Numbers 3:17
in Numbers 3These were the sons of Levi by name: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And these were the sons of Levi by their names: Gershon, and Kohath, and Merari.
KJV
And these were the sons of Levi by their names; Gershon, and Kohath, and Merari.
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This verse in Numbers 3
Commentary
3 notes on this verseThis site's exposition
And these were the sons of Levi
on Numbers 3:17-20
Gershon, Kohath and Merari are the three names Genesis 46:11 lists going down into Egypt and Exodus 6:16-19 sets out with their sons. The eight families named here are the working units of the rest of the chapter, since each of the three houses is about to receive a side of the tabernacle, a number, a chief and a load. Kohath is the second son and his house carries Moses and Aaron in it through Amram.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
And these were the sons of Levi, by their names,.... The immediate offspring and descendants of that patriarch: Gershon, and Kohath, and Merari; these went down with him into Egypt, Gen 46:11.
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.
The words behind it
8 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיִּֽהְיוּ־ | vaiyihyu- | and they were | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| אֵ֥לֶּה | ʾeleh | these | H428 → | 746 times |
| בְנֵֽי־ | venei- | [the] sons of | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| לֵוִ֖י | levi | Levi | H3878 → | 59 times |
| בִּשְׁמֹתָ֑ם | bishmotam | by names their | H8034 → | 864 times |
| גֵּרְשׁ֕וֹן | gereshon | Gershon | H1648 → | 18 times |
| וּקְהָ֖ת | ukehat | and Kohath | H6955 → | 32 times |
| וּמְרָרִֽי׃ | umerari | and Merari | H4847 → | 36 times |
וַיִּֽהְיוּ־and they were
vaiyihyu-H1961 →3559 times
אֵ֥לֶּהthese
ʾelehH428 →746 times
בְנֵֽי־[the] sons of
venei-H1121 →4930 times
לֵוִ֖יLevi
leviH3878 →59 times
בִּשְׁמֹתָ֑םby names their
bishmotamH8034 →864 times
גֵּרְשׁ֕וֹןGershon
gereshonH1648 →18 times
וּקְהָ֖תand Kohath
ukehatH6955 →32 times
וּמְרָרִֽי׃and Merari
umerariH4847 →36 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
5 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Genesis 46:11The sons of Levi: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.
it leads to
- Genesis 29:34
Once again Leah conceived and gave birth to a son, and she said, “Now at last my husband will become attached to me, because I have borne him three sons.” So he was named…
- 1 Chronicles 2:16
Their sisters were Zeruiah and Abigail. And the three sons of Zeruiah were Abishai, Joab, and Asahel.
- 1 Chronicles 22:1–19
Then David said, “Here shall be the house of the LORD God, as well as the altar of burnt offering for Israel.”
- 1 Chronicles 2:11
Nahshon was the father of Salmon, and Salmon was the father of Boaz.
- 1 Chronicles 6:1–3
The sons of Levi: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.
- Genesis 29:34
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Numbers
This page draws on Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: The Pentateuch.