Numbers 3:14
in Numbers 3Then the LORD spoke to Moses in the Wilderness of Sinai, saying,
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And Jehovah spake unto Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, saying,
KJV
And the Lord spake unto Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, saying,
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This verse in Numbers 3
Commentary
3 notes on this verseThis site's exposition
And the Lord spake unto Moses in the wilderness
on Numbers 3:14-16
Levi is counted from a month old and upward while every other tribe was counted from twenty years old and upward at 1:3. The difference follows from what each count is for, since the other tribes were mustered for war and Levi is being matched head for head against a class of firstborn that begins at a month. Numbers 1:47-49 had already kept Levi off the army roll, and Clarke observes that a count from twenty years would have left the tribe far short of the firstborn it was to replace.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
And the Lord spake unto Moses in the wilderness of Sinai,.... At the same time he gave the order, and made the declaration before mentioned, and in the place where now the children of Israel were, and from whence they shortly removed: saying; as follows.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
Number the children of Levi--They were numbered as well as the other tribes; but the enumeration was made on a different principle--for while in the other tribes the number of males was calculated from twenty years and upward [Nu 1:3], in that of Levi they were counted "from a month old and upward." The reason for the distinction is obvious.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
The reason for this statement is that since Scripture said above in the day that the Eternal spoke with Moses in Mount Sinai, 154 Above, Verse.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 5 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
7 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיְדַבֵּ֤ר | vaydaber | and he spoke | H1696 → | 1141 times |
| יְהוָה֙ | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| מֹשֶׁ֔ה | mosheh | Moses | H4872 → | 765 times |
| בְּמִדְבַּ֥ר | bemidbar | in [the] wilderness of | H4057 → | 270 times |
| סִינַ֖י | sinai | Sinai | H5514 → | 35 times |
| לֵאמֹֽר׃ | lemor | <to> saying | H559 → | 5305 times |
וַיְדַבֵּ֤רand he spoke
vaydaberH1696 →1141 times
יְהוָה֙Yahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
אֶל־to
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
מֹשֶׁ֔הMoses
moshehH4872 →765 times
בְּמִדְבַּ֥רin [the] wilderness of
bemidbarH4057 →270 times
סִינַ֖יSinai
sinaiH5514 →35 times
לֵאמֹֽר׃<to> saying
lemorH559 →5305 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Numbers
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible and John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763).