The Sons of Aaron
Numbers 3Now this is the history of the generations of Aaron and Moses in the day that YHWH spoke with Moses in Mount Sinai. These are the names of the sons of Aaron: Nadab the firstborn, and Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar.
These are the names of the sons of Aaron, the priests who were anointed, whom he consecrated to minister in the priest’s office. Nadab and Abihu died before YHWH when they offered strange fire before YHWH in the wilderness of Sinai, and they had no children. Eleazar and Ithamar ministered in the priest’s office in the presence of Aaron their father.
Duties of the Levitical Priests
YHWH spoke to Moses, saying, “Bring the tribe of Levi near, and set them before Aaron the priest, that they may minister to him. They are to keep his requirements, and the requirements of the whole congregation before the Tent of Meeting by doing the service of the tabernacle. They are to keep all the furnishings of the Tent of Meeting, and the obligations of the children of Israel, to do the service of the tabernacle. You are to give the Levites to Aaron and to his sons. They are given-given to him on the behalf of the children of Israel. You are to appoint Aaron and his sons to keep their priesthood, but the stranger who comes near must be put to death.”
YHWH spoke to Moses, saying, “See, 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. So Levites will belong to me, for all the firstborn are mine. On the day that I struck down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt I made holy to me all the firstborn in Israel, both man and animal. They are to be mine. I am YHWH.”
YHWH spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, saying, “Count the children of Levi by their fathers’ houses, by their families. You are to count every male from a month old and upward.”
Moses counted them according to the word of YHWH, as he was commanded.
These were the sons of Levi by their names: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.
These are the names of the sons of Gershon by their families: Libni and Shimei.
The sons of Kohath by their families: Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel.
The sons of Merari by their families: Mahli and Mushi.
These are the families of the Levites according to their fathers’ houses.
Of Gershon was the family of the Libnites, and the family of the Shimeites. These are the families of the Gershonites.
Those who were counted of them, according to the number of all the males from a month old and upward, even those who were counted of them were seven thousand five hundred.
The families of the Gershonites are to encamp behind the tabernacle westward.
The leader of the fathers’ house of the Gershonites was Eliasaph the son of Lael. The duty of the sons of Gershon in the Tent of Meeting will be the tabernacle, the tent, its covering, the screen for the door of the Tent of Meeting, the hangings of the court, the screen for the door of the court which is by the tabernacle and around the altar, and its cords for all of its service.
Of Kohath was the family of the Amramites, the family of the Izharites, the family of the Hebronites, and the family of the Uzzielites. These are the families of the Kohathites. According to the number of all the males from a month old and upward, there were eight thousand six hundred keeping the requirements of the sanctuary.
The families of the sons of Kohath were to camp on the south side of the tabernacle. The leader of the fathers’ house of the families of the Kohathites was Elizaphan the son of Uzziel. Their responsible involved the ark, the table, the lamp stand, the altars, the vessels of the sanctuary with which they minister, the screen, and all its service. Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest was the leader of the leaders of the Levites, with the oversight of those who keep the requirements of the sanctuary.
Of Merari was the family of the Mahlites and the family of the Mushites. These are the families of Merari. Those who were counted of them, according to the number of all the males from a month old and upward, were six thousand two hundred.+3:34 + 22,000 is the sum rounded to 2 significant digits. The sum of the Gershonites, Kohathites, and Merarites given above is 22,300, but the traditional Hebrew text has the number rounded to 2 significant digits, not 3 significant digits.
The leader of the fathers’ house of the families of Merari was Zuriel the son of Abihail. They were to camp on the north side of the tabernacle. The appointed duty of the sons of Merari involved the tabernacle’s boards, its bars, its pillars, its sockets, all its instruments, all its service, the pillars of the court around it, their sockets, their pins, and their cords.
Moses, Aaron, and his sons, who keep the requirements of the sanctuary for the duty of the children of Israel, camped before the tabernacle eastward, in front of the Tent of Meeting toward the sunrise. Any outsider who approaches was to be put to death. All who were counted of the Levites, whom Moses and Aaron counted at the commandment of YHWH, by their families, all the males from a month old and upward, were twenty-two thousand.
The Levites for the Firstborn
YHWH 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 are to take the Levites for me—I am YHWH—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.”
Moses counted, as YHWH commanded him, all the firstborn among the children of Israel. All the firstborn males according to the number of names from a month old and upward, of those who were counted of them, were twenty-two thousand two hundred seventy-three.
YHWH spoke to Moses, saying, “Take the Levites instead of all the firstborn among the children of Israel, and the livestock of the Levites instead of their livestock. The Levites belong to me; I am YHWH. For the redemption of the two hundred seventy-three of the firstborn of the children of Israel who exceed the number of the Levites, you are to collect five shekels apiece for each one; according to the shekel+3:47 A shekel is about 10 grams or about 0.35 ounces. of the sanctuary (the shekel is twenty gerahs+3:47 A gerah is about 0.5 grams or about 7.7 grains.); and you are to give the money for the redemption of the remainder to Aaron and to his sons.”
Moses took the redemption money from those who exceeded the number of those who were redeemed by the Levites; from the firstborn of the children of Israel he took the money, one thousand three hundred sixty-five shekels,+3:50 A shekel is about 10 grams or about 0.35 ounces, so 1365 shekels is about 13.65 kilograms or about 30 pounds. according to the shekel of the sanctuary; and Moses gave the redemption money to Aaron and to his sons, according to the word of YHWH, as YHWH commanded Moses.