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NUMBERS 3

PARAGRAPH DIVISIONS OF MODERN TRANSLATIONS

 NASB  NKJV  NRSV  TEV   NJB
(MT versing)
Levites To be Priesthood The Sons of Aaron The Levites Are Set Apart for Special Service Aaron's Sons The Tribe of Levi
a. the Priests
3:1-4 3:1-4 3:1-4 3:1-4 3:1
3:2
The Levites Serve in the Tabernacle The Levites Are Appointed to Serve the Priests 3:3-4
b. the Levites: their duties
3:5-10 3:5-13 3:5-10 3:5-10 3:5
3:6-9
3:10
c. their privileged status
3:11-13 3:11-13 3:11-13 3:11
Census of the Levites Commanded The Census of Levites 3:12-13
d. census of Levites
3:14-20 3:14-26 3:14-20 3:14-20 3:14
3:15
3:16-17
3:18-20
3:21-24 3:21-26 3:21-26 3:21-26
Duties of the Priests
3:25-26
3:27-32 3:27-32 3:27-32 3:27-31 3:27-31
3:32 3:32
3:33-37 3:33-37 3:33-37 3:33-37 3:33-37
3:38-39 3:38-39 3:38-39 3:38-39 3:38
3:39
Firstborn Redeemed Levites Dedicated Instead of the Firstborn The Levites Take the Place of the First-born Sons e. the Levites and the ransoming of the first-born
3:40-43 3:40-43 3:40-43 3:40-43 3:40-41
3:42-43
3:44-51 3:44-51 3:44-51 3:44-51 3:44-48
3:49-51

READING CYCLE THREE (see "Bible Interpretation Seminar")

FOLLOWING THE ORIGINAL AUTHOR'S INTENT AT THE PARAGRAPH LEVEL

This is a study guide commentary, which means that you are responsible for your own interpretation of the Bible. Each of us must walk in the light we have. You, the Bible, and the Holy Spirit are priority in interpretation. You must not relinquish this to a commentator.

Read the chapter in one sitting. Identify the subjects. Compare your subject divisions with the five translations above. Paragraphing is not inspired, but it is the key to following the original author's intent, which is the heart of interpretation. Every paragraph has one and only one subject.

  1. First paragraph
  2. Second paragraph
  3. Etc.

CONTEXTUAL INSIGHTS

  1. Numbers 3 is all about the family of Moses and Aaron. This is the family of the tribe of Levi (cf. Num. 3:6-9).

  2. The different Levitical families were given specific tasks related to the Tabernacle.
    1. the family of Gershon
      1. the covering of the inner shrine, Num. 3:25
      2. the screen at the entrance to the inner shrine, Num. 3:25
      3. hangings of the court, Num. 3:26
      4. screen of the doorway of the court, Num. 3:26
      5. outer fencing around the Tabernacle, Num. 3:26
      6. the cords of "e," Num. 3:26 (cf. Exod. 35:18; how these "cords" differ from Num. 3:26,44, is uncertain)
    2. the family of Kohath
      1. taking care of the furniture of the inner shrine (after it was packed by priests), Num. 3:31
      2. the utensils of the inner shrine, Num. 3:31
      3. the two altars and their screen, Num. 3:31
    3. Eleazar (son of Aaron, Num. 3:2) and his successors were to be overseers of the Levitical workers, Num. 3:32
    4. the family of Merari
      1. the frames of the Tabernacle, Num. 3:36
      2. all that was involved in holding it together, Num. 3:26

  3. The tribe of Levi, not of the family of Moses and Aaron, were to take the place of "the firstborn" of Exodus 13, cf. Num. 3:21, 41

  4. There is some question about the size of Israel's population. A good brief discussion is found in Roland deVaux, Ancient Israel, pp. 65-67.

  5. For a good brief discussion of OT genealogies see NIDOTTE, vol. 4, pp. 654-662.

WORD AND PHRASE STUDY

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 3:1-4
  1Now these are the records of the generations of Aaron and Moses at the time when the Lord spoke with Moses on Mount Sinai. 2These then are the names of the sons of Aaron: Nadab the firstborn, and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar. 3These are the names of the sons of Aaron, the anointed priests, whom he ordained to serve as priests. 4But Nadab and Abihu died before the Lord when they offered strange fire before the Lord in the wilderness of Sinai; and they had no children. So Eleazar and Ithamar served as priests in the lifetime of their father Aaron.

