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		Always Being Ready     Naso   (Num 4:21 - 7:89)

B'Midbar/Numbers 4:24   This is the work of the families of Gershon: to work and to carry.

View whole verse and interlinear translation ...

Parashat Naso starts by completing the census and work allocation for the three clans of Levi - Kohath, Gerhson and M'rari - that began at the end of the last parasha. Each clan has their own particular set of tasks and items for which they are - under the direction of Elazar and Itamar, the sons of Aharon - to be responsible. The Kohathites are to carry the holy furniture of the Tabernacle, the ark, the altars, the table, the menorah and all their implements; the Gershonites pack, carry and assemble all the fabric - the curtains, coverings, cords, screens and hangings - of both the Tabernacle and the courtyard; the M'rarites break down, carry and re-assemble the structural hardware - the boards, pillars, pegs, sockets and bars - of the Tabernacle and the courtyard. Every time the Tabernacle moves, the priests call in Levi & Co, the Israelites' in-house removal firm, who undertake the physical process of dismantling, transporting and re-deploying the entire sanctuary and its surrounding courtyard.

We need to pay some attention to the vocabulary in our text, starting with the root עבד, which is used twice. It first appears as עֲבֹדַת, the construct form of the fs noun עֶבֹדָה; the other use is לַעֲבֹד, the Qal infinitive of the verb root. The second root is נשׂא - fundamentally "to lift or carry" - here present as וּלְמַשָּׂא, which could be either a Hifil infinitive or a ms noun, in both cases prefaced by a conjunction and a preposition. Who Is ...

Abraham Ibn Ezra: (1089-1167 CE), born in Tudela, Spain; died in the South of France after wandering all around the shores of the Mediterranean and England; a philosopher, astronomer, doctor, poet and linguist; wrote a Hebrew grammar and a commentary on the Bible
Ibn Ezra insists that "this too is an infinitive" to match לַעֲֶבֹד immediately before it: "to work and to carry."

Rabbi Matityahu Clark and Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch tell us that the root עבד means "to work subject to another's will"¹ and offer five illustrations of its use:

1. working purposefully (B'resheet 2:5 there was no man to till the soil)
2. giving service (B'resheet 29:15 Just because you are a kinsman, should you serve me for nothing?)
3. being a slave (Shemot 6:6 I will free you from the labours of the Egyptians and deliver you from their bondage)
4. serving the sanctuary (B'Midbar 4:47 all who were subject to duties of service and porterage)
5. deeds/works (Job 34:25 Truly, He knows their deeds)

By this measure, עבד would seem to be connected closely with physical activity and work. Michael Morales suggests that the the verse "all who were subject to duties of service and porterage relating to the Tent of Meeting" (B'Midbar 4:47, NJPS) offers "a collated summary of Levitical labours -- to do the work of packing labour and the labour of carrying duty"² covering all 8580 males of the tribe of Levi between the ages of thirty and fifty in all three clans. It uses both עבד and נשׂא intensely: "לַעֲבֹד עֲבֹדַת עֲבֹדָה, to work the work of work" and "וַעֲבֹדַת מַשָּׂא, and the work of carrying". It would seem that lifting and carrying can be very heavy work; Ibn Ezra says that it included "setting up the Tabernacle, making the bread, slaughtering and guarding" amongst much else. The Who Is ...

Sforno: Rabbi Ovadiah Sforno (1470-1550 CE), Italian rabbi, philosopher and physician; born in Cesena, he went to Rome to study medicine; left in 1525 and after some years of travel, settled in Bologna where he founded a yeshiva which he conducted until his death
Sforno points out that the Levites were on duty at all times: "all the work in their charge at the time of encampment was also in their charge at the time of travelling."

On the other hand, עבד is also used to mean "to worship". Just as serving a master implies labour and physical service, so serving G-d implies worship and acts of devotion. Joshua challenged the people at Shechem about their commitment to The Name ...

HaShem: literally, Hebrew for 'The Name' - an allusion used to avoid pronouncing the Tetragrammaton, the so-called 'ineffable' name of G–d
HaShem: "You are witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen the LORD, to serve Him" (Joshua 24:22, ESV; at a time of reform, "Jehu sent word throughout Israel, and all the worshippers of Ba'al came" (2 Kings 10:21, NJPS). While Hebrew has a number of words that are usually translated as "to worship" - such as the root שׁחה, to bow, used in the Hitpa'el stem, bowing repeatedly so worshipping - עבד embodies the link between work or service and worship. If עבד is combined, as in our text, with נשׂא, this draws our attention so that we have to ask just what is the connection between work, worship, lifting and carrying? If - as this parasha repeats - that the work of the Levites was lifting and carrying, tasks of porterage and transport, stressing that "This is the service of the clans of the sons of the Gershonites in the Tent of Meeting" (B'Midbar 4:28, ESV) and "This is the >service of the clans of the sons of M'rari, the whole of their service in the Tent of Meeting" (v. 33, ESV), the way they serve HaShem, is that really work or is it worship?

