1 And these are the generations i of Aaron and Moses in the day Yehvah spoke with Moses on Mount Sinai. 2 And these are the names of the sons of Aaron, the firstborn Nadab, and Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. 3 These are the names of the sons of Aaron, the anointed priests whom he filled their hand for priesthood. 4 And Nadab and Abihu died before Yehvah in their offering strange ii fire before Yehvah in the desert of Sinai, and they had no sons. And Eleazar and Ithamar ministered as priests in the presence of Aaron their father.
5 And Yehvah spoke to Moses saying, 6 “Bring near the tribe of Levi and make him stand before Aaron the priest, and they shall serve him. 7 And they shall keep his charge and the charge of all the congregation before the tent of meeting to serve the service of the dwelling. 8 And they shall keep all the vessels of the tent of meeting and the charge of the sons of Israel to serve the service of the dwelling. 9 And you shall give the Levites to Aaron and to his sons, they shall be given entirely to him from the sons of Israel. 10 And you shall appoint Aaron and his sons, and they shall keep their priesthood. And the stranger who comes near shall be put to death.”
11 And Yehvah spoke to Moses saying, 12 “And I, behold, I shall take the Levites from the midst of the sons of Israel, instead of all the firstborn, who opens the womb, from the sons of Israel, and the Levites shall be mine. 13 For every firstborn is mine. On the day I struck every firstborn in the land of Egypt I sanctified to myself every firstborn in Israel, from man to beast. They are mine. iii I am Yehvah.”
14 And Yehvah spoke to Moses in the desert of Sinai saying, 15 “Number the sons of Levi according to the house of their fathers according to their families, every male from the sons of a month and upwards you shall number them.” 16 And Moses numbered them upon the mouth of Yehvah just as he commanded. 17 And these were the sons of Levi in their names: Gershon, and Kohath, and Merari. 18 And these are the names of the sons of Gershon according to their families: Libni and Shimi. iv 19 And the sons of Kohath according to their families: Amram, and Izehar, Hebron and Uzziel, 20 and the sons of Merari according to their families: Mahli and Mushi. These, they are the families of the Levites according to the house of their fathers. 21 To Gershon is the family of the Libnites, and the family of the Shimites. These, they are the families of the Gershonites. 22 Their numbers in the counting of every male from a son of a month and upwards, their numbers were seven thousand and five hundred. 23 The families of the Gershonites behind the dwelling shall camp toward the sea. v 24 And the leader of the house of the father for the Gershonites was Eliasaph, son of Lael. vi 25 And the charge of the sons of Gershon in the tent of meeting was the dwelling and the tent, its covering, and screen of the door of the tent of meeting. 26 And the hangings of the court and the screen of the door of the court which are around by the dwelling and by the altar and from its cords for all its service.
27 And according to Kohath, the family of the Amramites and the family of the Izharites and the family of the Hebronites and the family of the Uzzielites, these, they are the families of the Kohathite. vii 28 In the counting of every male from the son of a month and upwards was eight thousand and six hundred keepers of the charge of the holy place. viii 29 The families of the sons of Kohath camped by the side of the dwelling towards the south. 30 And the leader of the house of the father for the families of the Kohathites was Elizaphan, ix son of Uzziel. 31 And their charge is the ark, and the table, and the lampstand, and the altars, and the vessels of the holy place which they serve in them, and the screen, and all of its service. 32 And the leader of the leaders of the Levities is Eleazar, son of Aaron the priest, overseer of the keepers of the charge of the holy place. x
33 To Merari is the family of the Mahlites, and the family of the Mushites. These, they are the families of the Merari. 34 And their numbers in the counting of every male from a month and upwards is six thousand and two hundred. 35 And the leader of the house of the father for the families of Merari is Zuriel, xi son of Abihail. xii By the north side of the dwelling they camped. 36 And the oversight of the charge of the sons of Merari is the boards of the dwelling and its bars and its pillars and its bases and all its vessels and all its service, 37 and the pillars of the court around and their bases and their pegs and their cords. 38 And the ones camping before the dwelling eastward before the tent of meeting eastward, Moses and Aaron and his sons, keeping charge of the sanctuary for the charge of the sons of Israel. And the stranger who comes near was put to death. 39 All who were numbered of the Levities which Moses and Aaron numbered by the mouth of Yehvah according to their families, every male from a son of a month and upward, twenty-two thousand.
