Numbers 1:47

But the Levites after the tribe of their fathers were not numbered among them.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

1:47-54 Care is here taken to distinguish the tribe of Levi, which, in the matter of the golden calf, had distinguished itself. Singular services shall be recompensed by singular honours. It was to the honour of the Levites, that to them was committed the care of the tabernacle and its treasures, in their camps and in their marches. It was for the honour of the holy things that none should see them, or touch them, but those who were called of God to the service. We all are unfit and unworthy to have fellowship with God, till called by his grace into the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord; and so, being the spiritual seed of that great High Priest, we are made priests to our God. Great care must be taken to prevent sin, for preventing sin is preventing wrath. Being a holy tribe, they were not reckoned among other Israelites. They that minister about holy things, should neither entangle themselves, nor be entangled, in worldly affairs. And let every believer seek to do what the Lord has commanded.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

When a census of the tribe of Levi takes place. Numbers 3:15; Numbers 26:62, "all" the males are counted from a month old and upward, and not, as in the other tribes, those only who were of age for service in the field.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

47-54. But the Levites … were not numbered among them—They were obliged to keep a register of their own. They were consecrated to the priestly office, which in all countries has been exempted customarily, and in Israel by the express authority of God, from military service. The custody of the things devoted to the divine service was assigned to them so exclusively, that "no stranger"—that is, no person, not even an Israelite of any other tribe, was allowed, under penalty of death, to approach these [Nu 16:40]. Hence they encamped round the tabernacle in order that there should be no manifestation of the divine displeasure among the people. Thus the numbering of the people was subservient to the separation of the Levites from those Israelites who were fit for military service, and to the practical introduction of the law respecting the first-born, for whom the tribe of Levi became a substitute [Ex 13:2; Nu 3:12].

Matthew Poole's Commentary

No text from Poole on this verse.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

But the Levites,.... The tribe of Levi were excepted from this muster, they being employed in a kind of warfare, and therefore not to be engaged in another:

after the tribe of their fathers, were not numbered among them: the rest of the tribes; the reason follows.

Geneva Study Bible

But the Levites after the tribe of their fathers were not numbered among {g} them.

(g) Which were warriors, but were appointed to the use of the Tabernacle.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

47–54. The Levites were not to be numbered as fighting men, but were assigned other duties on the march. These duties are stated more fully in chs. 3, 4.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 47. - Not numbered among them. They were numbered (Numbers 3:39), but not among the rest; their census was taken separately, and on a different basis. Numbers 1:47

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

This command was carried out by Moses and Aaron. They took for this purpose the twelve heads of tribes who are pointed out (see at Leviticus 24:11) by name, and had the whole congregation gathered together by them and enrolled in genealogical tables. התילּד, to announce themselves as born, i.e., to have themselves entered in genealogical registers (books of generations). This entry is called a פּקד, mustering, in Numbers 1:19, etc. In vv. 20-43 the number is given of those who were mustered of all the different tribes, and in Numbers 1:44-47 the total of the whole nation, with the exception of the tribe of Levi. "Their generations" (Numbers 1:20, Numbers 1:22, Numbers 1:24, etc.), i.e., those who were begotten by them, so that "the sons of Reuben, Simeon," etc., are mentioned as the fathers from whom the mishpachoth and fathers' houses had sprung. The ל before שׁמעון בּני in Numbers 1:22, and the following names (in Numbers 1:24, Numbers 1:26, etc.), signifies "with regard to" (as in Isaiah 32:1; Psalm 17:4, etc.).