Numbers 3:22
Those that were numbered of them, according to the number of all the males, from a month old and upward, even those that were numbered of them were seven thousand and five hundred. Those that were numbered of them, according to the number of all the males, from a month old and upward, even those that were numbered of them were seven thousand and five hundred.
Numbers 3:22 belongs to the first of the two numberings of Israel that give the book its name, the early numbering near its beginning. It stands within the first four chapters, which deal exclusively with the numbering of the people, the numbering of the tribe of Levi, and the office of the various families of Levi. It belongs to a careful census of Israel in which each tribe was numbered separately under appointed inspectors. That numbering in Numbers 1-3 gives the definite numbers of men of a certain age and describes the divisions of the sons of Levi.
It records the census total for the Gershonite clan as 7,500 males from a month old and upward, counted from one month old and older. Its exact count was recorded so it could be referred back to when reaching Numbers 26 at the second numbering at the close of the forty years, to note how the tribes had gained and lost.
It is part of the order written in the book of Moses for setting the priests in their divisions and the Levites in their courses for the service of God at Jerusalem, the order that was followed at the dedication of the house of God. It serves as part of the biblical basis for the Aaronic priesthood, established by law for its age and vested in the tribe of Levi.