Numbers 1:47

The Exemption of the Levites

1:47 But ¹  the Levites, according to the tribe of their fathers, ²  were not numbered ³  among them.

Numbers 4:38

4:38 Those numbered from the Gershonites, by their families and by their clans,

Numbers 34:14

34:14 because the tribe of the Reubenites by their families, ⁴  the tribe of the Gadites by their families, and half of the tribe of Manasseh have received their inheritance.

Numbers 4:29

The Service of the Merarites

4:29 “As for the sons of Merari, you are to number them by their families and by their clans.

Numbers 4:42

4:42 Those numbered from the families of the Merarites, by their families, by their clans,

[1:47]  ¹ tn The vav (ו) on this word indicates a disjunction with the previous sequence of reports. It may be taken as a contrastive clause, translated “but” or “however.”

[1:47]  ² tn The construction is unexpected, for Levites would be from the tribe of Levi. The note seems more likely to express that all these people were organized by tribal lineage, and so too the Levites, according to the tribe of their fathers – individual families of Levites.

[1:47]  ³ tc The form in the text is הָתְפָּקְדוּ (hotpaqÿdu); if this is correct, then it is an isolated instance of the reflexive of the Qal of פָּקַד (paqad). Some, however, explain the form as the Hitpael without the doubling of the middle letter and with a compensatory lengthening of the vowel before it (G. B. Gray, Numbers [ICC], 10).

[34:14]  ⁴ tn Heb “the house of their fathers.” So also a little later in this verse.