Numbers 3 · Verse 39

Numbers 3:39

All that were numbered of the Levites, which Moses and Aaron numbered at the commandment of the Lord, throughout their families, all the males from a month old and upward, were twenty and two thousand.

Numbers 3:39, King James Version

Numbers 3:39 in other translations

BSB	The total number of Levites that Moses and Aaron counted by their clans at the LORD’s command, including all the males a month old or more, was 22,000.
WEB	All who were counted of the Levites, whom Moses and Aaron counted at the commandment of the LORD, by their families, all the males from a month old and upward, were twenty-two thousand.
ASV	All that were numbered of the Levites, whom Moses and Aaron numbered at the commandment of Jehovah, by their families, all the males from a month old and upward, were twenty and two thousand.
YLT	All those numbered of the Levites whom Moses numbered--Aaron also--by the command of Jehovah, by their families, every male from a son of a month and upward, are two and twenty thousand.
DARBY	All that were numbered of the Levites, whom Moses and Aaron numbered at the commandment of Jehovah, according to their families, all the males from a month old and upward, were twenty-two thousand.
BBE	All the Levites numbered by Moses and Aaron at the order of the Lord, all the males of one month old and over numbered in the order of their families, were twenty-two thousand.
Webster	All that were numbered of the Levites, whom Moses and Aaron numbered at the commandment of the LORD, throughout their families, all the males from a month old and upward, were twenty and two thousand.

What does Numbers 3:39 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown

39. twenty and two thousand--The result of this census, though made on conditions most advantageous to Levi, proved it to be by far the smallest in Israel. The separate numbers stated in Nu 3:22, 28, 34, when added together, amount to twenty-two thousand three hundred. The omission of the three hundred is variously accounted for--by some, because they might be first-born who were already devoted to God and could not be counted as substitutes; and by others, because in Scripture style, the sum is reckoned in round numbers. The most probable conjecture is, that as Hebrew letters are employed for figures, one letter was, in the course of transcription, taken for another of like form but smaller value.

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

Adam Clarke's Commentary

Verse 39 Which Moses and Aaron numbered - The word ואהרן veaharon, "and Aaron." has a point over each of its letters, probably designed as a mark of spuriousness. The word is wanting in the Samaritan, Syriac, and Coptic; it is wanting also in eight of Dr. Kennicott's MSS., and in four of De Rossi's. Moses alone, as Houbigant observes, is commanded to take the number of the Levites; see Num 3:5, Num 3:11, Num 3:40, Num 3:44, and Num 3:51. All the males - were twenty and two thousand - This total does not agree with the particulars; for the Gershonites were 7,500, the Kohathites 8,600, the Merarites 6,200, total 22,300. Several methods of solving this difficulty have been proposed by learned men; Dr. Kennicott's is the most simple. Formerly the numbers in the Hebrew Bible were expressed by letters, and not by words at full length; and if two nearly similar letters were mistaken for each other, many errors in the numbers must be the consequence. Now it is probable that an error has crept into the number of the Gershonites, Num 3:22, where, instead of 7,500, we should read 7,200, as ך caph, 500, might have been easily mistaken for ר resh, 200, especially if the down stroke of the caph had been a little shorter than ordinary, which is often the case in MSS. The extra 300 being taken off, the total is just 22,000, as mentioned in the 39th verse.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Numbers 3:14-39

The Levites were in three classes, according to the sons of Levi; Gershon, Kohath, and Merari; and these were subdivided into families. The posterity of Moses were not at all honoured or privileged, but stood upon the level with other Levites; thus it was plain, that Moses did not seek the advancement of his own family, or to secure any honours to it. The tribe of Levi was by much the least of all the tribes. God's…

Read the full comment on Numbers 3:14-39 →

Numbers 3:39 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.