3:1 Moses' and Aaron's genealogy is also found in Exod. 6:20-27. This family became the priests. It is very unusual for "Aaron" to be listed before "Moses" (i.e., Exod. 6:20; Num. 26:59; 1 Chr. 23:13).

▣ "on Mount Sinai" This is stated as being given at the same general time as Num. 1:1.

For the location os Mt. Sinai see SPECIAL TOPIC: LOCATION OF MT. SINAI.

3:3 "anointed" Roland de Vaux, Ancient Israel, p. 105, makes a good point about this verse.

  1. only High Priests anointed ‒ Exod. 29:4-9; Lev. 4:3, 5, 16; 6:13, 15; 8:12; 16:32
  2. all priests anointed ‒ Exod. 28:41; 30:30; 40:12-15; Lev. 7:35-36; 10:7; and here

See SPECIAL TOPICS: "ANOINTING" IN THE BIBLE and LEVITICAL PRIESTS.

▣
NASB, NRSV, TEV, JPSOA  "ordained"
NKJV, Peshitta  "consecrated"
NJB  "invested with the power"
REB  "had been installed"
LXX  "whose hands they had validated"

The MT has the idiom, "to fill the hand" (BDB 388 and the VERB BDB 569, KB 583, Piel PERFECT, cf. Exod. 32:29). This idiom comes from the ordination of Aaron in Leviticus 8 (esp. vv.18, 22, 27, 33; also note Exod. 28:41).

3:4 The account of Nadab and Abihu's disobedience is recorded in Leviticus 10:1-7. They may have been drunk (cf. Lev. 10:8-11).

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 3:5-10
  5Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 6"Bring the tribe of Levi near and set them before Aaron the priest, that they may serve him. 7They shall perform the duties for him and for the whole congregation before the tent of meeting, to do the service of the tabernacle. 8They shall also keep all the furnishings of the tent of meeting, along with the duties of the sons of Israel, to do the service of the tabernacle. 9You shall thus give the Levites to Aaron and to his sons; they are wholly given to him from among the sons of Israel. 10So you shall appoint Aaron and his sons that they may keep their priesthood, but the layman who comes near shall be put to death."

3:6 The other families from Levi were to help the priests serve the Tabernacle.

"Bring" (BDB 897, KB 1132, Hiphil IMPERATIVE) denotes bringing someone. into YHWH's presence (i.e., inner shrine). Here it refers to the consecration of the Levites to service the priests and the Tabernacle.

3:7 At the beginning of this verse the root שׁרמ ‒ appears three times (also note vv. 8,10,28,32,38).

  1. they shall perform ‒ BDB 1036, KB 1581, Qal PERFECT with waw)
  2. the duties ‒ BDB 1038 (for Aaron)
  3. #2 repeated in MT, duties for the whole congregation (cf. Num. 3:8)
  4. also used of priests in Num. 3:10a

The Levites were to both serve and guard the Tabernacle (cf. Num. 3:10).

3:9 Notice the VERB "give" is repeated three times.

  1. you shall give ‒ BDB 678, KB 733, Qal PERFECT with waw
  2. Qal PASSIVE PARTICIPLE twice

NASB translates #2 above has "they are wholly given."

3:10b This is also mentioned in v. 38 and Num. 18:7. In Exod. 30:33, it also means "layman," not foreigner. See note at Num. 1:51.

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 3:11-13
  11Again the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 12"Now, behold, I have taken the Levites from among the sons of Israel instead of every firstborn, the first issue of the womb among the sons of Israel. So the Levites shall be Mine. 13For all the firstborn are Mine; on the day that I struck down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, I sanctified to Myself all the firstborn in Israel, from man to beast. They shall be Mine; I am the Lord."

3:12-13 The last plague on Egypt was the death of the firstborn of Egypt, both cattle and humans (cf. Exodus 11). Because of this, all firstborn of animals and humans belonged to YHWH, for His service (Exodus 13). In time, the tribe of Levi replaced these as the servants of YHWH.

For a good brief discussion of "substitution" see article in Dictionary of Biblical Imagery, p. 824.

