1And these the generations of Aaron and Moses, in the day Jehovah spake to Moses in mount Sinai. 2And these the names of the sons of Aaron: the first-born Nadab, and Abihu, and Eleazar and Ithamar. 3These the names of the sons of Aaron, the priests being anointed, of whom he filled their hands to be priests. 4And Nadab and Abihu will die before Jehovah in their bringing strange fire before Jehovah, in the desert of Sinai: and there were no sons to them: and Eleazar will be priest, and Ithamar, before Aaron their father. 5And Jehovah will speak to Moses, saying, 6Bring near the tribe of Levi, and make it stand before Aaron the priest; and they served him. 7And they watched his watches, and the watches of all the assembly before the tent of appointment to do the work of the dwelling. 8And they shall watch all the vessels of the tent of appointment, and the watches of the sons of Israel, to do the work of the dwelling. 9And give the Levites to Aaron and to his sons; being given they were given to him from the sons of Israel. 10And Aaron and his sons thou shalt set up, and they shall watch their priesthood; and the stranger coming near shall die. 11And Jehovah will speak to Moses, saying, 12And I, behold, I took the Levites from the midst of the sons of Israel, instead of all the first-born cleaving the womb from the sons of Israel: and the Levites were to me. 13For to me all the first-born: in the day I struck all the first-born in the land of Egypt, I consecrated to me every first-born in Israel, from man to cattle: to me they shall be: I am Jehovah. 14And Jehovah will speak to Moses in the desert of Sinai, saying, 15Review the sons of Levi according to the house of their fathers, according to their families: every male from the son of a month and above shalt thou review them. 16And Moses will review them according to the mouth of Jehovah, as he commanded. 17And these shall be the sons of Levi, by their names: Gershon, and Kohath, and Merari. 18And these the names of the sons of Gershon according to their families: Libni and Shimei. 19And the sons of Kohath, according to their families: Amram, and Izebar, Hebron, and Uzziel. 20And the sons of Merari according to their families: Mahli, and Mushi; these they of the families of the Levites according to the house of their fathers. 21To Gershon the families of the Libnites, and the families of the Shimites: these they of the families of the Gershonites. 22They being reviewed according to the number of every male, from the son of a month and above, they being reviewed, seven thousand and five hundred. 23The families of the Gershonites shall encamp behind the tent to the sea. 24And the chief of the house of the father to the Gershonites, Eliasaph, the son of Lael. 25And the watches of the sons of Gershon in the tent of appointment, the dwelling, and the tent, its covering, and the vail of the door of the tent of appointment, 26And the curtains of the enclosure, and the covering of the door of the enclosure, which is by the dwelling, and upon the altar round about, and its cords, and all its works. 27And for Kohath the families of the Amramites, and the families of the Izeharites, and the families of the Hebronites, and the families of the Uzzielites these they of the families of the Kohathites 28According to the number of every male, from the son of a month and above, eight thousand six hundred, watching the watches of the holy place. 29The families of the sons of Kohath shall encamp by the thigh of the tent to the south. 30And the chief of the house of the father to the families of the Kohathites, Elizaphan, son of Uzziel. 31And their watches, the ark, and the table, and the chandelier, and the altar, and the vessels of the holy place which they shall serve in them, and the covering and all its works. 32And the chief of the chiefs of the Levites, Eleazar, son of Aaron the priest, set over those watching the watches of the holy place. 33To Merari the families of the Mahlites, and the families of the Mushites: these they of the families of the Merari. 34And they being reviewed according to the number of every male, from the son of a month and above, six thousand and two hundred, 35And the chief of the house of the father to the families of Merari, Zuriel, son of Abihail: by the thigh of the dwelling shall they encamp to the north. 36And the review of the watches of the sons of Merari, the boards of the dwelling, and its bars, and its pillars, and its bases, and all its vessels, and all its works, 37And the pillars of the enclosure round about, and their bases, and their pegs, and their cords. 38And they encamping before the dwelling eastward before the tent of appointment, from the sunrising, Moses and Aaron and his sons, watching the watches of the holy place, for the watches of the sons of Israel; and the stranger coming near shall die. 39All they being reviewed of the Levites, which Moses reviewed and Aaron, at the mouth of Jehovah, according to their families, every male from the son of a month and above, two and twenty thousand. 40And Jehovah will say to Moses, Review every first-born male to the sons of Israel, from the son of a month and above, and take up the number of names. 