But to the sons of Kohath he gave none: The conjunction But (literally “And”) renders well the contrast here between the Kohathites and the other Levites. Good News Translation specifies the objects implied in the Hebrew here by rendering this whole clause as “But Moses gave no wagons or oxen to the Kohathites,” which other languages may find helpful.

Because they were charged with the care of the holy things which had to be carried on the shoulder is literally “because the service of the holy things [was] on them, [which] they carried on the shoulder.” The Hebrew noun for “service” is the same one used in verse 5. “The service … [was] on them” may be rendered “they were in charge of” (Contemporary English Version) or “they had the job of caring for” (Chewa). The holy things were all the sacred objects inside the Tabernacle and the altar for burning sacrifices in front of it (see 4.4-15). See the comments on 4.15, where the Hebrew word for holy things (qodesh) also occurs. Since these Tabernacle objects were very sacred, the Kohathites could not transport them in wagons but they had to carry them on the shoulder. They carried these objects more personally and carefully on poles (see 4.6, 8, 11, 14) held on their shoulders.

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 .