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 3:14-20
  14Then the Lord spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, saying, 15"Number the sons of Levi by their fathers' households, by their families; every male from a month old and upward you shall number." 16So Moses numbered them according to the word of the Lord, just as he had been commanded. 17These then are the sons of Levi by their names: Gershon and Kohath and Merari. 18These are the names of the sons of Gershon by their families: Libni and Shimei; 19and the sons of Kohath by their families: Amram and Izhar, Hebron and Uzziel; 20and the sons of Merari by their families: Mahli and Mushi. These are the families of the Levites according to their fathers' households.

3:14 "the wilderness of Sinai" See SPECIAL TOPIC: THE WILDERNESSES OF THE EXODUS.

3:15 "Number" This word (BDB 823, KB 955) is used often in this chapter. It has a wide semantic field (i.e., attend to, visit, appoint), but in ths context it means "muster."

  1. Num. 3:15,40 ‒ Qal IMPERATIVE
  2. Num. 3:15 ‒ Qal IMPERFECT
  3. Num. 3:15,42 ‒ Qal IMPERFECT with waw
  4. Num. 3:22 (twice), 34,39,43 ‒ Qal PASSIVE PARTICIPLE
  5. Num. 3:39 ‒ Qal PERFECT

3:16 "the word of the Lord" "Word" is literally "mouth" (BDB 804, cf. Exod. 17:1; 3:39,51; 33:2).

YHWH is spirit. He does not have a physical body but humans are forced to use anthropomorphic words to speak of God. See SPECIAL TOPIC: ANTHROPOMORPHIC LANGUAGE TO DESCRIBE DEITY.

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 3:21-24
  21Of Gershon was the family of the Libnites and the family of the Shimeites; these were the families of the Gershonites. 22Their numbered men, in the numbering of every male from a month old and upward, even their numbered men were 7,500. 23The families of the Gershonites were to camp behind the tabernacle westward, 24and the leader of the fathers' households of the Gershonites was Eliasaph the son of Lael.

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 3:25-26
  25Now the duties of the sons of Gershon in the tent of meeting involved the tabernacle and the tent, its covering, and the screen for the doorway of the tent of meeting, 26and the hangings of the court, and the screen for the doorway of the court which is around the tabernacle and the altar, and its cords, according to all the service concerning them.

3:25 There are several terms used to describe different aspects of the portable worship place.

  1. the tent of meeting ‒ BDB 13 CONSTRUCT BDB 417
  2. the Tabernacle ‒ BDB 1015, UBS Text Project, p. 212, says this refers to "the tapestries covering the wood structures of the tent"
  3. the tent ‒ BDB 13
  4. covering ‒ BDB 492, UBS Text Project, p. 212, says this refers to "the covering piece of goat-hair which was spread out over the whole tent" (cf. Exod. 26:7; 36:14)
  5. screen for the doorway ‒ BDB 697 says it refers to the three "screens" of the Tabernacle
    1. at the gate ‒ Exod. 27:16; 35:17; 38:18; 39:40; 40:8,33; Num. 3:26; 4:26
    2. at the entrance to the tent ‒ Exod. 26:30,37; 35:15; 36:37; 39:38; 40:5,28; Num. 3:25,31; 4:25
    3. before the Holy of Holies ‒ Exod. 35:12; 39:34; 40:21; Num. 4:5 3:26 "the altar" This refers to the altar of sacrifice because the altar of incense mentioned in v. 31. See SPECIAL TOPIC: ALTAR OF SACRIFICE.

3:26 "the altar" This refers to the altar of sacrifice because of the altar of incense mentioned in v. 31. See SPECIAL TOPIC: ALTAR OF SACRIFICE.

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 3:27-32
  27Of Kohath was the family of the Amramites and the family of the Izharites and the family of the Hebronites and the family of the Uzzielites; these were the families of the Kohathites. 28In the numbering of every male from a month old and upward, there were 8,600, performing the duties of the sanctuary. 29The families of the sons of Kohath were to camp on the southward side of the tabernacle, 30and the leader of the fathers' households of the Kohathite families was Elizaphan the son of Uzziel. 31Now their duties involved the ark, the table, the lampstand, the altars, and the utensils of the sanctuary with which they minister, and the screen, and all the service concerning them; 32and Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest was the chief of the leaders of Levi, and had the oversight of those who perform the duties of the sanctuary.

3:27 "Kohath" Moses and Aaron were from this family of Levi (cf. Num. 26:59; Exod. 6:20).