41And take the Levites for me (I Jehovah) instead of all the first-born of the sons of Israel; and the cattle of the Levites instead of all the first-born among the cattle of the sons of Israel. 42And Moses reviewed as Jehovah commanded him, all the first-born of the sons of Israel. 43And every first-born male shall be according to the number of names, from the son of a month and above, for those being reviewed, two and twenty thousand three and seventy and two hundred. 44And Jehovah will speak to Moses, saying, 45Take the Levites instead of all the first-born of the sons of Israel, and the cattle of the Levites instead of their cattle; and the Levites shall be to me: I Jehovah. 46And the price of redemption of the three and seventy and two hundred, of those remaining over the Levites, from the first-born of the sons of Israel: 47And thou shalt take five shekels by the heads, according to the holy shekel thou shalt take: twenty gerahs the shekel. 48And give the silver to Aaron and to his sons, the price of redemption of those remaining over among them. 49And Moses will take the silver of the price of their redemption, from those remaining over them redeemed of the Levites. 50From the first-born of the sons of Israel he took the silver; five and sixty and three hundred and a thousand, according to the holy shekel. 51And Moses will give the silver of those being redeemed, to Aaron and to his sons, at the mouth of Jehovah, as Jehovah commanded Moses.
Jamieson Fausset Brown Bible Commentary 1 THE LEVITES' SERVICE. (Num. 3:1-51)
These . . . are the generations of Aaron and Moses, &c.--This chapter contains an account of their families; and although that of Moses is not detailed like his brother's, his children are included under the general designation of the Amramites (
Num 3:27), a term which comprehends all the descendants of their common father Amram. The reason why the family of Moses was so undistinguished in this record is that they were in the private ranks of the Levites, the dignity of the priesthood being conferred exclusively on the posterity of Aaron; and hence, as the sacerdotal order is the subject of this chapter, Aaron, contrary to the usual style of the sacred history, is mentioned before Moses.
in the day that the Lord spake with Moses in mount Sinai--This is added, because at the date of the following record the family of Aaron was unbroken.
2 And these are the names of the sons of Aaron--All the sons of Aaron, four in number, were consecrated to minister in the priest's office. The two oldest enjoyed but a brief term of office (
Lev 10:1-
Lev 10:2;
Num 3:4;
Num 26:61); but Eleazar and Ithamar, the other two, were dutiful, and performed the sacred service during the lifetime of their father, as his assistants, and under his superintendence.
5 Bring the tribe of Levi near--The Hebrew word "bring near" is a sacrificial term, denoting the presentation of an offering to God; and the use of the word, therefore, in connection with the Levites, signifies that they were devoted as an offering to the sanctuary, no longer to be employed in any common offices. They were subordinate to the priests, who alone enjoyed the privilege of entering the holy place; but they were employed in discharging many of the humbler duties which belonged to the sanctuary, as well as in various offices of great utility and importance to the religion and morals of the people.
9 they are wholly given unto him out of the children of Israel, &c.--The priests hold the place of God, and the Levites are the servants of God in the obedience they render to the priests.
11 I have taken the Levites, &c.--The consecration of this tribe did not originate in the legislative wisdom of Moses, but in the special appointment of God, who chose them as substitutes for the first-born. By an appointment made in memory of the last solemn judgment on Egypt (from which the Israelitish households were miraculously exempt) all the first-born were consecrated to God (
Exod 13:12;
Exod 22:29), who thus, under peculiar circumstances, seemed to adopt the patriarchal usage of appointing the oldest to act as the priest of the family. But the privilege of redemption that was allowed the first-born opened the way for a change; and accordingly, on the full organization of the Mosaic economy, the administration of sacred things formerly committed to the first-born was transferred from them to the Levites, who received that honor partly as a tribute to Moses and Aaron, partly because this tribe had distinguished themselves by their zeal in the affair of the golden calf (
Exod 32:29), and also because, being the smallest of the tribes, they could ill find suitable employment and support in the work. (See on
Deut 33:8). The designation of a special class for the sacred offices of religion was a wise arrangement; for, on their settlement in Canaan, the people would be so occupied that they might not be at leisure to wait on the service of the sanctuary, and sacred things might, from various causes, fall into neglect. But the appointment of an entire tribe to the divine service ensured the regular performance of the rites of religion. The subsequent portion of the chapter relates to the formal substitution of this tribe.
