According to the number of all the males, from a month old and above, there were eight thousand six hundred keeping charge of the sanctuary.
Parallel translations
- WEB According to the number of all the males, from a month old and upward, there were eight thousand six hundred, keeping the requirements of the sanctuary.
- KJV In the number of all the males, from a month old and upward, were eight thousand and six hundred, keeping the charge of the sanctuary.
- BSB The number of all the males a month old or more was 8,600. They were responsible for the duties of the sanctuary.
- NASB In the counting of every male from a month old and upward, there were 8,600, performing the duties of the sanctuary.
- NLT There were 8,600 males one month old or older among these Kohathite clans. They were responsible for the care of the sanctuary,
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 Kohathites numbered 8,600 males who kept charge of the sanctuary. Their count corresponds to their guardianship of the most holy things.
Overview
This records the size of the Kohathite clan, noting their duty of keeping the sanctuary. Their charge over the most sacred items demanded a substantial and devoted body of servants. The emphasis on 'keeping the requirements of the sanctuary' marks the gravity of their holy task. (Some manuscripts read 8,300; the difference does not affect the account.)
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 3
- Num 4:35–36from thirty years old and upward even to fifty years old, everyone who entered into the service, for work in the Tent of Meeting.
- Num 3:7They shall keep his requirements, and the requirements of the whole congregation before the Tent of Meeting, to do the service of the tabernacle.
- Num 3:31Their duty shall be the ark, the table, the lamp stand, the altars, the vessels of the sanctuary with which they minister, and the screen, and all its service.
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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 3:28 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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