Numbers 1:47
in Numbers 1The Levites, however, were not numbered along with them by the tribe of their fathers.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
But the Levites after the tribe of their fathers were not numbered among them.
KJV
But the Levites after the tribe of their fathers were not numbered among them.
⋯
This verse in Numbers 1
Commentary
4 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
When a census of the tribe of Levi takes place. Num 3:15; Num 26:62, “all” the males are counted from a month old and upward, and not, as in the other tribes, those only who were of age for service in the field. Num 1:48 had spoken - Render spake. The formal appointment is only now made, in reward for their zeal Exo 32:26-29, though reference to their future office appears previously in Lev 25:32 ff, and they had already acted as assistants to the priests (compare Exo 38:21).
This site's exposition
But the Levites after the tribe of their fathers
on Numbers 1:47-49
Levi is left out by name, and the text gives the exclusion as a command spoken to Moses, which John Gill reads as clearing Moses of partiality toward his own tribe. Levi is counted, in chapter 3 and on another basis, all the males from a month old and upward rather than the men of fighting age, with the total at 3:39 standing at twenty two thousand. Genesis 49:5-7 had left Levi under a word about being scattered in Israel, and Exodus 32:26-29 records the tribe that came to Moses at the gate of the camp, which Albert Barnes reads as the ground of the charge given here.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
3 From twenty years old and upward, all that are able to go forth to war in Israel: thou and Aaron shall number them by their armies. 4 And with you there shall be a man of every tribe; every one head of the house of his fathers. 5 And these are the names of the men that shall stand with you: of the tribe of Reuben;
quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — verbatim-scripture
But the Levites,.... The tribe of Levi were excepted from this muster, they being employed in a kind of warfare, and therefore not to be engaged in another: after the tribe of their fathers, were not numbered among them: the rest of the tribes; the reason follows.
The words behind it
6 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְהַלְוִיִּ֖ם | vehalviyim | and the Levites | H3881 → | 291 times |
| לְמַטֵּ֣ה | lemateh | to [the] tribe of | H4294 → | 252 times |
| אֲבֹתָ֑ם | ʾavotam | ancestors their | H1 → | 1212 times |
| לֹ֥א | lo' | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| הָתְפָּקְד֖וּ | hatpakdu | they were enrolled | H6485 → | 303 times |
| בְּתוֹכָֽם׃ פ | betokham | in midst of them | H8432 → | 418 times |
וְהַלְוִיִּ֖םand the Levites
vehalviyimH3881 →291 times
לְמַטֵּ֣הto [the] tribe of
lematehH4294 →252 times
אֲבֹתָ֑םancestors their
ʾavotamH1 →1212 times
לֹ֥אnot
lo'H3808 →5168 times
הָתְפָּקְד֖וּthey were enrolled
hatpakduH6485 →303 times
בְּתוֹכָֽם׃ פin midst of them
betokhamH8432 →418 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 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
1 Chronicles 21:6But Joab did not include Levi and Benjamin in the count, because the king’s command was detestable to him.
it leads to
- Numbers 1:47–49
The Levites, however, were not numbered along with them by the tribe of their fathers.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- 1 Chronicles 27:24
Joab son of Zeruiah began to count the men but did not finish. For because of this census wrath came upon Israel, and the number was not entered in the Book of the Chronicles…
- Numbers 1:47–49
Through
Numbers 3:1This is the account of Aaron and Moses at the time the LORD spoke with Moses on Mount Sinai.
it leads to
- Exodus 6:20
And Amram married his father’s sister Jochebed, and she bore him Aaron and Moses. Amram lived 137 years.
- Exodus 6:27
Moses and Aaron were the ones who spoke to Pharaoh king of Egypt in order to bring the Israelites out of Egypt.
- Exodus 6:16
These were the names of the sons of Levi according to their records: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari. Levi lived 137 years.
- Genesis 2:4
This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD God made them.
- Genesis 5:1
This is the book of the generations of Adam. In the day that God created man, He made him in His own likeness.
- Exodus 6:20
Through
Numbers 2:33But the Levites were not counted among the other Israelites, as the LORD had commanded Moses.
it leads to
- Numbers 26:57–62
Now these were the Levites numbered by their clans: The Gershonite clan from Gershon, the Kohathite clan from Kohath, and the Merarite clan from Merari.
- Numbers 26:57–62
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Numbers
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.