Assistants to the Aaronic priests, they exercised an auxiliary ministry, caring for the tabernacle. After the ark was brought to Jerusalem by David their role was re-ordered and extended. They were reconsecrated during the reforms of Josiah and Hezekiah and recommissioned by Ezra and Nehemiah when the Israelites returned from captivity.
The Levites and the care of the tabernacle
The Levites are to transport, erect and guard the tabernacle
Numbers 1:48–53 See also Numbers 2:17; Deuteronomy 10:8
For the LORD had said to Moses: “Do not number the tribe of Levi in the census with the other Israelites. Instead, you are to appoint the Levites over the tabernacle of the Testimony, all its furnishings, and everything in it. They shall carry the tabernacle and all its articles, care for it, and camp around it. Whenever the tabernacle is to move, the Levites are to take it down, and whenever it is to be pitched, the Levites are to set it up. Any outsider who goes near it must be put to death. The Israelites are to camp by their divisions, each man in his own camp and under his own standard. But the Levites are to camp around the tabernacle of the Testimony and watch over it, so that no wrath will fall on the congregation of Israel. So the Levites are responsible for the tabernacle of the Testimony.”
The Gershonite branch of the Levites are to care for the coverings and curtains of the tabernacle
Numbers 3:25–26 See also Numbers 4:24–27
The duties of the Gershonites at the Tent of Meeting were the tabernacle and tent, its covering, the curtain for the entrance to the Tent of Meeting, the curtains of the courtyard, the curtain for the entrance to the courtyard that surrounds the tabernacle and altar, and the cords— all the service for these items.
The Kohathite branch of the Levites are to care for the furnishings of the sanctuary
Numbers 3:31 See also Numbers 4:4–20
Their duties were the ark, the table, the lampstand, the altars, the articles of the sanctuary used with them, and the curtain— all the service for these items.
The Merarite branch of the Levites are to care for the frames of the tabernacle
Numbers 3:36–37 See also Numbers 4:29–33
The duties assigned to the sons of Merari were the tabernacle’s frames, crossbars, posts, bases, and all its equipment— all the service for these items, as well as the posts of the surrounding courtyard with their bases, tent pegs, and ropes.
The Levites are to have an auxiliary ministry
Numbers 3:5–10 See also Numbers 8:19, Numbers 18:1–7
Then the LORD said to Moses, “Bring the tribe of Levi and present them to Aaron the priest to assist him. They are to perform duties for him and for the whole congregation before the Tent of Meeting, attending to the service of the tabernacle. They shall take care of all the furnishings of the Tent of Meeting and fulfill obligations for the Israelites by attending to the service of the tabernacle. Assign the Levites to Aaron and his sons; they have been given exclusively to him from among the Israelites. So you shall appoint Aaron and his sons to carry out the duties of the priesthood; but any outsider who approaches the tabernacle must be put to death.”
The Levites are set apart for their ministry
Numbers 8:20–21 See also Numbers 8:5–15
So Moses, Aaron, and the whole congregation of Israel did with the Levites everything that the LORD had commanded Moses they should do. The Levites purified themselves and washed their clothes, and Aaron presented them as a wave offering before the LORD. Aaron also made atonement for them to cleanse them.
The Levites' period of service was between the ages of 25 and 50
Numbers 8:23–26 See also Numbers 4:1–3 Some suggest that the reason for the discrepancy in ages between Numbers chapters 4 and 8 is that the Levites had to serve an apprenticeship for the first five years.
And the LORD said to Moses, “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. But at the age of fifty, they must retire from performing the work and no longer serve. After that, they may assist their brothers in fulfilling their duties at the Tent of Meeting, but they themselves are not to do the work. This is how you are to assign responsibilities to the Levites.”
Occasions after the settlement when the Levites transport the ark
1 Samuel 6:15; 2 Samuel 15:24; 1 Kings 8:3–5 parallel 2 Chronicles 5:4–6; 1 Chronicles 15:1–16
David re-orders and extends the role of the Levites
1 Chronicles 23:2–6 See also 1 Chronicles 6:31–49, 1 Chronicles 16:4–6, 1 Chronicles 23:24–32, 1 Chronicles 25:1–26:32
Then he gathered all the leaders of Israel, as well as the priests and Levites. The Levites thirty years of age or older were counted, and the total number of men was 38,000. “Of these,” said David, “24,000 are to oversee the work of the house of the LORD, 6,000 are to be officers and judges, 4,000 are to be gatekeepers, and 4,000 are to praise the LORD with the instruments I have made for giving praise.” Then David divided the Levites into divisions according to the sons of Levi: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.
Hezekiah and Josiah rededicate the Levites
2 Chronicles 29:3–36, 2 Chronicles 35:1–6
Ezra and Nehemiah recommission the Levites after the return from exile
Ezra 6:16–18 See also Nehemiah 12:22–26
Then the people of Israel — the priests, the Levites, and the rest of the exiles — celebrated the dedication of the house of God with joy. For the dedication of the house of God they offered a hundred bulls, two hundred rams, four hundred lambs, and a sin offering for all Israel of twelve male goats, one for each tribe of Israel. They also appointed the priests by their divisions and the Levites by their groups to the service of God in Jerusalem, according to what is written in the Book of Moses.
Ezekiel prophesies a restored but restricted role for the Levites in the new temple
Surely the Levites who wandered away from Me when Israel went astray, and who wandered away from Me after their idols, will bear the consequences of their iniquity. Yet they shall be ministers in My sanctuary, having charge of the gates of the temple and ministering there. They shall slaughter the burnt offerings and other sacrifices for the people and stand before them to minister to them. Because they ministered before their idols and became a stumbling block of iniquity to the house of Israel, therefore I swore with an uplifted hand concerning them that they would bear the consequences of their iniquity, declares the Lord GOD. They must not approach Me to serve Me as priests or come near any of My holy things or the most holy things. They will bear the shame of the abominations they have committed. Yet I will appoint them to keep charge of all the work for the temple and everything to be done in it.
Related themes
Dictionary of Bible Themes © 1999 Martin Manser, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0, via Bible Aquifer. Formatted for this site, with Scripture from the Berean Standard Bible.