Numbers 3:10-20

10 And thou shalt appoint Aaron and his sons over the tabernacle of witness; and they shall keep their charge of priesthood, and all things belonging to the altar, and within the veil; and the stranger that touches them shall die.

11 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,

12 Behold, I have taken the Levites from the midst of the children of Israel, instead of every male that opens the womb from among the children of Israel: they shall be their ransom, and the Levites shall be mine.

13 For every first-born mine; in the day in which I smote every first-born in the land of Egypt, I sanctified to myself every first-born in Israel: both of man and beast, they shall be mine: I the Lord.

14 And the Lord spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sina, saying,

15 Take the number of the sons of Levi, according to the houses of their families, according to their divisions; number ye them every male from a month old and upwards.

16 And Moses and Aaron numbered them by the word of the Lord, as the Lord commanded them.

17 And these were the sons of Levi by their names; Gedson, Caath, and Merari.

18 And these the names of the sons of Gedson according to their families; Lobeni and Semei:

19 and the sons of Caath according to their families; Amram and Issaar, Chebron and Oziel:

20 and the sons of Merari according to their families, Mooli and Musi; these are the families of the Levites according to the houses of their families.

Numbers 3:10-20 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO NUMBERS 3

In this chapter an account is given of the genealogy of the priests and Levites, and of the gift of the Levites to the priests, of the numbering of them, and the service they were to perform; and first of the priests, the sons of Aaron, Nu 3:1-4; and then of the Levites, as given unto them, to wait upon them, and assist them, Nu 3:5-10; and these were taken instead of the firstborn, Nu 3:11-13; and ordered to be numbered, which was done accordingly by their families, Nu 3:14-20; and the sum of each is given, and the particular work assigned to them; of the Gershonites, Nu 3:21-26; of the Kohathites, Nu 3:27-32; of the Merarites, Nu 3:33-38; the sum total of them is given, Nu 3:39; then the firstborn of the children of Israel, from a month old are ordered to be numbered, and were, Nu 3:40-43; and these appearing to be more in number than the Levites, by two hundred seventy three a direction is given that the two hundred seventy three should be redeemed at the rate of five, shekels apiece, and the money paid to Aaron and his sons, Nu 3:44-48; which was accordingly done, Nu 3:49-51.

Footnotes

• [a]. voice.