Bring the tribe of Levi near: Bring … near renders the same Hebrew verb (hiqrib) translated “offered” in verse 4. Here it refers to dedicating the Levites to the LORD. Revised Standard Version‘s literal rendering of this verb here may be misleading (near what or where?), so unless a specific term for this type of action already exists in a language, Good News Translation is better with “Bring forward.” For tribe see 1.4.

And set them before Aaron the priest, that they may minister to him refers to a public ceremonial presentation to announce and ratify the Levites’ assignment as Aaron’s assistants (and the entire priesthood). Set them before Aaron is literally “make them stand before Aaron,” which may be rendered “present them to Aaron” (New Century Version [New Century Version]). The phrase Aaron the priest occurs twelve times in the book of Numbers. It marks Aaron as the first priest. As verses 3-4 make clear, he was not the only priest—his male descendants were priests as well. In some languages it may be helpful to say “Aaron the High Priest” to avoid any confusion. However, the Hebrew text does not use a more specific term for Aaron here than priest. The text makes a distinction between the Levites on the one hand and Aaron and his descendants on the other (see verses 9-10). For priest see verse 3.

A model for this verse is:

• “Bring the tribe of Levi forward [publicly] and present them to Aaron the priest, so that they may assist him.

Quoted with permission from de Regt, Lénart J. and Wendland, Ernst R. A Handbook on Numbers. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2016. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .