5 And the Lord said to Moses,
6 Make the tribe of Levi come near, and put them before Aaron the priest, to be his helpers,
7 In order that they may be responsible to him and to all Israel for the care of the Tent of meeting, and to do the work of the House;
8 And they will have the care of all the vessels of the Tent of meeting, and will do for the children of Israel all the necessary work of the House.
9 Give the Levites to Aaron and his sons; so that they may be his without question from among the children of Israel.
10 And give orders that Aaron and his sons are to keep their place as priests; any strange person who comes near is to be put to death.
11 And the Lord said to Moses,
12 See, I have taken the Levites out of the children of Israel to be mine in place of the first sons of the children of Israel;
13 For all the first sons are mine; on the day when I put to death all the first sons in the land of Egypt, I took for myself every first male birth of man and beast. They are mine; I am the Lord.
14 And the Lord said to Moses in the waste land of Sinai,
15 Let all the children of Levi be numbered by their families and their fathers' houses; let every male of a month old and over be numbered.
16 So Moses did as the Lord said, numbering them as he had been ordered.
17 These were the sons of Levi by name: Gershon and Kohath and Merari.
18 And these are the names of the sons of Gershon, by their families: Libni and Shimei.
19 And the sons of Kohath, by their families: Amram and Izhar and Hebron and Uzziel.
20 And the sons of Merari by their families: Mahli and Mushi. These are the families of the Levites in the order of their fathers' houses.
21 From Gershon come the Libnites and the Shimeites; these are the families of the Gershonites.
22 Those who were numbered of them, the males from one month old and over, were seven thousand, five hundred.
23 The tents of the Gershonites are to be placed at the back of the House, to the west.
24 The chief of the Gershonites is Eliasaph, the son of Lael.
25 In the Tent of meeting, the Gershonites are to have the care of the House, and the Tent with its cover, and the veil for the door of the Tent of meeting,
26 And the hangings for the open space round the House and the altar, and the curtain for its doorway, and all the cords needed for its use.
27 From Kohath come the Amramites and the Izharites and the Hebronites and the Uzzielites; these are the families of the Kohathites.
28 Those who were numbered of them, the males from one month old and over, were eight thousand, six hundred, who were responsible for the care of the holy place.
29 The tents of the Kohathites are to be placed on the south side of the House.
30 Their chief is Elizaphan, the son of Uzziel.
31 In their care are the ark, and the table, and the lights, and the altars, and all the vessels used in the holy place, and the veil, and all they are used for.
32 Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, will be head over all the Levites and overseer of those responsible for the care of the holy place.
33 From Merari come the Mahlites and the Mushites; these are the families of Merari.
34 Those who were numbered of them, the males of a month old and over, were six thousand, two hundred.
35 The chief of the families of Merari was Zuriel, the son of Abihail: their tents are to be placed on the north side of the House.
36 And in their care are to be all the boards of the Tent, with their rods and pillars and bases, and all the instruments, and all they are used for,
37 And the pillars of the open space round it, with their bases and nails and cords.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Numbers 3
Commentary on Numbers 3 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 3
This chapter and the next are concerning the tribe of Levi, which was to be mustered and marshalled by itself, and not in common with the other tribes, intimating the particular honour put upon them and the particular duty and service required from them. The Levites are in this chapter considered,
Num 3:1-13
Here,
Num 3:14-39
The Levites being granted to Aaron to minister to him, they are here delivered to him by tale, that he might know what he had, and employ them accordingly. Observe,
Num 3:40-51
Here is the exchange made of the Levites for the first-born.