Those who were numbered of them were twenty-three thousand, every male from a month old and upward, for they were not numbered among the sons of Israel since no inheritance was given to them among the sons of Israel.
Parallel translations
- WEB Those who were counted of them were twenty-three thousand, every male from a month old and upward; for they were not counted among the children of Israel, because there was no inheritance given them among the children of Israel.
- KJV And those that were numbered of them were twenty and three thousand, all males from a month old and upward: for they were not numbered among the children of Israel, because there was no inheritance given them among the children of Israel.
- BSB The registration of the Levites totaled 23,000, every male a month old or more; they were not numbered among the other Israelites, because no inheritance was given to them among the Israelites.
- NKJV Now those who were numbered of them were twenty-three thousand, every male from a month old and above; for they were not numbered among the other children of Israel, because there was no inheritance given to them among the children of Israel.
- NLT The men from the Levite clans who were one month old or older numbered 23,000. But the Levites were not included in the registration of the rest of the people of Israel because they were not given an allotment of land when it was divided among the Israelites.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The Levites number 23,000 males from a month old, counted apart because they received no land inheritance.
Overview
Counted from infancy rather than fighting age, the Levites totaled 23,000 and were numbered separately since they held no tribal land. Their unique status as those wholly devoted to God's service, with the Lord as their portion, prefigures the church as a kingdom of priests whose inheritance is God Himself.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 13
- Deut 10:9Therefore Levi has no portion nor inheritance with his brothers; Yahweh is his inheritance, according as Yahweh your God spoke to him.)
- Num 35:2–8“Command the children of Israel to give to the Levites of the inheritance of their possession cities to dwell in. You shall give suburbs for the cities around them to the Levites.
- Num 1:49“Only the tribe of Levi you shall not count, neither shall you take a census of them among the children of Israel;
- Num 3:39All who were counted of the Levites, whom Moses and Aaron counted at the commandment of Yahweh, by their families, all the males from a month old and upward, were twenty-two thousand.
- Josh 14:3For Moses had given the inheritance of the two tribes and the half-tribe beyond the Jordan; but to the Levites he gave no inheritance among them.
- Josh 13:33But Moses gave no inheritance to the tribe of Levi. Yahweh, the God of Israel, is their inheritance, as he spoke to them.
- Deut 14:27–29You shall not forsake the Levite who is within your gates, for he has no portion nor inheritance with you.
- Josh 13:14Only he gave no inheritance to the tribe of Levi. The offerings of Yahweh, the God of Israel, made by fire are his inheritance, as he spoke to him.
- Deut 18:1–2The priests the Levites, all the tribe of Levi, shall have no portion nor inheritance with Israel. They shall eat the offerings of Yahweh made by fire and his portion.
- Num 18:20–24Yahweh said to Aaron, “You shall have no inheritance in their land, neither shall you have any portion among them. I am your portion and your inheritance among the children of Israel.
- Num 4:48even those who were counted of them, were eight thousand five hundred eighty.
- Num 1:47But the Levites after the tribe of their fathers were not counted among them.
- Num 4:27At the commandment of Aaron and his sons shall be all the service of the sons of the Gershonites, in all their burden, and in all their service; and you shall appoint their duty to them in all their responsibilities.
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Christ at the center
In the wilderness Christ is the water from the rock, the bronze serpent lifted up that the dying might look and live (John 3:14), and the star and scepter that Balaam saw rising out of Jacob.
How Numbers 26:62 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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