Numbers 3

THese Which follow in this chapter. also are the generations (i. e.) Either 1. The things done by them, as the word generation is sometimes used, as Gen. 6. 9. and 25. 19. and 37. 2. Or rather 2. The Kindred or Family, for that is the subject of this chapter, and not their events or actions. Obj. Aarons Family indeed is here mentioned, but not Moses his Family. Answ. Moses his Family and Children are here included under the general name of the Amramite, ver. 27. which includes all the Children and Grand-chilfiren of Amram, the persons only of Aaron and Moses being excepted. And the generations of Moses are thus obscurely mentioned, because they were but common Levites, the Priesthood being given solely to Aarons posterity, whence Aaron is here put before Moses, who elsewhere is commonly named after him. of Aaron and Moses, in the day that the LORD spake with Moses in mount Sinai This seems to be added, because Nadab and Abihu mentioned ver. 2. were then alive, though dead at the time of taking this account..

And these are the names of the sons of Aaron; Nadab the first-born, and Ablhu, Eleazar, and Ithamar.

These are the names of the sons of Aaron, the priests which were anointed, whom he consecrated to minister in the priests office.

And 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: and Eleazar and Ithamar ministred in the priests office in the sight of Aaron In the time of Aarons life, as this phrase is taken N... ab..... 4. See also Psal. 72. 5, 17. and under their fathers inspection and direction, and as their fathers servants or ministers, in the Priests-office, for servants are oft described by this phrase of being or standing or in the sight or of their master. their father.

And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,

Bring the tribe of Levi near, and present them Offer them to the Lord for his special service. This was promised to them before and now actually conferred upon them., before Aaron the priest, that they may minister unto him.

And they shall keep his charge (i. e.) Aarons charge, or those things which are committed principally to Aarons care and oversight, and under him and his direction to the Levites., and the charge of the whole congregation (i. e.) Of all the sacrifices and services which were due to the Lord from all the people, and because all the people could not and might not perform them, or at least diverse of them, in their own persons, therefore they were to be performed by some particular persons in their name and stead, formerly by the first-born, Numb. 8. 16. and now by the Levites. See Numb. 1. 53. and 16. 9. before the tabernacle Emphatically, not within the Tabernacle, for the care of these things within the holy place was appropriated to the Priests, as the care of the most holy place was peculiar to the High-priest. of the congregation, to do the service of the tabernacle.

And they shall keep all the instruments of the tabernacle of the congregation, and the charge of the children of Israel Those things which all the children of Israel are in their several places and stations obliged to take care of, though not in their persons, yet by others in their stead., to do the service of the tabernacle.

And thou shalt give the Levites unto Aaron and to his sons: they are wholly given unto him To attend upon him and observe his orders and case him of part of his burden in things hereafter mentioned. out of the children of Israel.

And thou shalt appoint Aaron and his sons, and they shall wait on their priests office In their own persons, not by the Levites.: and the stranger (i. e.) Every one who is of another family than Aarons, yea though he be a Levite. See Numb. 1. 53. and 16. 40. that cometh nigh To wit, to execute any part of the Priest office. shall be put to death.

And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,

And I, behold, I have taken the Levites from among the children of Israel, instead of all the first-born Who were Gods propriety by right of Redemption, Exod. 13. 12. and to whom the administration of holy things was formerly committed, which now was taken away from them, either because they had forfeited this priviledge by joyning with the rest of their brethren in the idolatrous worship of the calf, or because they were to be mainly concerned in the distribution and management of the inheritances which now they were going to possess, and therefore could not be at leisure to attend upon the service of the Sanctua... y: Which made it fit that this work should be committed to other hands. And God would not commit it to some other persons in each Tribe, which might be an occasion of Idolatry, confusion, division, and contempt of sacred things, but to one distinct Tribe, which might be intirely devoted to that service, and particularly to the Tribe of Levi, partly out of his respect to Moses and Aaron, branches of this Tribe; partly as a recompence of their zeal for God and against Idolaters. See Exod. 32. 25, 29. Deut. 33. 9. and partly because it was the smallest of the Tribes, and therefore most likely to find both employment in and maintenance for the work. that openeth the matrix among the children of Israel: therefore the Levites shall be mine.

