CHAPTER III _The generations of Aaron and Moses_, 1-4. _The tribe of Levi to minister to the Lord under Aaron and his_ _sons_, 5-10. _They are taken in the place of the first-born_, 11-13. _Moses is commanded to number them_, 14-16. Gershon, Kohath, _and_ Merari, _the names of the three heads... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Numbers 3:4. _NADAB AND ABIHU DIED_] See the notes on Leviticus 10:1.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Numbers 3:6. _BRING THE TRIBE OF LEVI NEAR_] The original word הקרב _hakreb_ is properly a sacrificial word, and signifies the presenting of a sacrifice or offering to the Lord. As an offering, the tribe of _Levi_ was given up entirely to the service of the sanctuary, to be no longer their own... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Numbers 3:7. _THE CHARGE OF THE WHOLE CONGREGATION_] They shall work _for_ the whole congregation; and _instead_ of the _first-born_.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Numbers 3:8. _ALL THE INSTRUMENTS_] The tabernacle itself and all its contents: see all described, Numbers 3:25-4; Numbers 3:31; Numbers 3:36-4. The _Levites_ were to perform the most common and laborious offices. It was their business to take down, put up, and carry the tabernacle and its ute... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Numbers 3:10. _AARON AND HIS SONS - SHALL WAIT ON THEIR PRIEST'S_ _OFFICE_] It was the business of the _priests_ to offer the different sacrifices to God; to consecrate the shew-bread, pour out the libations, burn the incense, sprinkle the blood of the victims, and bless the people. In a word,... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Numbers 3:12. _I HAVE TAKEN THE LEVITES - INSTEAD OF ALL THE_ _FIRST-BORN_] The Levites are taken for the service of the sanctuary in place of the first-born. The _first-born_ were dedicated to God in commemoration of his slaying the _first-born_ of the Egyptians, and preserving those of the I... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Numbers 3:15. _A MONTH OLD AND UPWARD_] The males of all the other tribes were numbered, from _twenty years and upward_; had the _Levites_ been numbered in this way, they would not have been nearly equal in number to the firstborn of the twelve tribes. Add to this, that as there must have been... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Numbers 3:16. _MOSES NUMBERED THEM_] Though Moses and Aaron conjointly numbered the _twelve tribes_, yet Moses alone numbered the Levites; "for as the money with which the first-born of Israel, who exceeded the number of Levites, were redeemed, was to be paid to Aaron and his sons, Numbers 3:4... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Numbers 3:22. _SEVEN THOUSAND AND FIVE HUNDRED_] Perhaps originally _resh_, 200, instead of _caph_, 500; see the following note.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Numbers 3:39. _WHICH MOSES AND AARON NUMBERED_] The word ואהרן _veaharon_, "_and Aaron_." has a point over each of its letters, probably designed as a mark of _spuriousness_. The word is wanting in the _Samaritan, Syriac_, and _Coptic_; it is wanting also in _eight_ of Dr. _Kennicott's_ MSS.,... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Numbers 3:43. _ALL THE FIRST-BORN MALES - WERE TWENTY AND TWO THOUSAND_ _TWO HUNDRED AND THREESCORE AND THIRTEEN._] Thus we find there were 273 _first-born_ beyond the number of the _Levites_. These are ordered, Numbers 3:46, to be _redeemed_; and the redemption price is to be _five shekels_... [ Continue Reading ]