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Numbers 4 · a question people ask

Exodus says the ark's poles were never to be taken out. Why does Numbers say "put in its poles"?

In the text

Exodus says of the ark, "The poles shall be in the rings of the ark. They shall not be taken from it" (Exodus 25:15). Here, after the ark is covered, the priests "put in its poles" (4:6), and the same words are used for the table (4:8), the golden altar (4:11) and the altar (4:14). Numbers doesn't say whether the poles had been taken out. The Hebrew verb in 4:6 is sim, which Brown-Driver-Briggs gives as "put, place, set", listing among its uses "put in position", so it can mean setting the poles in place as well as putting them in. The text doesn't settle it.

The verses

“You shall put the poles into the rings on the sides of the ark to carry the ark. The poles shall be in the rings of the ark. They shall not be taken from it.”
Exodus 25:14-15 · World English Bible
“put a covering of sealskin on it, spread a blue cloth over it, and put in its poles.”
Numbers 4:6 · World English Bible
“They shall spread on them a scarlet cloth, and cover it with a covering of sealskin, and shall put in its poles.”
Numbers 4:8 · World English Bible
““On the golden altar they shall spread a blue cloth, and cover it with a covering of sealskin, and shall put in its poles.”
Numbers 4:11 · World English Bible

From Favor's study of Numbers 4

Numbers 4: Covered, then carried

The Kohathites carried the most holy things but were not to touch them or even see them: Aaron and his sons covered each piece first, and only the ark went with its blue cloth on the outside (4:5-15, 4:20). And Merari's clan, who carried the boards and sockets, had the most men from thirty to fifty: 3,200 of the 8,580 (4:44, 4:48).

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Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Every answer cites the verses it rests on. What we believe · All Bible questions