For Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, “Only the tribe of Levi you shall not count, neither shall you take a census of them among the children of Israel;
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Numbers 1:48-49 sits inside this longer paragraph.
These are those who were counted, whom Moses and Aaron counted, and the twelve men who were princes of Israel, each one for his fathers’ house. So all those who were counted of the children of Israel by their fathers’ houses, from twenty years old and upward, all who were able to go out to war in Israel— all those who were counted were six hundred three thousand five hundred fifty. But the Levites after the tribe of their fathers were not counted among them. For Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, “Only the tribe of Levi you shall not count, neither shall you take a census of them among the children of Israel; but appoint the Levites over the Tabernacle of the Testimony, and over all its furnishings, and over all that belongs to it. They shall carry the tabernacle and all its furnishings; and they shall take care of it, and shall encamp around it. When the tabernacle is to move, the Levites shall take it down; and when the tabernacle is to be set up, the Levites shall set it up. The stranger who comes near shall be put to death. The children of Israel shall pitch their tents, every man by his own camp, and every man by his own standard, according to their divisions. But the Levites shall encamp around the Tabernacle of the Testimony, that there may be no wrath on the congregation of the children of Israel. The Levites shall be responsible for the Tabernacle of the Testimony.”
Parallel Translations
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For Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,
“Only the tribe of Levi you shall not count, neither shall you take a census of them among the children of Israel;
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For the LORD had spoken unto Moses, saying,
Only thou shalt not number the tribe of Levi, neither take the sum of them among the children of Israel:
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And the LORD spoke unto Moses, saying:
'Howbeit the tribe of Levi thou shalt not number, neither shalt thou take the sum of them among the children of Israel;
Examined in Scripture Analysis
Contradictions (1)
Questions where the Bible appears to say two different things, with the passages on each side set together.
Cross-references (2)
- Numbers 26:62 (v49) Those who were counted of them were twenty-three thousand, every male from a month old and upward; for they were not counted among the…
- Numbers 2:33 (v49) But the Levites were not counted among the children of Israel, as Yahweh commanded Moses.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this passage (8 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
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Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On v49 Because they were not generally to go out to…
Because they were not generally to go out to war, which was the thing principally eyed in this muster, Num 1:3,20,45 but were to attend upon the service or the tabernacle, and therefore are reserved to another distinct muster, Num 3:15; 4:2, &c. And lost this should bc thought to, be designed and done through Moses’s ambition to give his own tribe the pre-eminence, he assures them it was done by God’s express command.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv48–49 For the Lord had spoken unto Moses,.... Not to…
For the Lord had spoken unto Moses,.... Not to number the Levites, when he gave him the orders to number the rest of the tribes: this is observed, lest it should be thought that this was what Moses did of himself, out of affection to the tribe he was of, and to spare it, that it might not be obliged to go forth to war when others did; not that they were forbid to engage in war, or that it was unlawful for them so to do, for when necessity required, and they were of themselves willing to engage in it, they might, as appears in the case of the Maccabees, but they might not be forced into it; they were, as Josephus (e) says, exempted from it; and so all concerned in religious service, both among Heathens and Christians, have always been excused bearing arms:
saying; as follows.
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(e) Antiqu. l. 3. c. 12. sect. 4.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On v49 Levi - Because they were not generally to go…
Levi - Because they were not generally to go out to war, which was the thing principally eyed in this muster, ver. 3, 20, 45, but were to attend upon the service of the tabernacle. They that minister upon holy things, should not entangle themselves in secular affairs. The ministry itself is work enough for a whole man, and all little enough to be employed in it.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On v49 Num 1:49. Levi — Because they were not generally…
Num 1:49. Levi — Because they were not generally to go out to war, which was the thing principally eyed in this muster, (Num 1:3; Num 1:20; Num 1:45,) but were to attend upon the service of the tabernacle. They that minister upon holy things, should not entangle themselves in secular affairs. The ministry itself is work enough for a whole man, and all little enough to be employed in it.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On v49 49. Tribe of Levi — This tribe, together with…
49. Tribe of Levi — This tribe, together with that of Simeon, because their founders had perpetrated the treacherous massacre of the Shechemites, (Gen_34:25-26,) were under the curse of Jacob: “I will divide them in Jacob and scatter them in Israel.” Gen_49:7. Simeon was greatly reduced in number in the wilderness, and received a small portion in Canaan adjoining Judah, but was soon scattered in the cities of this stronger tribe. Levi was forbidden a portion of the Land of Promise except forty-eight cities in the other tribes, and was appointed to the charge of the tabernacle instead of the firstborn, who were sacred to Jehovah because they had been sanctified by the Lord, and spared when the destroyer slew the firstborn of the Egyptians. A branch of this family, the house of Aaron, became the priestly family, and the rest of the tribe, under the technical designation of Levites, were set apart to the menial services of the tabernacle, such as pitching, taking down, and transporting the sacred tent and its furniture. The curse of dispersion pronounced on Levi was thus converted into a blessing, 1,) because of the conspicuous faithfulness of Moses and Aaron, members of this tribe; and 2,) because of the commendable zeal for God of the whole tribe in the case of the golden calf. Exo_32:16. Every ancestral curse may be mitigated or changed into a blessing by the obedience of posterity to the Divine law. “But where sin abounded grace did much more abound.” Rom_5:20.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On v48 48. For the Lord spake] And Jehovah spake. The…
48. For the Lord spake] And Jehovah spake. The rendering of the R.V., which is quite inadmissible, conceals the difficulty that the command not to number the Levites follows the statement that they were not numbered. Some transposition, the extent of which is uncertain, has taken place; or perhaps Num_1:47 is a gloss.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On v48 (48) For the Lord had spoken . . .…
(48) For the Lord had spoken . . . —Better, And the Lord spake . . . (Num_3:1; Num_3:5-6; Num_3:14-15). It is true that the Levites were not included in the earlier numbering, and consequently that they must have been exempted by divine direction. It does not appear, however, that there is a reference to any previous command respecting the Levites, or that the specific destination of the Levites had been previously declared.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On v48 Had spoken. Rather, "spake," and so Septuagint. This was…
Had spoken. Rather, "spake," and so Septuagint. This was the formal command to separate, although it had been anticipated to a considerable extent. The Levites had been marked out from the others
(1) as the tribesmen of Moses and Aaron,
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(2) as the champions of Jehovah in the matter of the golden calf; (Exo_32:26, sq. ) they had been already employed, or at least designated, for religious services; and the peculiarity of their future position in Israel had been recognized in the Divine legislation, (Lev_25:32, sq.) and in their not being called upon to contribute to the capitation for the sanctuary. In a word, this ordinance, like so many others, did little more than give a formal and direct sanction to a state of things which had already come into play, partly through natural causes, partly through providential directions.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.