Synopsis of the Chapter
The Levites from their thirtieth year are numbered at 8,380, who are to carry the vessels of the tabernacle when the camp must move: and to the Kohathites indeed are assigned both altars, the ark, the table, and the lampstand; to the Gershonites the veils and curtains, verse 24; and to the Merarites the boards, columns, and bases, verse 31.
Verses 2-3: Take the Sum of the Sons of Kohath, from the Thirtieth Year and Above Up to the Fiftieth Year ¶
In the previous chapter, verse 15, the Levites were numbered from the first month of age, as substitutes for nearly the same number of firstborn; but here the Levites are numbered from the thirtieth year, because here only strong men are counted, who could carry the heavy burdens and parts of the tabernacle when the camp was to be moved. In like manner among the Hebrews, no one could teach before the thirtieth year: hence in the thirtieth year both Christ and John the Baptist began to preach. For this is the age of mature judgment and just authority.
In like manner, it is probable that a fixed age was established for priests, before which they could not exercise the priesthood, says Abulensis, Question XLII; but what that age was is nowhere expressed in Scripture. For what Josephus reports, that the son of Hyrcanus exercised the pontificate in the eighteenth year of his age, one may rightly doubt whether this was done properly and according to the laws. For if a greater age was required in Levites, then much more so in priests and high priests.
Verse 3: Of All Who Enter to Stand ¶
Hebrew: everyone who enters into military service, or the host. For the Hebrew tsaba signifies this; our translator, however, renders tsaba as station, because tsaba is derived from iatsab, that is, he stood: whence also those skilled in the Hebrew language, such as Mercerus, Forsterus, and others teach that the army is called tsaba, that is, a station, because it is a military station.
Moreover, military service or station is here called the very Ecclesiastical ministry of the Levites in the tabernacle, as our translator renders in verse 30. For this military service is not human but divine, by which the Levites kept watch in a most orderly arrangement like soldiers: first, for the custody of the tabernacle; second, for carrying and protecting it; third, for assisting the priests, so that the sacrifices might be duly performed, and for every sacred service of God. Imitating this Hebraism, St. Paul exhorts Timothy the Bishop to "fight the good fight, having good faith and conscience," I Timothy 1:8. Therefore clerics are soldiers, whose leaders and standard-bearers are the bishops. For among the Hebrews, military service signifies every kind of service: hence the Levites, angels, the heavens, the stars, and all creatures are called soldiers of God, and God is called Sabaoth, that is, of hosts, namely of the soldiers just mentioned, and Sabaoth is one of the ten names of God, which the Septuagint sometimes translates as dynameon, that is, of powers or strengths; sometimes as pantokratora, that is, almighty, conquering all things, ruling over all, as St. Jerome attests, epistle 136 to Marcella. Note here: the Levites are said to enter into military service, namely of God and the tabernacle; but other common soldiers going to war are said to go out into military service, because they set forth abroad to war and their enemies.
Verse 4: This Is the Service ¶
That is, the ministry, the sacred function of the Kohathites. This is clear from the Hebrew.
Verses 4-5: Aaron and His Sons Shall Enter the Holy of Holies
Hence it is clear that even the lesser priests entered the Holy of Holies for the purpose of dismantling it, when the camp was to be moved. Therefore, what is said in Leviticus 16 and Hebrews 9:7, that the high priest alone entered the Holy of Holies once a year, should be understood as applying when the camp was fixed, and the tabernacle stood at rest in it, for ministering and performing sacred rites in it: for this was the sole prerogative of the high priest; but not when, during the movement of the camps, the tabernacle was to be dismantled: for this was the duty of the lesser priests, as Abulensis well proves, Question V; for when the Holy of Holies was to be dismantled, then God, or rather an angel, withdrew that body or cloud which rested upon and as it were sat upon the mercy seat and gave oracles: hence at that time there was no danger of irreverence, or that the lesser priests might see that body representing God. Abulensis adds, Question XVIII, that the Levites themselves, namely the Kohathites, entered the Holy of Holies in order to carry out its furnishings — namely the ark, the Cherubim, and the mercy seat — after they had been wrapped and bound by the priests, as is stated in verse 15, because once those objects had been removed from their place and wrapped, all the glory of the Holy of Holies had been taken away, and the place was now considered not sacred but common and, as it were, profane.
Verse 5: They Shall Take Down the Veil ¶
Which divides the Holy Place from the Holy of Holies; and so the priests would first wrap the ark and the Cherubim in this veil; then with a scarlet covering they would likewise wrap the table, the altar, and the lampstand, which were in the Holy Place. For these were held to be holy and sacred, so much so that not even the Levites were permitted to touch or see them uncovered, under penalty of death, as is stated here. Therefore the priests wrapped and veiled all these vessels when the camp was to be moved and the tabernacle was accordingly to be dismantled; then they handed them over, veiled, to the Levites, namely the Kohathites, to be carried. Second came the Gershonites, rolling up and carrying out their curtains and veils. Last came the Merarites, dismantling and carrying out the columns and boards of the tabernacle.
