The Tribe of Levi
1 These are the descendants of Aaron and Moses, at the time when Yahweh spoke to Moses on Mount Sinai.
2 These are the names of the sons of Aaron: Nadab the eldest, then Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar.
3 These are the names of Aaron’s sons, priests anointed and invested with the powers of the priesthood.
4 Nadab and Abihu died in the presence of Yah weh, in the desert of Sinai, when they offered fire that was unlawful. They left no children and so it fell to Eleazar and Itha mar to exercise the priesthood under their father Aaron.
5 Yahweh spoke to Moses and said:
6 “Call for the tribe of Levi and appoint them as servants to Aaron the priest.
7 They are to perform the duties that are laid on him and on the entire community before the Tent of Meeting, in their service of the Holy Tent.
8 They shall take care of the furnishings for the Tent of Meeting, and serve me in the Holy Tent as representatives of the sons of Israel.
9 You are to give the Levites to Aaron and his sons; they are given to him from the sons of Israel.
10 You are to enroll also Aaron and his sons, and they are to carry out the priestly duty. But any layman who comes near is to be put to death.”
11 Yahweh spoke to Moses and said:
12 “I myself have chosen the Levites from among the sons of Israel, in place of the firstborn, those who open the mother’s womb among the sons of Israel; the Levites therefore belong to me,
13 for every firstborn belongs to me. On the day I struck all the firstborn of the Egyptians, I consecrated for my own all the firstborn of Israel, of both man and beast. They are mine; I am Yahweh.”
14 Yahweh spoke to Moses in the desert of Sinai. He said:
15 “You are to take a census of the sons of Levi by families and clans; all the males of the age of one month and over must be counted.”
16 Moses took this census, as Yahweh had ordered.
17 These are the names of the sons of Levi: Gershon, Kohath and Merari.
18 These are the names of Gershon’s sons by their clans: Libni and Shimei;
19 Kohath’s sons by their clans: Amran, Izhar, Hebron and Uzziel;
20 Merari’s sons by their clans: Mahli and Mushi. These are the clans of Levi, grouped according to their ancestral families.
21 From Gershon are descended the Libnite and the Shimeite clans; these are the Gershonite clans.
22 Their number, counting the males of one month and over, came to 7,500.
23 The Gershonite clans camped be hind the Holy Tent, on the west side.
24 The leader of the clan of Gershon was Eliasaph son of Lael.
25 In the Tent of Meeting the sons of Gershon had charge of the Holy Tent, its inner and outer covers,
26 the screen for the entrance and curtains for the court which is around the Holy Tent and the altar, and the ropes needed for all this work.
27 From Kohath are descended the Am ramite, the Izharite, the Hebronite and the Uzzielite clans; these are the Ko hathite clans.
28 Their full number, counting the males of one month and over, came to 8,300. They were in charge of the sanctuary.
29 The Kohathite clans camped on the south side of the Holy Tent.
30 The leader of the Kohathite clans was Elizaphan son of Uzziel.
31 They were in charge of the ark, the table, the lampstand, the altars, the sacred vessels used in the liturgy, and the screen.
32 The chief of the Levite leaders was Eleazar, son of Aaron the priest. He was the head of all those who were in charge of the sanctuary.
33 From Merari are descended the Mahlite and the Mushite clans; these are the Merarite clans.
34 Their full number, counting the males of one month and over, came to 6,200.
35 The leader of the Merarite clans was Zuriel, son of Abihail. They camped on the north side of the Holy Tent.
36 The sons of Merari were in charge of the framework of the Holy Tent, with its cross bars, posts and bases, all its fittings,
37 and also the posts around the court, with their bases, pegs and ropes.
38 Finally, on the east side, facing the Holy Tent and the Tent of Meeting, toward the sunrise, was the camp of Moses and Aaron and his sons, who had charge of the sanctuary for the people of Israel. Anyone else coming near was to be put to death.
39 Altogether, the total count of Levites of the age of one month and over, whom Moses numbered by clans as Yahweh had ordered, came to 22,000.
40 Yahweh said to Moses:
“Take a census of all the firstborn among the sons of Israel, all the males from the age of one month and over; take a census of them by name.
41 Then you will take the Levites for me, Yahweh, in stead of the firstborn of Israel; in the same way you will give me their cattle instead of the firstborn cattle of the sons of Israel.”
42 As Yahweh commanded, Moses took a census of all the firstborn of the sons of Israel.
43 The total count, by name, of the firstborn from the age of one month and over came to 22,273.
44 Then Yahweh spoke to Moses and said,
45 “Take the Levites instead of all the firstborn of Israel’s sons, and the cattle of the Le vites instead of their cattle; the Levites shall be my own.
46 But you have to buy back the 273 of the firstborn of the sons of Israel who outnumber the Levites.
47 So for each one you are to pay five pieces of silver, according to the official standard,
48 and you shall give this money to Aaron and his sons.”
49 Moses received the 1,365 pieces of silver as ransom from those who were left when the rest had been redeemed by the Levites.
50 From the firstborn of the Israelites he received one thousand three hundred and sixty-five pieces of silver according to the sanctuary standard.
51 And he gave them to Aaron and his sons as Yahweh had ordered.
------------------------------------------------------------
Comments Numbers, Chapter 3
• 3.1 Chapters 3, 4 and 8 refer to the priests or Levites.
At the time of Abraham, each family head was “priest” for his own group: he himself was responsible for the sacrifices (Gen 15:10) and sacred rituals (Gen 28:18); he also gave blessings on be half of God (Gen 27:27).
Possibly, Moses appointed men in charge of teaching Yahweh’s laws to Israel. The group called the tribe of Levi, perhaps a tribe of warriors at first, became responsible for this mission. In the episode of the Golden Calf they supported Moses in restoring order.
Still, heads of families as well as priests kept on celebrating without laws or control (Jdg 17).
David and Solomon established the Jewish clergy: from then on, only men from the tribe of Levi could be priests. It was perhaps with Josiah’s reform that a distinction was made among the Levites. Those of a higher rank were called priests and those of a lower rank were Levites (see 2 K 22:8). Those who re turned to Jerusalem at Josiah’s command and were forbidden to officiate in the Temple may have been the first “Levites” of a lower rank, while the Jerusalem clergy saw their privileges confirmed. They, the “priests” of the Temple, began to form a superior class and, to differen tiate themselves within the tribe of Levi, they claimed to be descendants of Aaron, Moses’ brother.
The Book of Numbers attributes to Moses himself, in a fictitious way, all this organization.
The Levites represent the firstborn of Israel, the ones whom Yahweh saved in the first Passover when the firstborn of Egypt died. Since they were saved by Yahweh, from that time on they belonged to God.