Numbers 4:36 (KJV)

What does Numbers 4:36 mean?

Numbers 4:36 gives the total for the Kohathites counted for service: 2,750 men. The figure is a count of eligible workers within a particular group of Levites, not a count of all the people of Israel.

The words “by their families” show how the Kohathites were organized for the count. In the surrounding passage, the count concerns men from thirty through fifty years old who could serve at the tabernacle, the tent used for worship.

The Hebrew behind Numbers 4:36

• “numbered” — פָּקַד (paqad): This word can carry the sense of counting or registering people. Here it points to an organized count, rather than an estimate of the Kohathite population.
• “families” — מִשְׁפָּחָה (mishpachah): This word can refer to a larger family group or clan. The count was arranged by kinship groups, not just by individual households.

Why Numbers 4:36 matters

• The total belongs to a specific branch of the Levites. Verse 34 identifies the people counted as the Kohathites, one of the groups descended from Levi.
• The number helps measure the workforce assigned to a particular task. Earlier in the chapter, Numbers 4:15 says the Kohathites were to carry the tabernacle’s sacred objects after Aaron and his sons had covered them.
• The count is one part of a larger tally. The passage goes on to give separate figures for the Gershonites and Merarites before reporting a combined total in Numbers 4:48.