Numbers 3:40

Redemption of the Firstborn

40 The Lord told Moses: "Register every firstborn male of the Israelites^[a] one month old or more, and list their names.

Numbers 3:40 Meaning and Commentary

Numbers 3:40

And the Lord said unto Moses
After he had taken the number of the Levites:

number all the firstborn of the children of Israel, from a month old
and upward, and take the number of their names;
that they might be compared with the number of the Levites, and the difference between them observed.

Numbers 3:40 In-Context

38 Moses, Aaron, and his sons, who performed the duties of the sanctuary as a service on behalf of the Israelites, camped in front of the tabernacle on the east, in front of the tent of meeting toward the sunrise. Any unauthorized person who came near [it] was to be put to death.

39 The total number of all the Levite males one month old or more that Moses and Aaron registered by their clans at the Lord's command was 22,000.

40 The Lord told Moses: "Register every firstborn male of the Israelites one month old or more, and list their names.

41 You are to take the Levites for Me-I am the Lord-in place of every firstborn among the Israelites, and the Levites' cattle in place of every firstborn among the Israelites' cattle."

42 So Moses registered every firstborn among the Israelites, as the Lord commanded him.

Footnotes

• [a]. Nm 8:16-18; Ex 13:1-2