aNow these are the records of the generations of Aaron and Moses in the day when the LORD spoke by special revelation with Moses on Mount Sinai.Ex 6:20-27 2 aThese are the names of the sons of Aaron: Nadab the firstborn, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar.Ex 6:23; Num 26:60 3 These are the names of the sons of Aaron, the priests who were aanointed, whom Aaron 1consecrated and ordained to minister in the priest’s office.Lit filled their hand.Ex 28:41 4 aBut Nadab and Abihu died in the presence of the LORD when they offered strange fire before the LORD in the Wilderness of Sinai; and they had no sons. So Eleazar and Ithamar served as priests 1in the presence and under the supervision of Aaron their father. Lev 10:1-4Lit before the face.Lev 10:1, 2; Num 26:61
5 Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 6 “aBring the tribe of Levi near and present them before Aaron the priest, so that they may serve him.Num 8:6-22; 18:1-7; Deut 10:8 7 They shall carry out the duties for him and for the whole congregation before the Tent of Meeting, doing the aservice of the tabernacle.Num 1:50 8 They shall also take care of all the furnishings and utensils of the Tent of Meeting, and attend to the duties of the Israelites, doing the service of the tabernacle. 9 You shall agive the Levites to Aaron and to his sons as servants and helpers; they are to be given wholly to him from among the Israelites.Num 18:6 10 So you shall appoint Aaron and his sons, and athey shall observe and attend to their priesthood; but bthe layman who approaches the holy things shall be put to death.”Ex 29:9Num 1:51
11 Again the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 12 “Behold, I ahave taken the Levites from among the sons of Israel instead of and as a substitute for every bfirstborn, that is, the first that opens the womb among the Israelites. So the Levites shall be Mine,Num 3:45; 8:14Ex 13:2 13 for aall the firstborn are Mine. On the day that I killed all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, I consecrated for Myself all the firstborn in Israel, both man and animal. They shall be mine; I am the LORD.”Ex 13:2; Lev 27:26; Neh 10:36
14 Then the LORD spoke to Moses ain the Wilderness of Sinai, saying,Ex 19:1 15 “aNumber the sons of Levi by their fathers’ households, by their families . You shall number every male from a month old and upward.”Num 1:47 16 So Moses numbered them just as he was commanded by the word of the LORD. 17 aThese are the three sons of Levi by their names: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.Ex 6:16-22 18 These are the names of the two asons of Gershon by their families: Libni and Shimei;Ex 6:17 19 and the four sons of Kohath by their families: Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel; 20 and the two sons of Merari by their families: Mahli and Mushi. These are the families of the Levites by their fathers’ households.
21 Of Gershon were the families of the Libnites and of the Shimeites. These are the families of the Gershonites. 22 The males who were numbered, every male from a month old and upward totaled 7,500. 23 The families of the Gershonites were to camp behind the tabernacle on the west, 24 and the leader of the fathers’ households of the Gershonites was Eliasaph the son of Lael.
25 Now athe responsibilities of the sons of Gershon in the Tent of Meeting involved the tabernacle and bthe tent, its covering, and cthe curtain for the doorway of the Tent of Meeting,Num 4:24-26Ex 26:1, 7, 14Ex 26:36 26 and athe hangings of the courtyard, bthe curtain for the doorway of the courtyard which is around the tabernacle and the altar, its tent ropes, and all the service 1concerning them.Lit of it.Ex 27:9, 12, 14, 15Ex 27:16
27 Of Kohath were the families of the Amramites, the Izharites, the Hebronites, and the Uzzielites; these are the families of the Kohathites. 28 The males who were numbered, every male from a month old and upward totaled 18,600, attending to the duties of the sanctuary.Some suspect that this count should be 8,300 which, when added to the 7,500 of v 22 and the 6,200 of v 34 gives the total of 22,000 in v 39. Unless the figure there was rounded, the number here may have been a copyist’s error (omitting just one letter between two that are the same in Hebrew). 29 The families of the sons of Kohath were to camp on the south side of the tabernacle, 30 and the leader of the fathers’ households of the families of the Kohathites was Elizaphan the son of Uzziel. 31 aNow their responsibilities involved bthe ark, cthe table on which the bread of the Presence was placed, dthe lampstand, ethe altars, the utensils of the sanctuary with which the priests minister, and the curtain, and all the service concerning them.Num 4:15Ex 25:10-22Ex 25:23-28Ex 25:31-40Ex 27:1, 2; 30:1-5 32 Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, was chief of the leaders of the Levites; he supervised those who performed the duties of the sanctuary.
