“Record the names of the members of the tribe of Levi by their families and clans. List every male who is one month old or older.”
Parallel translations
- WEB “Count the children of Levi by their fathers’ houses, by their families. You shall count every male from a month old and upward.”
- KJV Number the children of Levi after the house of their fathers, by their families: every male from a month old and upward shalt thou number them.
- BSB “Number the Levites by their families and clans. You are to count every male a month old or more.”
- NKJV “Number the children of Levi by their fathers’ houses, by their families; you shall number every male from a month old and above.”
- NASB “Count the sons of Levi by their fathers’ households, by their families; every male from a month old and upward you shall count.”
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
Moses was to count every male Levite from one month old and upward. Unlike the army census, even infants were included because all belonged to God.
Overview
The Levite census counted males from a month old, the age at which an Israelite firstborn would be redeemed, rather than from twenty as in the military count. This reflects that the whole tribe, not just its warriors, served as the substitute for Israel's firstborn. Every Levite life, from infancy, was claimed for God's service, showing the comprehensive nature of His ownership.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 13
- Num 26:62Those 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.
- 2 Tim 3:15From infancy, you have known the holy Scriptures which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith, which is in Christ Jesus.
- Mark 10:14But when Jesus saw it, he was moved with indignation, and said to them, “Allow the little children to come to me! Don’t forbid them, for God’s Kingdom belongs to such as these.
- Prov 8:17I love those who love me. Those who seek me diligently will find me.
- Num 3:39–40All 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.
- Num 18:15–16Everything that opens the womb, of all flesh which they offer to Yahweh, both of man and animal shall be yours. Nevertheless, you shall surely redeem the firstborn of man, and you shall redeem the firstborn of unclean animals.
- Num 3:28According to the number of all the males, from a month old and upward, there were eight thousand six hundred, keeping the requirements of the sanctuary.
- Jer 2:2“Go, and proclaim in the ears of Jerusalem, saying, ‘Yahweh says, “I remember for you the kindness of your youth, the love of your weddings; how you went after me in the wilderness, in a land that was not sown.
- Num 3:34Those who were counted of them, according to the number of all the males, from a month old and upward, were six thousand two hundred.
- Num 3:22Those who were counted of them, according to the number of all the males, from a month old and upward, even those who were counted of them were seven thousand five hundred.
- Num 3:43All the firstborn males according to the number of names, from a month old and upward, of those who were counted of them, were twenty-two thousand two hundred seventy-three.
- Jer 31:3Yahweh appeared of old to me, saying, “Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love. Therefore I have drawn you with loving kindness.
- Num 1:47But the Levites after the tribe of their fathers were not counted among them.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
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 3:15 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
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.