3:31 "the ark" See SPECIAL TOPIC: ARK OF THE COVENANT.

▣ "the table" See SPECIAL TOPIC: THE SHOW BREAD OF THE PRESENCE.

▣ "the lampstand" See SPECIAL TOPIC: LAMPSTAND (Menorah).

▣ "the altars" See SPECIAL TOPIC: ALTAR OF INCENSE.

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 3:33-37
  33Of Merari was the family of the Mahlites and the family of the Mushites; these were the families of Merari. 34Their numbered men in the numbering of every male from a month old and upward, were 6,200. 35The leader of the fathers' households of the families of Merari was Zuriel the son of Abihail. They were to camp on the northward side of the tabernacle. 36Now the appointed duties of the sons of Merari involved the frames of the tabernacle, its bars, its pillars, its sockets, all its equipment, and the service concerning them, 37and the pillars around the court with their sockets and their pegs and their cords

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 3:38-39
  38Now those who were to camp before the tabernacle eastward, before the tent of meeting toward the sunrise, are Moses and Aaron and his sons, performing the duties of the sanctuary for the obligation of the sons of Israel; but the layman coming near was to be put to death. 39All the numbered men of the Levites, whom Moses and Aaron numbered at the command of the Lord by their families, every male from a month old and upward, were 22,000.

3:39 "22,000" This total number does not fit the sums given in vv. 14-30. Gordon Wenham, Tyndale OT Commentaries, vol. 4, p. 71, mentions that probably the "8,600" of v. 28 is a scribal error between the "6," שׁשׁ, and "3," שׁלשׁ. This change is supported by some LXX MSS and the Armenian version.

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 3:40-43
  40Then the Lord said to Moses, "Number every firstborn male of the sons of Israel from a month old and upward, and make a list of their names. 41You shall take the Levites for Me, I am the Lord, instead of all the firstborn among the sons of Israel, and the cattle of the Levites instead of all the firstborn among the cattle of the sons of Israel." 42So Moses numbered all the firstborn among the sons of Israel, just as the Lord had commanded him; 43and all the firstborn males by the number of names from a month old and upward, for their numbered men were 22,273.

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 3:44-51
  44Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 45"Take the Levites instead of all the firstborn among the sons of Israel and the cattle of the Levites. And the Levites shall be Mine; I am the Lord. 46For the ransom of the 273 of the firstborn of the sons of Israel who are in excess beyond the Levites, 47you shall take five shekels apiece, per head; you shall take them in terms of the shekel of the sanctuary (the shekel is twenty gerahs), 48and give the money, the ransom of those who are in excess among them, to Aaron and to his sons." 49So Moses took the ransom money from those who were in excess, beyond those ransomed by the Levites; 50from the firstborn of the sons of Israel he took the money in terms of the shekel of the sanctuary, 1,365. 51Then Moses gave the ransom money to Aaron and to his sons, at the command of the Lord, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.

3:46 These numbers of firstborn among the other tribes were greater than the number of firstborn of Levi, so Israel had to pay a ransom price for the 273 extras (i.e., very precise number). See SPECIAL TOPIC: RANSOM/REDEEM.

It is surprising that the firstborn males of Levi were so close to the firstborn of all the other tribes combined. But remember, the other tribes were numbered from 20 years and up, while the Levites from one month up. If a baby reached one year of age, it was expected to live to adulthood.

Firstborn of domestic animals were sacrificed but firstborn of humans were ransomed (i.e., Luke 2:27). See SPECIAL TOPIC: FIRSTBORN.

▣ "shekel. . .gerah" See SPECIAL TOPIC: ANE WEIGHTS AND VOLUMES.

3:51 This is a repeated refrain (cf. Num. 1:54; 2:34; 3:16).

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

This is a study guide commentary which means that you are responsible for your own interpretation of the Bible. Each of us must walk in the light we have. You, the Bible, and the Holy Spirit are priority in interpretation. You must not relinquish this to a commentator.

These discussion questions are provided to help you think through the major issues of this section of the book. They are meant to be thought-provoking, not definitive.

  1. Why did Israel take a census?
  2. Were all priests or just the High Priest anointed?
  3. What did the idiom "ordained" mean?
  4. Did the firstborn originally serve YHWH and later YHWH replaced them with the Levites?
  5. Why did the Levites camp immediately around the Tabernacle?
  6. Why are the numbers in this census too large?

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