40 And Yehvah said to Moses, “Number every firstborn male for the sons of Israel from a son of a month and upward, and take the number of their names. 41 And take the Levities for me, I am Yehvah, instead of every firstborn among the sons of Israel, and the beast of the Levities instead of every firstborn among the beast of the sons of Israel.” 42 And Moses numbered just as Yehvah commanded him, every firstborn among the sons of Israel. 43 And there was, every firstborn male in the number of the names from a son of a month and upward according to their numbers, twenty-two thousand and two-hundred and seventy-three.
44 And Yehvah spoke to Moses saying, 45 “Take the Levities, instead of every firstborn among the sons of Israel and among the beast of the Levities, instead of among their beast, so the Levities shall be mine. I am Yehvah. 46 And the redemption of the two hundred and seventy-three of the ones remaining upon the Levities from the firstborn of the sons of Israel, 47 so you shall take five, five shekels to the skull in the shekel of the holy place. You shall take the twenty gerah shekel. 48 And you shall give the silver to Aaron and to his sons, redemption of the ones remaining among them.”
49 So Moses took the silver, the ransom from the ones remaining upon the redemption of the Levities, 50 from the firstborn of the sons of Israel he took the silver, one-thousand and three-hundred and five in the shekel of the holy place. 51 And Moses gave the silver of the ransom to Aaron and to his sons upon the mouth of Yehvah just as Yehvah commanded Moses.
Translated by Darwin Fish. See original pdf. xiii
- תוֹלְדֹת (toledot) - "generations" – NKJV "records" w/footnote " Lit. generations" ^
- זָרָה (zârâh) – "strange" – from the verb "be a stranger" (e.g. Proverbs 14:10; 27:2; 5:3, 20 [זָרָה NKJV "immoral woman," KJV "strange woman"] ^
- See Exodus 13:2, 11-15; 22:29-31; 34:19-20; Leviticus 27:24-26; Numbers 3:40-50; 8:16-18; Deuteronomy 12:5-7, 17; 14:23; 15:19. ^
- שִׁמְעִי (shim`iy) - “Shimi” - see footnote for Exodus 6:17. ^
- יָמָה (yâmâh) - “toward the sea” - i.e. to the west ^
- לָאֵל (lâ'êl) - “lael” - means to or for God. Perhaps, “belonging to God.” Only found here. ^
- קְּהָתָי (qehâtiy) “Kohathite” (singular) – NKJV, KJV, NAS “Kohathites” - found also in Numbers 3:30; 4:18, 34, 37; 10:21 (plural, קְּהָתִים [qehâtiym] “Kohathites); 26:57; Joshua 21:4, 10; 1 Chronicles 6:33(H18); 54(H39), 61; 9:32; 2 Chronicles 20:19 (plural); 29:12; 34:12 (plural). ^
- הַקֹּדֶשׁ (haqqodesh) - “the holy place” - more literally, “the holy.” “Place” is understood from the context. ^
- אֶלִיצָפָן ('eliytsâphân) - “Elizaphan” - found also in 1 Chronicles 15:8; 2 Chronicles 29:13; also, same man slightly different name, אֶלִיצָפָן ('eltsâphân), found also in Leviticus 10:4. There is a different man in Numbers 34:25, אֶלִיצָפָן ('eliytsâphân) “Elizaphan.” ^
- הַקֹּדֶשׁ (haqqodesh) - “the holy place” ^
- צוּרִיאֵל (tsuriy'êl) - “Zuriel” - only found here. It means “my rock is God” or “God is my rock.” ^
- אֲבִיחָיִל ('aviychâyil) - “Abihail” - means “my father is strength” (חַיִל “strength” e.g. 1 Samuel 2:4) or “wealth” (e.g. Genesis 34:29) - found only here for this man. There is also with this same name a wife of Abishur (1 Chronicles 2:29), a son of Huri (1 Chronicles 5:14), a wife of Rehoboam (2 Chronicles 11:18), and the father of Esther, Mordecai's uncle (Esther 2:15; 9:29). ^
- Mirrored here. ^