כָּל\־kol-allH3605

פְּקוּדֵ֨יpe.ku.Dei[those] enrolled ofH6485

הַלְוִיִּ֜םhal.vi.Yimthe LevitesH3881

אֲשֶׁר֩'a.SherwhomH834

פָּקַ֨דpa.Kadhe enrolledH6485

מֹשֶׁ֧הmo.ShehMosesH4872

וְׄאַׄהֲׄרֹ֛ׄןׄve.'a.ha.Ronand AaronH175

עַל\־'al-onH5921

פִּ֥יpi[the] mouth ofH6310

יְהוָ֖הYah.wehYahwehH3068

לְמִשְׁפְּחֹתָ֑םle.mish.pe.cho.Tamto clans theirH4940

כָּל\־kol-everyH3605

זָכָר֙za.KharmaleH2145

מִבֶּן\־mi.ben-from a son ofH1121

חֹ֣דֶשׁCho.desha monthH2320

וָמַ֔עְלָהva.Ma'.lahand up -wardsH4605

שְׁנַ֥יִםshe.Na.yim[were] twoH8147

וְעֶשְׂרִ֖יםve.'es.Rimand twentyH6242

אָֽלֶף\׃\ \ס'A.lefthousandH505

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

Cross references for Numbers 3:39

Numbers 26:62
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.
Matthew 7:14
Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.
Numbers 4:47-48
From thirty years old and upward even unto fifty years old, every one that came to do the service of the ministry, and the service of the burden in the tabernacle of the congregation, Even those that were numbered of them, were eight thousand and five hundred and fourscore.

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

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

and Aaron.The word [w'hrn,] {weäharon,} and "Aaron," has a point over each of its letters, probably designed as a mark of spuriousness. The word is wanting in the Samaritan, Syriac, and Coptic, and also in eight of Dr. Kennicott's and in four of De Rossi's MSS. Moses alone, as Houbigant observes, was commanded to number the Levites, (ver. 5, 11, 40, 44, 51:) for as the money with which the first-born were redeemed was to be paid to Aaron and his sons, (ver. 48,) it was decent that he, whose advantage it was that the number of the first-born should exceed, should not be authorized to take that number himself. twenty and two thousand. This total does not agree with the particulars; for the Gershonites were 7,500, the Kohathites 8,600, and the Merarites 6,200, which make a total of 22,300. Several methods of solving this difficulty have been proposed by learned men. Houbigant supposes there is an error in the enumeration of the Kohathites in ver. 28; the numeral {shesh,} "six," being written instead of {shalosh,} "three," before "hundred." Dr. Kennicott's mode of reconciling the discrepancy, however, is the most simple. He supposes that an error has crept into the number of the Gershonites in ver. 22, where instead of 7,500 we should read 7,200, as [k,] {caph} final, which stands for 500, might have been easily mistaken for [r,] resh, 200. (Dr. Kennicott on the Hebrew Text, vol. II. p. 212.) Either of these modes will equally reconcile the difference.
4:47,48; 26:62; Mt 7:14

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

Context

Numbers 3:38
But those that encamp before the tabernacle toward the east, even before the tabernacle of the congregation eastward, shall be Moses, and Aaron and his sons, keeping the charge of the sanctuary for the charge of the children of Israel; and the stranger that cometh nigh shall be put to death.
Numbers 3:39
All that were numbered of the Levites, which Moses and Aaron numbered at the commandment of the Lord, throughout their families, all the males from a month old and upward, were twenty and two thousand.
Numbers 3:40
And the Lord said unto Moses, Number all the firstborn of the males of the children of Israel from a month old and upward, and take the number of their names.

Read all of Numbers 3

Numbers 3:39 in other languages

Spanish Reina-Valera 1909	Todos los contados de los Levitas, que Moisés y Aarón conforme á la palabra de Jehová contaron por sus familias, todos los varones de un mes arriba, fueron veinte y dos mil.
French Bible J.N. Darby 1885	Tous les Lévites dénombrés, que Moïse et Aaron dénombrèrent selon leurs familles, selon le commandement de l’ Éternel, tous les mâles, depuis l’âge d’un mois et au-dessus, furent 22 000.
German Elberfelder 1871	Aller gemusterten Leviten, welche Mose und Aaron nach dem Befehl Jehovas nach ihren Familien musterten, aller Männlichen von einem Monat und darüber, waren 22000.
Latin Clementine Vulgate	Omnes Levitæ, quos numeraverunt Moyses et Aaron juxta præceptum Domini per familias suas in genere masculino a mense uno et supra, fuerunt viginti duo millia.