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Numbers 3:13-15
New English Translation
Numbers 3:13-15
New English Translation
13 because all the firstborn are mine. When I destroyed[a] all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, I set apart for myself all the firstborn in Israel, both man and beast. They belong to me. I am the Lord.”[b]
The Numbering of the Levites
14 Then the Lord spoke to Moses in the desert of Sinai: 15 “Number the Levites by their clans[c] and their families; every male from a month old and upward you are to number.”[d]
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Numbers 3:13 tn The form הַכֹּתִי (hakkoti) is the Hiphil infinitive construct of the verb נָכָה (nakhah, “to strike, smite, attack”). Here, after the idiomatic “in the day of,” the form functions in an adverbial clause of time—“when I destroyed.”
- Numbers 3:13 sn In the Exodus event of the Passover night the principle of substitution was presented. The firstborn child was redeemed by the blood of the lamb and so belonged to God, but then God chose the Levites to serve in the place of the firstborn. The ritual of consecrating the firstborn son to the Lord was nevertheless carried out, even with Jesus, the firstborn son of Mary (Luke 2:22-23).
- Numbers 3:15 tn Heb “the house of their fathers.” So also in v. 20.
- Numbers 3:15 tn Heb “you are to/shall number them.”
New English Translation (NET)
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