The reverse order was followed in the erection of the tabernacle, when the camp was to be set up: for then the Merarites came first, to fix the columns and join together the boards of the tabernacle. Second came the Gershonites, to cover them with their curtains and veils. Third and last came the Kohathites, to set down their veiled vessels both in the Holy Place and in the Holy of Holies: which the priests then uncovered and placed in their proper positions.
Verse 6: And They Shall Put in the Bars ¶
Not into the ark, because they had already been put into it and were never removed, as is clear from Exodus 25:15; therefore they shall put and place these bars upon the shoulders of the carriers, namely the Kohathites.
Verse 7: The Censers ¶
Our translator places these first, whereas in the Hebrew they are placed last, and this is so that he may join the vessels proper to the libations, namely the cups and bowls, with what follows, for libations to be poured out (as the Hebrew has); for incense was burned together with the sacrifices, and it was kept in these censers; in the mortars, that is, small dishes, the fine flour was received for the mincha, or grain offering; in the cups and bowls, finally, wine or oil was received for pouring out and offering as a libation. For this is what ad liba fundenda signifies. Note here: Although incense and flour are sometimes called libations, properly speaking only liquids, such as wine and oil, are libations.
The loaves (of proposition) shall always be on it. — "On it," namely the table. Understand this as referring to the promised land, where the Hebrews, being at rest, would duly worship God and observe these ceremonies. So say some. But the contrary seems more true; for here Moses speaks of what was to be done in the desert, when the camp was to be moved and the furnishings of the tabernacle were to be packed up.
Verse 10: And They Shall Put in the Bars ¶
In the lampstand there were no bars; therefore they tied them to the bundle of the lampstand, then placed them on their shoulders, and so carried the lampstand; but in the ark, the table, and the altar there were bars; hence what is said immediately at verse 11, concerning the altar: "And they shall put in the bars," should be understood as meaning not into the altar, but onto the shoulders of the carriers, as I said at verse 6.
Verse 11: The Golden Altar ¶
The altar of incense, which was made of acacia wood but covered with gold plates, whereas the altar of holocausts was covered with bronze plates on its sides.
Verse 13: They Shall Also Cleanse the Altar of Ashes ¶
Both from the victims burned on it at Sinai, and from the wood by which the sacred fire was henceforth to be maintained, according to God's precept given in Leviticus chapter 6, verse 12. For after their departure from Sinai, the Hebrews henceforth did not sacrifice any victims in the desert.
Verse 14: The Forks, and Tridents, and Hooks ¶
In the Hebrew, for these three there is one word mislegot, which signifies a fork, whether it be a trident or a single-pronged hook, that is, a hook with one tooth. The bowls are omitted here, which are found in the Hebrew, about which I spoke at Exodus 25:29.
Verse 15: They Shall Not Touch the Vessels ¶
Namely when uncovered and not wrapped. St. Thomas adds that the Levites did not touch even the vessels themselves, though wrapped, but only the bars placed upon them.
Tropologically, Origen, homily 4, says: "The Christian people carry the Holy of Holies veiled upon their shoulders when they receive the Sacraments and fulfill the precepts whose meaning they do not understand."
Verse 16: Over Whom Shall Be Eleazar ¶
Over whom (the Kohathites) shall be Eleazar, as being himself descended from Kohath. Over the Gershonites and Merarites, however, Ithamar presided, the younger son of Aaron, but in such a way that Eleazar exercised general superintendence and care over all.
To whose (Eleazar's) care belongs the oil, the incense, and the (perpetual) sacrifice which is always offered. — Not that Eleazar alone sacrificed or burned incense, but that it was his duty to see to it and provide that this material, namely the oil, the fine flour, and the incense, should not be lacking. This care was later distributed in some respects to the Levites, namely the care of the fine flour, wine, incense, oil, and spices, as is clear from I Paralipomenon 9:29.
Verse 18: Do Not Destroy the People of Kohath ¶
Do not allow the Kohathites to be destroyed and slain by Me, which will happen if they touch the Holy of Holies, that is, the most sacred vessels of the tabernacle.
Verse 28: This Is the Service ¶
That is, the ministry of the Gershonites. For the Hebrew aboda signifies work, service, ministry, and because this was here sacred, it is therefore called cultus (worship) by our translator.
Verse 37: These Moses and Aaron Numbered, According to the Word of the Lord by the Hand of Moses ¶
The phrase by the hand of Moses should be referred not to "numbered" but to "the word of the Lord," as if to say: All were numbered according to the word and command of the Lord, who ordered this to be done "by the hand of Moses," that is, through Moses as His minister and instrument. For this is what "hand" signifies, inasmuch as the hand in man is the organ of organs.