33 Of Merari were the families of the Mahlites and the Mushites; these are the families of Merari. 34 The males who were numbered, every male from a month old and upward totaled 6,200. 35 The leader of the fathers’ households of the families of Merari was Zuriel the son of Abihail. The Merarites were to acamp on the north side of the tabernacle.Num 1:53; 2:25 36 Now the appointed responsibilities of the sons of Merari involved the frames of the tabernacle, its bars, its pillars, its sockets or bases, and all the equipment, and all the service concerning them, 37 and the pillars around the courtyard with their bases and their pegs and their cords .
38 Now those to acamp before the tabernacle toward the east, before the Tent of Meeting, toward the sunrise, were to be Moses, and Aaron and his sons, performing the duties of the sanctuary for whatever was required of the Israelites; and the 1blayman who approached the sanctuary was to be put to death.This ban against “the layman” or “the unauthorized” from coming near the sanctuary (the sacred tent, the tabernacle proper) should not be construed as discrimination against people who were not Israelites. It included everyone except the ordained descendants of Levi of the house of Aaron. The tabernacle proper was made up of two small rooms which no one except the priest or priests who had the assignment was ever to enter. The congregation entered the outside enclosure (the courtyard) only. This was true also of the later temples. Neither Jesus nor any of his disciples or Paul ever entered the sanctuary. When Jesus “taught in the temple” or “entered into the temple,” the Greek word invariably indicates that He was in the temple enclosure (hieron) and not in the sanctuary (naos). A violation of this ban is recorded in 2 Chr 26:16-21. King Uzziah attempted to enter the sanctuary to burn incense. While he was being confronted and restrained by Azariah the priest and eighty others he broke out in leprosy. He remained a leper for the rest of his life.Num 1:53; 2:3Num 1:51 39 All the men of the Levites whom Moses and Aaron numbered at the 1command of the LORD, by their families, every male from a month old and upward, were a22,000.Lit mouth.Num 3:43; 4:48; 26:62
40 Then the LORD said to Moses, “aNumber every firstborn male of the Israelites from a month old and upward, and 1make a list of their names.Lit take the number of.Num 3:15 41 You ashall take the Levites for Me instead of and as a substitute for all the firstborn among the Israelites. I am the LORD; and you shall take the cattle of the Levites instead of and as a substitute for all the firstborn among the cattle of the Israelites.”Num 3:12, 45 42 So Moses numbered all the firstborn among the Israelites, just as the LORD had commanded him; 43 and all the firstborn males from a month old and upward as numbered were a22,273 273 more than the Levites.Num 3:39
44 Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 45 “aTake the Levites for Me instead of all the firstborn among the sons of Israel, and the cattle of the Levites instead of their cattle. And the Levites shall be Mine. I am the LORD.Num 3:12 46 aFor the ransom of the 273 of the firstborn of the Israelites who outnumber the Levites,Ex 13:13, 15; Num 18:15, 16 47 you shall take afive shekels apiece, per head, you shall take them in bterms of the sanctuary shekel (cthe shekel is twenty gerahs),Lev 27:6; Num 18:16Ex 30:13Lev 27:25; Ezek 45:12 48 and give the money, the ransom of those who outnumber the Levites to Aaron and to his sons.” 49 So Moses took the ransom money from those who were in excess, beyond those ransomed by the Levites; 50 from the firstborn of the Israelites he took the money in terms of the sanctuary shekel, 1,365 shekels. 51 Then Moses gave the ransom money to Aaron and to his sons at the command of the LORD, just as the LORD had commanded Moses.