Exodus 26:36 And thou shalt make an hanging for the door of the tent, of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen, wrought with needlework.
  • Exodus 39:34 And the covering of rams' skins dyed red, and the covering of badgers' skins, and the vail of the covering,
  • Numbers 3:25 And the charge of the sons of Gershon in the tabernacle of the congregation shall be the tabernacle, and the tent, the covering thereof, and the hanging for the door of the tabernacle of the congregation,

“candlestick” Hebrew H4501 · used in 31 verses

  • Exodus 25:31 And thou shalt make a candlestick of pure gold: of beaten work shall the candlestick be made: his shaft, and his branches, his bowls, his knops, and his flowers, shall be of the same.
  • Exodus 37:18 And six branches going out of the sides thereof; three branches of the candlestick out of the one side thereof, and three branches of the candlestick out of the other side thereof:
  • Numbers 8:4 And this work of the candlestick was of beaten gold, unto the shaft thereof, unto the flowers thereof, was beaten work: according unto the pattern which the LORD had shewed Moses, so he made the candlestick.

“table” Hebrew H7979 · used in 62 verses

  • Exodus 25:23 Thou shalt also make a table of shittim wood: two cubits shall be the length thereof, and a cubit the breadth thereof, and a cubit and a half the height thereof.
  • 1 Samuel 20:34 So Jonathan arose from the table in fierce anger, and did eat no meat the second day of the month: for he was grieved for David, because his father had done him shame.
  • Job 36:16 Even so would he have removed thee out of the strait into a broad place, where there is no straitness; and that which should be set on thy table should be full of fatness.

“charge” Hebrew H4931 · used in 69 verses

  • Genesis 26:5 Because that Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.
  • Numbers 9:19 And when the cloud tarried long upon the tabernacle many days, then the children of Israel kept the charge of the LORD, and journeyed not.
  • 1 Chronicles 26:12 Among these were the divisions of the porters, even among the chief men, having wards one against another, to minister in the house of the LORD.