Only thou shalt not number the tribe of Levi, neither take the sum of them among the children of Israel:
The command leaves the tribe of Levi out of the census taken of the other tribes of Israel, setting the Levites apart from the rest of Israel in the numbering of fighting men. That exemption applies to the general census of Israel's tribes, so that Levi is not numbered nor summed among the children of Israel with the rest. The census so defined is a numbering of men of specified ages who are able to go to war, and it does not include females or those under twenty years of age. It is a careful numbering, with each tribe counted separately under census inspectors.
The exclusion stands within a larger order in the opening chapters of Numbers, which cover the numbering of the people, the separate numbering of the tribe of Levi, and the duties of Levi's families. The Levites have their own distinct divisions and work apart from the other tribes. They are scattered among the tribes to perform priestly duties rather than receiving a tribal division of the promised land, and this fulfills Jacob's words that Levi would be scattered in Israel.
This numbering is the first numbering in Numbers 1, made forty years before the second numbering in Numbers 26 at the end of the forty years of wilderness wandering. The two numberings are to be compared to note the difference in the tribes. That comparison shows which tribes gained or lost during Israel's wilderness journey, with some growing greatly while others declined, some decreasing in number while others increased.
The command leaves the tribe of Levi out of the census taken of the other tribes of Israel, setting the Levites apart from the rest of Israel in the numbering of fighting men. That exemption applies to the general census of Israel's tribes, so that Levi is not numbered nor summed among the children of Israel with the rest. The census so defined is a numbering of men of specified ages who are able to go to war, and it does not include females or those under twenty years of age. It is a careful numbering, with each tribe counted separately under census inspectors.
The exclusion stands within a larger order in the opening chapters of Numbers, which cover the numbering of the people, the separate numbering of the tribe of Levi, and the duties of Levi's families. The Levites have their own distinct divisions and work apart from the other tribes. They are scattered among the tribes to perform priestly duties rather than receiving a tribal division of the promised land, and this fulfills Jacob's words that Levi would be scattered in Israel.
This numbering is the first numbering in Numbers 1, made forty years before the second numbering in Numbers 26 at the end of the forty years of wilderness wandering. The two numberings are to be compared to note the difference in the tribes. That comparison shows which tribes gained or lost during Israel's wilderness journey, with some growing greatly while others declined, some decreasing in number while others increased.