“This applies to the Levites: Men twenty-five years of age or older shall enter to perform the service in the work at the Tent of Meeting.
Parallel translations
- WEB “This is that which belongs to the Levites: from twenty-five years old and upward they shall go in to wait on the service in the work of the Tent of Meeting;
- KJV This is it that belongeth unto the Levites: from twenty and five years old and upward they shall go in to wait upon the service of the tabernacle of the congregation:
- NKJV “This is what pertains to the Levites: From twenty-five years old and above one may enter to perform service in the work of the tabernacle of meeting;
- NASB “This is what applies to the Levites: from twenty-five years old and upward they shall enter to perform service in the work of the tent of meeting.
- NLT “This is the rule the Levites must follow: They must begin serving in the Tabernacle at the age of twenty-five,
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
Levites began their service at age twenty-five. God set an appointed time for entering sacred work.
Overview
God establishes a starting age for Levite ministry, allowing for training before fuller duties. The number here is sometimes compared with thirty in chapter four, often explained as an apprenticeship period beginning at twenty-five and full service at thirty. The detail shows God's orderly provision for ongoing, generational ministry.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 10
- Num 4:3men from thirty to fifty years old—everyone who is qualified to serve in the work at the Tent of Meeting.
- 1 Chr 23:3The Levites thirty years of age or older were counted, and the total number of men was 38,000.
- Num 4:23from thirty to fifty years old, counting everyone who comes to serve in the work at the Tent of Meeting.
- 1 Cor 9:7Who serves as a soldier at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard and does not eat of its fruit? Who tends a flock and does not drink of its milk?
- 1 Chr 23:24–27These were the descendants of Levi by their families—the heads of families, registered individually by name—those twenty years of age or older who worked in the service of the house of the LORD.
- 2 Cor 10:4The weapons of our warfare are not the weapons of the world. Instead, they have divine power to demolish strongholds.
- 2 Tim 2:3–5Join me in suffering, like a good soldier of Christ Jesus.
- 1 Chr 28:12–13The plans contained everything David had in mind for the courts of the house of the LORD, for all the surrounding rooms, for the treasuries of the house of God and of the dedicated things,
- 1 Tim 1:18Timothy, my child, I entrust you with this command in keeping with the previous prophecies about you, so that by them you may fight the good fight,
- 1 Tim 6:12Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made the good confession before many witnesses.
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 8:24 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.