According to the commandment of the Lord they were numbered by the hand of Moses, each according to his service and according to his task; thus were they numbered by him, as the Lord commanded Moses.
Parallel translations
- WEB According to the commandment of Yahweh they were counted by Moses, everyone according to his service, and according to his burden. Thus were they counted by him, as Yahweh commanded Moses.
- KJV According to the commandment of the LORD they were numbered by the hand of Moses, every one according to his service, and according to his burden: thus were they numbered of him, as the LORD commanded Moses.
- BSB At the LORD’s command they were numbered through Moses and each one was assigned his work and burden, as the LORD had commanded Moses.
- NASB According to the commandment of the Lord through Moses, they were counted, everyone by his serving or carrying; so these were his numbered men, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.
- NLT When their names were recorded, as the Lord had commanded through Moses, each man was assigned his task and told what to carry. And so the registration was completed, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.
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
Each Levite was assigned his service and burden exactly as the Lord commanded Moses. The whole census closes on the note of obedience.
Overview
This concluding verse stresses that every man's specific duty was determined by God's command, not human assignment. The chapter ends as it began, framed by obedience to the Lord. This faithful ordering of God's servants foreshadows the well-ordered body of Christ, in which each member is given his appointed place and work.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 15
- Num 1:54Thus the children of Israel did. According to all that Yahweh commanded Moses, so they did.
- Num 4:24“This is the service of the families of the Gershonites, in serving and in bearing burdens:
- Num 4:31This is the duty of their burden, according to all their service in the Tent of Meeting: the tabernacle’s boards, its bars, its pillars, its sockets,
- Num 4:21Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,
- Num 4:15“When Aaron and his sons have finished covering the sanctuary, and all the furniture of the sanctuary, as the camp moves forward; after that, the sons of Kohath shall come to carry it: but they shall not touch the sanctuary, lest they die. These things are the burden of the sons of Kohath in the Tent of Meeting.
- Num 3:51and Moses gave the redemption money to Aaron and to his sons, according to Yahweh’s word, as Yahweh commanded Moses.
- Isa 42:1–7“Behold, my servant, whom I uphold; my chosen, in whom my soul delights — I have put my Spirit on him. He will bring justice to the nations.
- Num 4:41These are those who were counted of the families of the sons of Gershon, all who served in the Tent of Meeting, whom Moses and Aaron counted according to the commandment of Yahweh.
- Isa 11:2–4Yahweh’s Spirit will rest on him: the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of Yahweh.
- Isa 49:1–8Listen, islands, to me. Listen, you peoples, from afar: Yahweh has called me from the womb; from the inside of my mother he has mentioned my name.
- Num 4:37These are those who were counted of the families of the Kohathites, all who served in the Tent of Meeting, whom Moses and Aaron counted according to the commandment of Yahweh by Moses.
- Num 4:45These are those who were counted of the families of the sons of Merari, whom Moses and Aaron counted according to the commandment of Yahweh by Moses.
- Rom 12:4–8For even as we have many members in one body, and all the members don’t have the same function,
- Num 1:47But the Levites after the tribe of their fathers were not counted among them.
- Num 2:33But the Levites were not counted among the children of Israel; as Yahweh commanded Moses.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Commentaries & study tools
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Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
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 4:49 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
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.