Because all the first-born are mine, for on the day that I smote all the first-born in the land of Egypt, I hallowed unto me all the firstborn in Israel, both man and beast, mine they shall be: I am the LORD Who may appoint whom I please for my service.

And the LORD spake unto Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, saying,

Number the children of Levi, after the house of their fathers, by their families: every male from a month old Because at that time the first-born, in whose stead the Levites came, Numb. 8. 16. were offered to God, Luk. 2. 22. and to be redeemed, Numb. 18. 16. And from that time the Levites were consecrated to God and were, as soon as they were capable, to be instructed in their work. Elsewhere they are numbred from twenty five years old, when they were entred as novices to part of their work, Numb. 8. 24. and from thirty years old, when they were compleatly admitted to their whole office. and upward, shalt thou number them.

And Moses numbred them according to the word of the LORD, as he was commanded.

And these were the sons of Levi, by their names: Gershon, and Kohath, and Merari.

And these are the names of the sons of Gershon, by their families; Libni, and Shimei.

And the sons of Kohath by their families; Amram, and Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel.

And the sons of Merari by their families; Mahli and Mushi: these are the families of the Levites, according to the house of their fathers.

Of Gershon was the family of the Libnite, and the family of the Shimite: these are the families of the Gershonite.

Those that were numbred of them, according to the number of all the males, from a month old and upward, even those that were numbred of them, were seven thousand and five hundred.

The families of the Gershonite shall pitch behind the tabernacle westward.

And the chief of the house of the father of the Gershonite shall be Eliasaph the son of Lael.

And the charge of the sons of Gershon, in the tabernacle of the congregation, shall be the tabernacle Not the boards which belonged to Merari ver. 36. but the ten curtains mentioned Exod. 26. 1., and the tent To wit, the curtains of goats hair., the covering thereof (i. e.) The coverings, of rams-skins and badgers-skins. See Numb. 4. 25., and the hanging for the door of the tabernacle of the congregation:

And the hangings of the court, and the curtain for the door of the court, which is by the tabernacle, and by the altar round about, and the cords of it By which the Tabernacle was fastened to the pins, and stretched out, Exod. 35. 18., for all the service thereof.

And of Kohath This Family had many priviledges above the others: Of that were Moses and Aaron, and all the Priests: They had the chief place about the Tabernacle, and the care of the most holy things, here below ver. 31. and in the Land of Canaan they had twenty three Citie... which were almost as many as both their brethren received. See Ios. 21. was the family of the Amramite, and the family of the Izharite, and the family of the Hebronite, and the family of the Uzzielite: these are the families of the Kohathite.

In the number of all the males, from a month old and upward were eight thousand and six hundred, keeping Or, keepers, &c. i. e. appointed for that work, as soon as they were capable of it. the charge of the sanctuary (i. e.) Of those holy things contained in or nearly belonging to the sanctuary, expressed, verse 31..

The families of the sons of Kohath shall pitch on the side of the tabernacle southward.

And the chief of the house of the father of the families of the Kohathite, shall be Elizaphan the son of Uzziel.

And their charge shall be the ark, and the table, and the candlestick, and the altars, and the vessels of the sanctuary wherewith they minister, and the hanging Which covered the most holy place, for all other hangings belonging to the Gershonites., and all the service thereof (i. e.) All the other furniture belonging to it, of which see Numb. 4. 7, 9, 14..

And Eleazar the son of Aaron the Priest shall be chief Next under the High-priest, whence he is called the second Priest, 2 King. 25. 18. and in case of the High-Priests absence by sickness or other necessary occasions, he was to perform his work, 1 King. 4. 4. and he had a superiority over all the rest of the Priests and Levites. over the chief of the Levites (i. e.) Over those three persons, who were each the chief of their several families, of whom see here, ver. 24, 31, 35.: and have the oversight of them that keep the charge of the sanctuary.

Of Merari was the family of the Mahlite, and the family of the Mushite: these are the families of Merari.

And those that were numbred of them, according to the number of all the males, from a month old and upward, were six thousand and two hundred.

And the chief of the house of the father of the families of Merari, was Zuriel the son of Abihail: these shall pitch on the side of the tabernacle northward.

