Numbers 1:49

49 Only thou shalt not number the tribe of Levi, neither take the sum of them among the children of Israel:

Numbers 1:49 Meaning and Commentary

Numbers 1:49

Only thou shall not number the tribe of Levi
That is, along with the other tribes, for it might be numbered by itself, as it afterwards was, ( Numbers 3:43 ) ;

neither take the sum of them among the children of Israel;
which confirms what is before observed: now this being the declared will of God clears Moses from all partiality to his own tribe, he doing nothing but what he had a command of God for it.

Numbers 1:49 In-Context

47 But the Levites, after the tribe of their fathers, were not numbered among them.

48 For the LORD had spoken to Moses, saying,

49 Only thou shalt not number the tribe of Levi, neither take the sum of them among the children of Israel:

50 But thou shalt appoint the Levites over the tabernacle of testimony, and over all its vessels, and over all things that [belong] to it: they shall bear the tabernacle, and all its vessels, and they shall minister to it, and shall encamp around the tabernacle.

51 And when the tabernacle moveth forward, the Levites shall take it down; and when the tabernacle is to be pitched, the Levites shall set it up: and the stranger that cometh nigh shall be put to death.