“Take the Levites instead of all the firstborn among the children of Israel, and the livestock of the Levites instead of their livestock; and the Levites shall be mine. I am Yahweh.
Parallel Translations
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“Take the Levites instead of all the firstborn among the children of Israel, and the livestock of the Levites instead of their livestock; and the Levites shall be mine. I am Yahweh.
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Take the Levites instead of all the firstborn among the children of Israel, and the cattle of the Levites instead of their cattle; and the Levites shall be mine: I am the LORD.
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'Take the Levites instead of all the first-born among the children of Israel, and the cattle of the Levites instead of their cattle; and the Levites shall be Mine, even the LORD'S.
Cross-references (2)
Passages linked to Numbers 3:45 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Numbers 3:12 “Behold, I have taken the Levites from among the children of Israel instead of all the firstborn who open the womb among the children of Israel; and the Levites shall be mine,
- Numbers 3:40-41 Yahweh said to Moses, “Count all the firstborn males of the children of Israel from a month old and upward, and take the number of their names. You shall take the Levites for me—I am Yahweh—instead of all the firstborn among the children of Israel; and the livestock of the Levites instead of all the firstborn among the livestock of the children of Israel.”
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (3 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
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Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain Take the Levites, to wit, the 22,000 reckoned up…
Take the Levites, to wit, the 22,000 reckoned up Num 3:39, See Poole "Num 3:39"
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 And for those that are to be redeemed, &c.…
And for those that are to be redeemed, &c. With money, there being not Levites enough to answer to them, and exchange for them:
of the two hundred and threescore and thirteen of the firstborn of the children of Israel, which are more than the Levites; for the sum total of the Levites, as given, was but 22,000, Num 3:39, whereas the sum total of the firstborn of Israel were 22,273, Num 3:43, so that there were, two hundred seventy three more of the latter than of the former; and what was to be done with these next follows.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (45) And the cattle of the Levites instead of…
(45) And the cattle of the Levites instead of their cattle.—There appears to have been no numbering of the cattle. Had it been otherwise, an argument might have been used in support of the prospective reference of the command to number the firstborn, derived from the fact that it would have been impossible to ascertain the number of firstborn among the cattle. It appears, however, that the whole of the cattle of the Levites was given in redemption of the firstborn of all the cattle of the other tribes.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.