From thirty years old and upward even unto fifty years old, every one that came to do the service of the ministry, and the service of the burden in the tabernacle of the congregation,

NUMBERS 4:47KJV
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Numbers 4:47 (KJV)

What does Numbers 4:47 mean?

Numbers 4:47 identifies the Levite men counted for work at the tabernacle, the sacred tent used for worship. The count covers those from thirty through fifty years old who were to perform duties at the tent and carry its equipment.

The verse completes the description of those counted in verse 46. Its two phrases, “the service of the ministry” and “the service of the burden,” distinguish work at the tent from the work of transporting its contents when the people moved.

The Hebrew behind Numbers 4:47

  • “service” — עֲבֹדָה (ʿavodah): This word means work or service. It appears in both service phrases, linking the duties at the tent and the carrying work as assigned tasks.
  • “burden” — מַשָּׂא (massa): This word can mean a load that is carried. Here it points to the objects the Levites were responsible for moving.
  • “congregation” — מוֹעֵד (moʿed): This word can refer to an appointed meeting. The phrase “tabernacle of the congregation” is often understood as “tent of meeting.”

Why Numbers 4:47 matters

  • The count had a specific purpose: verse 47 connects it with people eligible for the tabernacle duties. The total in verse 48, 8,580, belongs to that group.
  • The carrying work was divided among families. Earlier in the chapter, the Kohathites are assigned sacred objects, while the Gershonites and Merarites are assigned other parts of the tent and its equipment (Numbers 4:4–33).

Where else these words appear

“burden” Hebrew H4853 · used in 60 verses

  • Exodus 23:5 If thou see the ass of him that hateth thee lying under his burden, and wouldest forbear to help him, thou shalt surely help with him.
  • 2 Chronicles 20:25 And when Jehoshaphat and his people came to take away the spoil of them, they found among them in abundance both riches with the dead bodies, and precious jewels, which they stripped off for themselves, more than they could carry away: and they were three days in gathering of the spoil, it was so much.
  • Isaiah 23:1 The burden of Tyre. Howl, ye ships of Tarshish; for it is laid waste, so that there is no house, no entering in: from the land of Chittim it is revealed to them.

“ministry” Hebrew H5656 · used in 125 verses

  • Genesis 29:27 Fulfil her week, and we will give thee this also for the service which thou shalt serve with me yet seven other years.
  • Numbers 4:30 From thirty years old and upward even unto fifty years old shalt thou number them, every one that entereth into the service, to do the work of the tabernacle of the congregation.
  • 1 Chronicles 23:26 And also unto the Levites; they shall no more carry the tabernacle, nor any vessels of it for the service thereof.

“upward” Hebrew H4605 · used in 134 verses

  • Genesis 6:16 A window shalt thou make to the ark, and in a cubit shalt thou finish it above; and the door of the ark shalt thou set in the side thereof; with lower, second, and third stories shalt thou make it.
  • Numbers 4:30 From thirty years old and upward even unto fifty years old shalt thou number them, every one that entereth into the service, to do the work of the tabernacle of the congregation.
  • 2 Chronicles 16:12 And Asa in the thirty and ninth year of his reign was diseased in his feet, until his disease was exceeding great: yet in his disease he sought not to the LORD, but to the physicians.

“fifty” Hebrew H2572 · used in 141 verses

  • Genesis 6:15 And this is the fashion which thou shalt make it of: The length of the ark shall be three hundred cubits, the breadth of it fifty cubits, and the height of it thirty cubits.
  • Numbers 4:30 From thirty years old and upward even unto fifty years old shalt thou number them, every one that entereth into the service, to do the work of the tabernacle of the congregation.
  • 1 Chronicles 5:21 And they took away their cattle; of their camels fifty thousand, and of sheep two hundred and fifty thousand, and of asses two thousand, and of men an hundred thousand.