Commentary for Numbers 1:51
וּבִנְסֹ֣עַ הַמִּשְׁכָּ֗ן יוֹרִ֤ידוּ אֹתוֹ֙ הַלְוִיִּ֔ם וּבַחֲנֹת֙ הַמִּשְׁכָּ֔ן יָקִ֥ימוּ אֹת֖וֹ הַלְוִיִּ֑ם וְהַזָּ֥ר הַקָּרֵ֖ב יוּמָֽת׃
And when the tabernacle setteth forward, the Levites shall take it down; and when the tabernacle is to be pitched, the Levites shall set it up; and the common man that draweth nigh shall be put to death.
Rashi on Numbers
יורידו אתו [AND WHEN THE DWELLING SETTETH FORWARD] THE LEVITES SHALL TAKE IT DOWN — Understand יורידו as the Targum does: they shall take it apart. Whenever they were about to set out on a journey in the wilderness from one station to another (cf. Rashi Exodus 40:38) they took the structure apart (lit., they took it apart from its state of being put up) and carried it to the place where the cloud afterwards abode, and there they encamped and erected it (the Tabernacle).
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Rabbeinu Bahya
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Siftei Chakhamim
As Targum translates, “they shall dismantle.” Meaning that they dismantle the parts of the Mishkon, separating them from the place where they are attached and leaving each piece on its own. However, they did not take it down from a high place to a low place, as might be understood from the term “take down.”
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