Numbers 1 · Verse 47

Numbers 1:47

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

Numbers 1:47, King James Version

Numbers 1:47 in other translations

BSB	The Levites, however, were not numbered along with them by the tribe of their fathers.
WEB	But the Levites after the tribe of their fathers were not counted among them.
ASV	But the Levites after the tribe of their fathers were not numbered among them.
YLT	And the Levites, for the tribe of their fathers, have not numbered themselves in their midst,
DARBY	But the Levites after the tribe of their fathers were not numbered among them.
BBE	But the Levites, of the tribe of their fathers, were not numbered among them.
Webster	But the Levites, after the tribe of their fathers, were not numbered among them.

What does Numbers 1:47 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Numbers 1:47-54

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].

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Numbers 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.

Matthew Henry, 1706 · public domain

Numbers 1:47 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

וְהַלְוִיִּ֖םve.hal.vi.Yimand the LevitesH3881

לְמַטֵּ֣הle.ma.Tehto [the] tribe ofH4294

אֲבֹתָ֑ם'a.vo.Tamancestors theirH1

לֹ֥אlo'notH3808

הָתְפָּקְד֖וּhat.pak.Duthey were enrolledH6485

בְּתוֹכָֽם\׃\ \פbe.to.Khamin midst of themH8432

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Numbers 1:47

Numbers 2:33
But the Levites were not numbered among the children of Israel; as the Lord commanded Moses.
Numbers 3:1-4:49
These also are the generations of Aaron and Moses in the day that the Lord spake with Moses in mount Sinai. And these are the names of the sons of Aaron; Nadab the firstborn, and Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. These are the names of the sons of Aaron, the priests which were anointed, whom he consecrated to minister in the priest’s office. And Nadab and Abihu died before the Lord, when they offered strange fire before the Lord, in the wilderness of Sinai, and they had no children: and Eleazar and Ithamar ministered in the priest’s office in the sight of Aaron their father. …
Numbers 26:57-62
And these are they that were numbered of the Levites after their families: of Gershon, the family of the Gershonites: of Kohath, the family of the Kohathites: of Merari, the family of the Merarites. These are the families of the Levites: the family of the Libnites, the family of the Hebronites, the family of the Mahlites, the family of the Mushites, the family of the Korathites. And Kohath begat Amram. And the name of Amram’s wife was Jochebed, the daughter of Levi, whom her mother bare to Levi in Egypt: and she bare unto Amram Aaron and Moses, and Miriam their sister. And unto Aaron was born Nadab, and Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. …
1 Chronicles 21:6
But Levi and Benjamin counted he not among them: for the king’s word was abominable to Joab.
1 Chronicles 6:1-81
The sons of Levi; Gershon, Kohath, and Merari. And the sons of Kohath; Amram, Izhar, and Hebron, and Uzziel. And the children of Amram; Aaron, and Moses, and Miriam. The sons also of Aaron; Nadab, and Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. Eleazar begat Phinehas, Phinehas begat Abishua, …
Numbers 8:1-26
And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto Aaron, and say unto him, When thou lightest the lamps, the seven lamps shall give light over against the candlestick. And Aaron did so; he lighted the lamps thereof over against the candlestick, as the Lord commanded Moses. And this work of the candlestick was of beaten gold, unto the shaft thereof, unto the flowers thereof, was beaten work: according unto the pattern which the Lord had shewed Moses, so he made the candlestick. …
Numbers 1:50
But thou shalt appoint the Levites over the tabernacle of testimony, and over all the vessels thereof, and over all things that belong to it: they shall bear the tabernacle, and all the vessels thereof; and they shall minister unto it, and shall encamp round about the tabernacle.
Numbers 1:3
From twenty years old and upward, all that are able to go forth to war in Israel: thou and Aaron shall number them by their armies.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

3,50; 2:33; 3:1-51; 4:1-49; 8:1-26; 26:57-62; 1Ch 6:1-81; 21:6

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

Numbers 1:46
Even all they that were numbered were six hundred thousand and three thousand and five hundred and fifty.
Numbers 1:47
But the Levites after the tribe of their fathers were not numbered among them.
Numbers 1:48
For the Lord had spoken unto Moses, saying,

Read all of Numbers 1

Numbers 1:47 in other languages

Spanish Reina-Valera 1909	Pero los Levitas no fueron contados entre ellos según la tribu de sus padres.
French Bible J.N. Darby 1885	Mais les Lévites, selon la tribu de leurs pères, ne furent pas dénombrés parmi eux.
German Elberfelder 1871	Aber die Leviten nach dem Stamme ihrer Väter wurden nicht unter ihnen gemustert.
Latin Clementine Vulgate	Levitæ autem in tribu familiarum suarum non sunt numerati cum eis.