But the Levites ,.... The tribe of Levi were excepted from this muster, they being employed in a kind of warfare, and therefore not to be engaged in another: after the tribe of their fathers, were not numbered among them : the rest of the tribes; the reason follows. read more
For the Lord had spoken unto Moses ,.... Not to number the Levites, when he gave him the orders to number the rest of the tribes: this is observed, lest it should be thought that this was what Moses did of himself, out of affection to the tribe he was of, and to spare it, that it might not be obliged to go forth to war when others did; not that they were forbid to engage in war, or that it was unlawful for them so to do, for when necessity required, and they were of themselves willing to... read more
Only thou shall not number the tribe of Levi ,.... That is, along with the other tribes, for it might be numbered by itself, as it afterwards was, Numbers 3:43 , neither take the sum of them among the children of Israel ; which confirms what is before observed: now this being the declared will of God clears Moses from all partiality to his own tribe, he doing nothing but what he had a command of God for it. read more
But thou shalt appoint the Levites over the tabernacle of testimony ,.... So called from the ark in it, in which was the law of God, which was a testimony of the will of God to his people: and over all the vessels thereof ; the candlestick, table: and altars, as Aben Ezra notes: and over all things that belong to it ; the vessels of vessels, as the same writer calls them; for the candlestick, shewbread table, and the two altars of incense and burnt offering had vessels appertaining... read more
And when the tabernacle setteth forward ,.... Or was about to set forward; that is, the congregation were about to journey, and take the tabernacle with them, as they always did, when and wherever they journeyed: the Levites shall take it down ; unpin it, take the boards and pillars out of their sockets, and the bars out of their places, and the whole into pieces, in order to be put into wagons prepared to carry them, of which mention is made in a following chapter: and when the... read more
And the children of Israel shall pitch their tents, every man by his own camp ,.... There were four, unless every tribe was a camp, and so then there were twelve camps, besides the camp of the Levites: the Targum of Jonathan is,"by the house of his troop,'the regiment to which he belonged, every tribe or camp having various troops or regiments in it: and every man by his own standard throughout their hosts ; there were four standards, and three tribes to each standard, which were placed... read more
But the Levites shall pitch round about the tabernacle of testimony ,.... Between the tabernacle and the camps of Israel, to guard the tabernacle and preserve the things in it, and to keep persons from going into it that should not, to pollute or plunder it: these were placed in like manner as the four living creatures round the throne, Revelation 4:6 ; where the allusion seems to be to this situation of the Levites: that there be no wrath upon the congregation of the children of Israel... read more
And the children of Israel did according to all the Lord commanded Moses ,.... Pitched their tents by their own camps and standards; did not come near the tabernacle but kept at a proper distance from it, and did not meddle with things they had no concern, with, and which were peculiar to the Levites: so they did ; which is repeated to show how readily, punctually, and perfectly they observed the command of God with respect to this affair. read more
Verse 47 47.But the Levites, after the tribe of their fathers We shall indeed hereafter see that they also were numbered, but Moses means that they were not included in the general census of the people, because God had chosen them to be His own property, and thus had severed them from the rest of the people. He writes, therefore, that they “were not numbered in the midst of the others,” (419) i.e., so as promiscuously to form a part of the multitude. Now, lest any one should object that Moses... read more
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Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Numbers 1:47-54
Care is here taken to distinguish from the rest of the tribes the tribe of Levi, which, in the matter of the golden calf, had distinguished itself, Exod. 32:26. Note, Singular services shall be recompensed with singular honours. Now, I. It was the honour of the Levites that they were made guardians of the spiritualities; to them was committed the care of the tabernacle and the treasures thereof, both in their camps and in their marches. 1. When they moved the Levites were to take down the... read more