And under the custody and charge of the sons of Merari, shall be the boards of the tabernacle, and the bars thereof, and the pillars thereof, and the sockets thereof, and all the vessels thereof, and all that serveth thereto:

And the pillars of the court round about, and their sockets, and their pins, and their cords Therefore these were for another use than those mentioned, verse 26..

But those that encamp before the tabernacle toward the east, even before the tabernacle of the congregation eastward; shall be Moses and Aaron, and his sons, keeping the charge of the sanctuary for the charge of the children of Israel Either in their stead, that charge which they were obliged to keep either by themselves or by others appointed by them, if God had not committed it to those: or for their good and service and benefit, for their preservation, as the word may be rendred.: and the stranger that cometh nigh shall be put to death.

All that were numbred of the Levites, which Moses and Aaron numbred at the commandment of the LORD, throughout their families, all the males, from a month old and upward, were twenty and two thousand Obj. But if the partial numbers, mentioned ver. 22, 28, 34. be put together, they make exactly 22300. Answ. The odd 300 are omitted here, either according to the use of the Holy Scripture, where in so great numbers small summes are commonly neglected, or, because they were the first-born of the Levites and therefore belonged to God already, and so could not be given to him again instead of the other first-born. See Levit. 27. 29. If this number of first-born seem very small to come from 22000 Levites, it must be considered, That only such first-born are here named as were males, and such as continued in their parents Families, not such as had erected new families of their own. Adde to this, that God so ordered things by his wi... e providence for divers weighty reasons, that this Tribe should be much the least of all the Tribes, as is evident by comparing the numbers of the other Tribes, from twenty years old, Numb. 1. with the number of this from a moneth old; and therefore it is not strange if the number of their first-born be less than in other Tribes. Although if the other Tribes had been computed from a moneth old, as this was, their number of 600000, had probably been double or treble to that, and consequently the number of their first-born being 22273 verse 43. would have been as unproportionable to their whole summe, as this of 300 first-born Levites seems to their whole number. And some adde, that only those firstborn are numbred both in this and in the other Tribes, which were born since they came out of Egypt, when God challenged all the first-born to be his..

And the LORD said unto Moses, number all the first-born of the males of the children of Israel That they may be compared with the number of the Levites for the reason here following., from a month old and upward, and take the number of their names.

And thou shalt take the Levites for me (I am the LORD) in stead of all the first-born among the children of Israel To wit, such as are now alive of them, but those which should be born of them hereafter are otherwise disposed., and the cattle of the Levites Not that they were to be taken from the Levites or to be sacrificed to God, any more than the Levites themselves were, but that they together with the Levites were to be presented before the Lord by way of acknowledgment, that the Levites might be set apart for Gods service, and their cattle for themselves as Gods ministers and for their support in Gods work. in stead of all the firstlings among the cattle of the children of Israel.

And Moses numbred, as the LORD commanded him, all the first-born among the children of Israel.

And all the first-born males by the number of names, from a month old and upward, of those that were numbred of them, were twenty and two thousand two hundred and threescore and thirteen.

And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,

Take the Levites To wit, the 22000 reckoned up, ver. 39. of which see the notes there. in stead of all the firstborn among the children of Israel, and the cattle of the Levites in stead of their cattle, and the Levites shall be mine, I am the LORD.

And for those that are to be redeemed of the two hundred and threescore and thirteen of the first-born of the children of Israel, which are more than the Levites;

Thou shalt even take five shekels a piece Which was the price to be paid for the redemption of a first-born a month old, Numb. 18. 15, 16. but this mony though paid for these 273 persons was probably paid out of the common stock of all, except lots were cast who should pay, which is not probable in so small a concern accompanied with so much trouble. by the poll, after the shekel of the sanctuary shalt thou take them: the shekel is twenty gerahs.

And thou shalt give the number wherewith the odd number of them is to be redeemed unto Aaron and to his sons To whom all the Levites were given, and therefore the mony which came in their stead..

And Moses took the redemption money, of them that were over and above them that were redeemed by the Levites.

Of the first-born of the children of Israel took he the money, a thousand three hundred and threescore and five shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary.

And Moses gave the mony of them that were redeemed, unto Aaron and to his sons, according to the word of the LORD, as the LORD commanded Moses.