I am the Lord--that is, I decree it to be so; and being possessed of sovereign authority, I expect full obedience.
14 Number the children of Levi--They were numbered as well as the other tribes; but the enumeration was made on a different principle--for while in the other tribes the number of males was calculated from twenty years and upward [
Num 1:3], in that of Levi they were counted "from a month old and upward." The reason for the distinction is obvious. In the other tribes the survey was made for purposes of war [
Num 1:3], from which the Levites were totally exempt. But the Levites were appointed to a work on which they entered as soon as they were capable of instruction. They are mentioned under the names of Gershon, Kohath, and Merari, sons of Levi, and chiefs or ancestral heads of three subdivisions into which this tribe was distributed. Their duties were to assist in the conveyance of the tabernacle when the people were removing the various encampments, and to form its guard while stationary--the Gershonites being stationed on the west, the Kohathites on the south, and the families of Merari on the north. The Kohathites had the principal place about the tabernacle, and charge of the most precious and sacred things--a distinction with which they were honored, probably, because the Aaronic family belonged to this division of the Levitical tribe. The Gershonites, being the oldest, had the next honorable post assigned them, while the burden of the drudgery was thrown on the division of Merari.
32 chief--rather, "chiefs" of the Levites. Three persons are mentioned as chiefs of these respective divisions [
Num 3:24,
Num 3:30,
Num 3:35]. And Eleazar presided over them; whence he is called "the second priest" (
2Kgs 25:18); and in the case of the high priest's absence from illness or other necessary occasions, he performed the duties (
1Kgs 4:4).
38 those that encamp, &c.--That being the entrance side, it was the post of honor, and consequently reserved to Moses and the priestly family. But the sons of Moses had no station here.
39 twenty and two thousand--The result of this census, though made on conditions most advantageous to Levi, proved it to be by far the smallest in Israel. The separate numbers stated in
Num 3:22,
Num 3:28,
Num 3:34, when added together, amount to twenty-two thousand three hundred. The omission of the three hundred is variously accounted for--by some, because they might be first-born who were already devoted to God and could not be counted as substitutes; and by others, because in Scripture style, the sum is reckoned in round numbers. The most probable conjecture is, that as Hebrew letters are employed for figures, one letter was, in the course of transcription, taken for another of like form but smaller value.
40 Number all the first-born of the males of the children of Israel, &c.--The principle on which the enumeration of the Levites had been made was now to be applied to the other tribes. The number of their male children, from a month old and upward, was to be reckoned, in order that a comparison might be instituted with that of the Levites, for the formal adoption of the latter as substitutes for the first-born. The Levites, amounting to twenty-two thousand, were given in exchange for an equal number of the first-born from the other tribes, leaving an excess of two hundred seventy-three; and as there were no substitutes for these, they were redeemed at the rate of five shekels for each (
Num 18:15-
Num 18:16). Every Israelite would naturally wish that his son might be redeemed by a Levite without the payment of this tax, and yet some would have to incur the expense, for there were not Levites enough to make an equal exchange. Jewish writers say the matter was determined by lot, in this manner: Moses put into an urn twenty-two thousand pieces of parchment, on each of which he wrote "a son of Levi," and two hundred seventy-three more, containing the words, "five shekels." These being shaken, he ordered each of the first-born to put in his hand and take out a slip. If it contained the first inscription, the boy was redeemed by a Levite; if the latter, the parent had to pay. The ransom-money, which, reckoning the shekel at half a crown, would amount to 12s. 6d. each, was appropriated to the use of the sanctuary. The excess of the general over the Levitical first-born is so small, that the only way of accounting for it is, by supposing those first-born only were counted as were males remaining in their parents' household, or that those first-born only were numbered which had been born since the departure from Egypt, when God claimed all the first-born as his special property.
41 the cattle of the Levites--These, which they kept to graze on the glebes and meadows in the suburbs of their cities, to supply their families with dairy produce and animal food, were also taken as an equivalent for all the firstlings of the cattle which the Israelites at that time possessed. In consequence of this exchange the firstlings were not brought then, as afterwards, to the altar and the priests.