Numbers 3:49

49 And Moses took the silver, the ransom of those that exceeded in number the redemption of the Levites.

Numbers 3:49 Meaning and Commentary

Numbers 3:49

And Moses took the redemption money
Of five shekels per head:

of them that were over and above redeemed by the Levites;
or were more than those redeemed by them. A Levite redeemed a firstborn, or freed him from the redemption price, being taken in lieu of him: 22,000 Levites were answerable to 22,000 firstborn of Israel; but as there were no more Levites than the above number, there remained two hundred seventy three firstborn to be redeemed by money, and it was the redemption money of these Moses took.

Numbers 3:49 In-Context

47 thou shalt even take five shekels a head; thou shalt take them according to the holy didrachm, twenty oboli to the shekel.

48 And thou shalt give the money to Aaron and to his sons, the ransom of those who exceed in number among them.

49 And Moses took the silver, the ransom of those that exceeded in number the redemption of the Levites.

50 He took the silver from the first-born of the sons of Israel, a thousand three hundred and sixty-five shekels, according to the holy shekel.

51 And Moses gave the ransom of them that were over to Aaron and his sons, by the word of the Lord, as the Lord commanded Moses.

Footnotes

• [a] the number redeemed by the Levites.