Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Numbers 3:7
The charge of the whole congregation - They shall work for the whole congregation; and instead of the first-born. read more
Numbers 3:1-36 Kjv,asv
Adam Clarke
Adam Clarke
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Numbers 3:8
All the instruments - The tabernacle itself and all its contents: see all described, Numbers 3:25 , Numbers 3:26 , Numbers 3:31 , Numbers 3:36 , Numbers 3:37 . 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 utensils; for it was the object of their peculiar care. In a word, they were the servants of the priests. read more
Adam Clarke
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - 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, they were the servants of God alone. read more
Adam Clarke
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - 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 Israelites. Even the cattle of the Levites were taken in place of the first-born of the cattle of the rest of the tribes. See Numbers 3:45 . Several reasons have been assigned why God should give this honor to the tribe of... read more
Adam Clarke
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - 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 first-born of all ages in the other tribes, it was necessary that the Levites, who were to be their substitutes, should be also of all ages; and it appears to have been on this ground, at least partly, that the Levites... read more
Adam Clarke
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - 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 3:48 , it was decent that he, whose advantage it was that the number of the first-born of Israel should exceed, should not be authorized to take that number himself." - Dodd, from Bishop Kidder. read more
Adam Clarke
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Numbers 3:22
Seven thousand and five hundred - Perhaps originally ר resh , 200, instead of ך caph , 500; see the following note Numbers 3:39 ; (note). read more
John Calvin
John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Numbers 3:1
Verse 1 1.These also are the generations of Aaron and Moses He now separately enumerates the Levites; but, before he proceeds to state their number, he first shortly refers to what he had just before more fully narrated, that of the four sons of Aaron only two survived their father, inasmuch as Nadab and Abihu had suffered the penalty of their negligence in their defilement of the sacrifice. The six verses (423) which Moses inserts respecting the office of the priests have been expounded in... read more
John Calvin
John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Numbers 3:5
Verse 5 5.And the Lord spake unto Moses. This passage contains two heads: first, That the Levites should be set apart for the ministry of the sanctuary and altar; and, secondly, That they should obey the chief priests of the family of Aaron, and do nothing except by their authority and command. But it has been already said, and we shall hereafter see again, that the tribe of Levi in general was divinely chosen to perform the sacred offices; so that the people might know that no one was worthy... read more
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Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - 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, but the Lord's property. read more