Deuteronomy 31:25

Deuteronomy 31:25

That Moses commanded the Levites, which bare the ark of the covenant of the LORD, saying,

a. NASB 1995: that Moses commanded the Levites who carried the ark of the covenant of the LORD, saying,  [New American Standard Bible 1995 (NASB1995) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.]

b. YLT: That Moses commandeth the Levites bearing the ark of the covenant of Jehovah, saying,  [The Young's Literal Translation was translated by Robert Young, who believed in a strictly literal translation of God's word. This version of the Bible is in the public domain.]

c. Classic Amplified: He commanded the Levites who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord,  [Amplified Bible, Classic Edition (AMPC) Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation]

d. Stone Edition THE CHUMASH, Rabbinic Commentary: Moses commanded the Levites, the bearers of the Ark of the Covenant of HASHEM, saying.  [The Artscroll Series/Stone Edition, THE CHUMASH Copyright 1998, 2000 by MESORAH PUBLICATIONS, Ldt.]

e. ESV: Moses commanded the Levites who carried the ark of the covenant of the LORD, [Scripture quotations are from the Holy Bible, English Standard Version, copyright © 2001, 2007, 2011, 2016 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.]

f. Unless otherwise stated, all Greek and Hebrew definitions are from Blue Letter Bible

1. That Moses commanded the Levites, which bare the ark of the covenant of the LORD, saying,

a. [That] Moses [Strong: 4872 Môsheh, mo-sheh'; from H4871; drawing out (of the water), i.e. rescued; Mosheh, the Israelite lawgiver:—Moses.]

b. commanded [Strong: 6680 tsâvâh, tsaw-vaw'; a primitive root; (intensively) to constitute, enjoin:—appoint, (for-) bid, (give a) charge, (give a, give in, send with) command(-er, -ment), send a messenger, put, (set) in order.]

c. [Strong: 853 'eth ayth apparent contracted from 226 in the demonstrative sense of entity; properly, self (but generally used to point out more definitely the object of a verb or preposition, even or namely):--(as such unrepresented in English).]

d. [the] Levites [Strong: 3881 Lêvîyîy, lay-vee-ee'; or לֵוִי Lêvîy; patronymically from H3878; a Levite or descendant of Levi:—Leviite.]

e. [which] bare [Strong: 5375 nâsâʼ, naw-saw'; or נָסָה nâçâh; (Psalm 4:6 [7]), a primitive root; to lift, in a great variety of applications, literal and figurative, absolute and relative:—accept, advance, arise, (able to, (armor), suffer to) bear(-er, up), bring (forth), burn, carry (away), cast, contain, desire, ease, exact, exalt (self), extol, fetch, forgive, furnish, further, give, go on, help, high, hold up, honorable ( man), lade, lay, lift (self) up, lofty, marry, magnify, × needs, obtain, pardon, raise (up), receive, regard, respect, set (up), spare, stir up, swear, take (away, up), × utterly, wear, yield.]

f. [the] ark [Strong: 727 ʼârôwn, aw-rone'; or אָרֹן ʼârôn; from H717 (in the sense of gathering); a box:—ark, chest, coffin.]

g. [of the] covenant [Strong: 1285 bᵉrîyth, ber-eeth'; from H1262 (in the sense of cutting [like H1254]); a compact (because made by passing between pieces of flesh):—confederacy, (con-) feder(-ate), covenant, league.]

h. [of the] LORD [Strong: 3068 Yᵉhôvâh, yeh-ho-vaw'; from H1961; (the) self-Existent or Eternal; Jeho-vah, Jewish national name of God:—Jehovah, the Lord.]

i. saying [Strong: 559 ʼâmar, aw-mar'; a primitive root; to say (used with great latitude):—answer, appoint, avouch, bid, boast self, call, certify, challenge, charge, (at the, give) command(-ment), commune, consider, declare, demand, × desire, determine, × expressly, × indeed, × intend, name, × plainly, promise, publish, report, require, say, speak (against, of), × still, × suppose, talk, tell, term, × that is, × think, use (speech), utter, × verily, × yet.]

1). In the book of Numbers the tribe of Levi was set apart to be ministers of the tabernacle. The various duties were specified later in Numbers 3 and Numbers four.

a). Numbers 3:5-9 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,

3:6 Bring the tribe of Levi near, and present them before Aaron the priest, that they may minister unto him.

3:7 And they shall keep his charge, and the charge of the whole congregation before the tabernacle of the congregation, to do the service of the tabernacle.

3:8 And they shall keep all the instruments of the tabernacle of the congregation, and the charge of the children of Israel, to do the service of the tabernacle.

3:9 And thou shalt give the Levites unto Aaron and to his sons: they are wholly given unto him out of the children of Israel.

2). Levi had three sons.

a). Genesis 46:11 And the sons of Levi; Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.

b). Each son had their specific responsibility in transporting the Tabernacle.

(1) The responsibility of the Gershonites was the coverings of the tent and tabernacle, the hanging for the door, the hangings of the court, and the curtain for the door of the court. It is possible also that they helped to disassemble that part of the tabernacle (Numbers 3:25, 26). 

(2) The responsibility of the sons of Merari was the boards of the tabernacle, the bars, the pillars, the sockets, the vessels, the pillars of the court and the sockets, pins and cords of the outer boundary of the tabernacle (Numbers 3:36, 37).

(3)  The responsibility of the Kohathites was the furniture of the tabernacle, the ark, the table of showbread, the Menorah, the altar, and the altar of incense. Their responsibility was different from Gershonites and the sons of Merari, because they carried the most holy things of the tabernacle. 

3). The Kohath branch of the Levitical tribe had four clans and they had the responsibility of carrying the ark. Except on special occasions.

a). Numbers 3:31 And their charge shall be the ark, and the table, and the candlestick, and the altars, and the vessels of the sanctuary wherewith they minister, and the hanging, and all the service thereof.

4). On special occasions the priests carried the Ark of the Covenant. When Israel crossed the Jordan priests carried the Ark, and when they captured Jericho priests carried the ark.

a). Joshua 3:13 And it shall come to pass, as soon as the soles of the feet of the priests that bear the ark of the Lord, the Lord of all the earth, shall rest in the waters of Jordan, that the waters of Jordan shall be cut off from the waters that come down from above; and they shall stand upon an heap.

b). Joshua 6:6 And Joshua the son of Nun called the priests, and said unto them, Take up the ark of the covenant, and let seven priests bear seven trumpets of rams' horns before the ark of the Lord.