While King David was making preparations for the Temple in Jerusalem, he grappled with the question of what exactly the Levites - whose raison d'être seemed to be transporting the Tabernacle and its contents securely from place to place - would do now that the Temple would take over the role of the Tabernacle at one fixed place, never moving or needing to be packed up, transported and unpacked again. They were enrolled to serve in the Temple as gatekeepers - who were responsible for watching over or guarding the fabric of the building, for security and for opening and shutting the doors - as bakers of the flat bread and the shewbread, as singers and musicians responsible for leading worship and helping the people to praise G-d. The post-exile books of Ezra and Nehemiah confirm that these roles remained in Levite hands in the Second Temple as "the priests and Levites, the singers, the gatekeepers, and the temple servants set out for Jerusalem" (Ezra 7:7, NJPS). As porters became singers, musicians, door-keepers, etc. where is the line between work and worship? What were they carrying - the temple, the priests, the people or the worship?

Yeshua knew by experience the importance and value of work in keeping the commandments. Mark reports, when Yeshua visited Nazareth and taught in the synagogue on Shabbat, that the people were offended by Him: "Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon? And are not his sisters here with us?" (Mark 6:3, ESV). Nazareth is a 3-4 mile walk from Sepphoris, where Herod Antipas had commissioned the building of a large Greek-style city that provided many years of work for builders and craftsmen from all around. It is likely that Joseph would have used his skills as a te, a craftsman in wood and stone, to provide for his family there. The reaction of the local people to Yeshua's teaching demonstrates that He almost certainly served as an apprentice at Sepphoris with Joseph, then took over both the work and the task of provision for Mary and His siblings when Joseph died. He knew only too well the joys of rough hands, splinters and chipped fingernails as He honoured His human parents: "Honour your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the L-RD your G-d is giving you" (Shemot 20:12).

From that position - of "being found in human form, He humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death" (Philippians 2:8, ESV) - He reminded the Jewish leaders that "My Father is working until now, and I am working" (John 5:17, ESV). When He commissioned the disciples to go ahead of him, to prepare the way in the towns and villages of the Galilee, He told them, "proclaim as you go, saying, 'The kingdom of heaven is at hand.' Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, cast out demons. You received without paying; give without pay" (Matthew 10:7-8, ESV). That certainly sounds like work; hard work! But Yeshua had and passed on to His disciples a real sense of the urgency of the task: "We must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; night is coming, when no-one can work" (John 9:4, ESV). Rav Sha'ul instructed the disciples at Thessalonica, "Aspire to live quietly, and to mind your own affairs, and to work with your hands, as we instructed you, so that you may walk properly before outsiders and be dependent on no one" (1 Thessalonians 4:11-12, ESV). In a later letter, he added that "if anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat" (2 Thessalonians 3:10, ESV).

How is this work to be done? Sha'ul guides us here as well: "whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of G-d" (1 Corinthians 10:31, ESV). Our work - in its quality, by our attitude - is a witness to Yeshua, "doing the will of G-d from the heart, rendering service with a good will as to the Lord and not to man" (Ephesians 6:6-7, ESV). Notice the word he uses - 'service' - that brings us back to the overlap between work and worship in the Hebrew root עבד. When is work - even if for, or in the name of, HaShem or Yeshua - simply work and when does it become worship? Does it feel any different or have different qualities? If so, do we know in the moment or only with hindsight? That is, is it a conscious decision to worship, or simply to work? Sha'ul explains, "Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Messiah" (Colossians 3:23-24, ESV).

Are we always ready to work and, in that work, to worship? Some folk may claim that some jobs are naturally more physical while others are more spiritual. Is there a temptation to pick and choose, to select the work with the perceived spiritual qualities and leave the more physical - and probably more arduous and less pleasant - tasks for others? Yeshua's example - "the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many" (Matthew 20:28, NASB) leaves no room for such equivocation. We should always be ready to do whatever work needs doing, whether apparently for the world or for the kingdom; we must be ready to get our hands dirty knowing that in our cheerful service we are showing worship to our Master as we follow in His way.

1. - Matityahu Clark, Etymological Dictionary of Biblical Hebrew, (Jerusalem, Feldheim, 1999), page 149.

2. - L. Michael Morales, Numbers 1-19, Apollos Old Testament Commentary, (London, Apollos, 2024), page 134.

Further Study: Isaiah 53:11-12; John 13:13-15; Colossians 3:17; 1 Peter 4:10-11

Application: Are you aware of offering worship to HaShem, of bringing glory to Yeshua, as you work and carry out the daily tasks of life, serving your family, your employers and your congregation - paid or unpaid - each day? Ask Lord to show you how to add value both to the work and the worship by your attitude and bearing as you carry out each task, joyfully serving and honouring Him.

Comment - 15:59 24May26 Carrie May: Suddenly struck me that singing is worship and work and gives dignity to oneself.

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© Jonathan Allen, 2026

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