Verse 49: Moses Numbered Them, Each One According to His Office and His Burdens ¶
That is, by telling and commanding each one: Those Gershonites shall carry the curtains of the tabernacle, these the goat-hair covering, those the veil of the entrance, and likewise for the Merarites and Kohathites, distributing to each their particular duties. And this seems to have been the entire function and the whole ordinary office of the Levites down to the time of David, namely to carry and guard the vessels of the tabernacle, as is indicated in I Paralipomenon 23:26. But David, as is said in the same place, assigned them the office of singing, or chanting psalms, and other duties, and distributed these among them. I say ordinary: for extraordinarily, the Levites helped the priests in skinning, cutting up, and burning victims, when the priests themselves were not sufficient for these tasks, as is clear from II Paralipomenon 29:34.
The Ministers of the Old Law and the New
From these ministers of the old law arose the ministers of the new law, that is, after their pattern the ministers of the new law were established in the Church; namely from the Levites, deacons; from the priests, the sons of Aaron, presbyters; from the high priest, bishops; from the singers of the temple, the singers of the Church; from Aaron and his sons, who tended the lamps, Exodus 27:21, acolytes, whom they call candle-bearers; from the Nethinim, about whom we shall speak at Joshua chapter 9, last verse, subdeacons; from the Nazirites, about whom chapter 6, Religious. So teaches Innocent III, book I, On the Sacred Mystery of the Altar, from chapter II to VII. Now if the office of the Levites of old, who merely served the priests around the tabernacle, was so great that God here carefully assigns to each one individually his particular duties, how great will be the office of the deacons and ministers of the New Testament, who serve at the sacrifice of the Body and Blood of Christ! Surely it is angelic, and has often been taken up by angels.
Angels Ministering at the Sacred Rites
When once on Easter day Pope Gregory I was celebrating in the church of St. Mary Major, and had said, "The peace of the Lord be always with you," an angel of the Lord responded in a loud voice: "And with your spirit." On account of which, when the Pope celebrates there on that day and says "The peace of the Lord," etc., nothing is responded, says John the Deacon, in the Life of St. Gregory.
Bishop Proculus, a martyr, came from Syria to Rome in the time of Emperor Justin, and travelling throughout the whole Roman province he preached, shining with miracles and the holiness of his life. When one day he was celebrating the sacred rites in the presence of Valentinus, Bishop of Terni, an angel of the Lord took the chalice from the altar and lifted it into the air in the sight of all, and then placed it back on the altar with the consecrated blood, and the holy priest, at the angel's command, drank the consecrated blood. So reports Peter, Bishop of Aquila, book I, Catalogue of the Saints, chapter 15.
In the Life of St. Oswald, Bishop of Worcester, who lived in the year of our Lord 1170, it is related that an angel ministered to him diligently as he was offering the sacrifice, and responded at each part.
Brother John of Parma, Minister General of the Franciscans, came at the appointed hour to offer the sacrifice, and no brother appeared to serve: immediately an angel was present and became the server, bearing the face and habit of a Religious. When the sacrifice was finished, the brother arrived and asked: "Does it please you, my father, to celebrate the Sacred Rites?" Then the man of God knew that it was an angel, not a Religious, who had served at the Sacred Rites. So their Chronicles relate, volume II, book I, chapter LVII.
St. Nilus the Abbot, in his epistle to Bishop Anastasius, writes of St. John Chrysostom that nearly every time he celebrated, he saw angels: "When he had begun," he says, "the holy sacrifice, very many of those Heavenly Powers immediately descended from heaven, clothed in most splendid robes, with bare feet, intent eyes, and bowed faces, and with great silence and reverence stood around until that venerable mystery was completed. Then, scattered one by one throughout the whole church, they attached themselves to the priests and deacons as they distributed the Body and precious Blood, assisting and diligently helping."
Hear something even more wonderful. Christ the Lord gave holy communion to St. Dionysius the Areopagite. For when he was shut up in prison with Rusticus and Eleutherius, and could not celebrate, Christ appeared to him with a multitude of angels, and taking the holy bread, gave it to him saying: "Receive this, My dear one, which I shall soon fulfill for you together with My Father; for with Me is your greatest reward, and for those who hear you, salvation in My kingdom. Now act bravely, and your memory shall be in praise." So writes Hilduinus in the Life of St. Dionysius.
St. Bonaventure, abstaining from holy communion out of humility, as though unworthy, received a particle of the consecrated host from the hand of the celebrant through an angel, who placed it in his mouth, signifying that he should put away every scruple about celebrating frequently and converse familiarly with his Creator, by whom he was loved. So his Life relates.
The same thing happened to a certain holy matron named Bertranda, as is recorded in the Life of St. Elzear, chapter XVII.
In the Life of Saints Faustinus and Jovita, Martyrs, we read that when they had baptized the soldier Secundus at Milan and wished to give him holy communion, but had no bread from which to confect it, they received it brought by a dove, and offered it to him to consume. The dove, which is the symbol of the Holy Spirit, signified that the Holy Spirit also is present in the Eucharist. For where the Son is, there also is the Father and the Holy Spirit.