Then the tabernacle was taken down; and the sons of Gershon and the sons of Merari, who were carrying the tabernacle, set out.
Parallel translations
- WEB The tabernacle was taken down; and the sons of Gershon and the sons of Merari, who bore the tabernacle, went forward.
- KJV And the tabernacle was taken down; and the sons of Gershon and the sons of Merari set forward, bearing the tabernacle.
- BSB Then the tabernacle was taken down, and the Gershonites and the Merarites set out, transporting it.
- NKJV Then the tabernacle was taken down; and the sons of Gershon and the sons of Merari set out, carrying the tabernacle.
- NLT Then the Tabernacle was taken down, and the Gershonite and Merarite divisions of the Levites were next in the line of march, carrying the Tabernacle with them.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The tabernacle was taken down and carried forward by the sons of Gershon and Merari. The dwelling of God moved with the people.
Overview
After the lead tribes set out, the Levite families responsible for the tabernacle's structure carried it forward. Placing God's dwelling within the march shows that the Lord's presence traveled at the heart of His people, the central reality of their identity and hope.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 8
- Num 1:51When the tabernacle is to move, the Levites shall take it down; and when the tabernacle is to be set up, the Levites shall set it up. The stranger who comes near shall be put to death.
- Num 7:6–8Moses took the wagons and the oxen, and gave them to the Levites.
- Num 3:25–26The duty of the sons of Gershon in the Tent of Meeting shall be the tabernacle, and the tent, its covering, and the screen for the door of the Tent of Meeting,
- Num 3:36–37The appointed duty of the sons of Merari shall be the tabernacle’s boards, its bars, its pillars, its sockets, all its instruments, all its service,
- 2 Pet 1:14knowing that the putting off of my tent comes swiftly, even as our Lord Jesus Christ made clear to me.
- Num 4:21–33Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,
- Heb 9:11But Christ having come as a high priest of the coming good things, through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation,
- Heb 12:28Therefore, receiving a Kingdom that can’t be shaken, let us have grace, through which we serve God acceptably, with reverence and awe,
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
In the wilderness Christ is the water from the rock, the bronze serpent lifted up that the dying might look and live (John 3:14), and the star and scepter that Balaam saw rising out of Jacob.
How Numbers 10:17 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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