This redemption money (see the marginal references) would perhaps be exacted from the parents of the youngest children of the 22,273 Num 3:43<\/span>. The cattle of the Levites was doubtless taken in the gross as an equivalent for the first-born cattle of the other tribes, which of course, no less than the first-born of men, belonged to the Lord; and in future would have to be redeemed Num 18:15<\/span>; Deu 15:19<\/span>.<\/P> <\/p>\n And the Lord spake unto Moses<\/strong>,…. After the number was taken, and gave him directions what to do upon it:<\/p>\n saying<\/strong>; as follows.<\/p>\n Verses 44-51:<\/strong><\/p>\n Each male of the Levites stood as the redemptive payment for each of the firstborn males of the other tribes of Israel. However, there were 273 more males among the tribes than there were males in the tribe of Levi. Provision must be made for these.<\/p>\n Each of the 273 was to be redeemed by payment of a predetermined sum as the ransom price for a male child who had been vowed to the Lord (Le 27:6), five shekels of silver, about 17.5 ounces. The total amount was 1,365 shekels, approximately 5460 ounces, or 455 pounds troy. This was a large sum of money, in excess of $76,000, computing by today’s standards. This was to be paid to Aaron and his sons, as compensation for their service.<\/p>\n D. LEVITES DEDICATED IN BEHALF OF THE FIRSTBORN vv. 4451 Num. 3:44<\/span>. And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, 45. Take the Levites instead of all the firstborn among the children of Israel, and the cattle of the Levites instead of their cattle; and the Levites shall be mine: I am the Lord. 46. And for those that are to be redeemed of the two hundred and three-score and thirteen of the firstborn of the children of Israel, which are more than the Levites; 47. Thou shalt even take five shekels apiece by the poll, after the shekel of the sanctuary shalt thou take them: (the shekel is twenty gerahs:) 48. And thou shalt give the money, wherewith the odd number of them is to be redeemed, unto Aaron and to his sons. 49. And Moses took the redemption money of them that were over and above them that were redeemed by the Levites: 50. Of the firstborn of the children of Israel took he the money; a thousand three hundred and threescore and five shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary: 51. And Moses gave the money of them that were redeemed unto Aaron and to his sons, according to the word of the Lord, as the Lord commanded Moses.<\/p>\n PARAPHRASE<\/strong><\/p>\n Num. 3:44<\/span>. Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 45. Take the Levites instead of all the firstborn among the children of Israel, and the cattle of the Levites rather than their cattle. The Levites shall be mine: I am the Lord. 46. And for those who are to be ransomed of the 273 of the firstborn of the children of Israel, who are in excess of the Levites, 47. you shall take five shekels for each man, that is, the shekel of the sanctuary (or, twenty gerahs),[1] 48. and you shall give the money, which is the ransom of the excess, to Aaron and his sons. 49. And Moses took the ransom money from those of the excess beyond those ransomed by the Levites; 50. he took the money, as of the shekel of the sanctuary, totaling 1,365, from the sons of Israel. 51. Then Moses gave the ransom money to Aaron and his sons, as the Lord had commanded Moses.<\/p>\n [1] In our terms, approximately 6.8 pounds, avoirdupois.<\/p>\n COMMENTARY<\/strong><\/p>\n Num. 3:44-45<\/span> repeat earlier instructions for the purpose of emphasis and clarity. The Lord underscores the purpose for adopting the Levites; He also adds necessary instructions with reference to the number of firstborn among the tribes which exceeds that of the Levites273. They were to be redeemed on the basis of the established price for redemption of the firstborn among the people (see Num. 18:16<\/span>).<\/p>\n The shekel of the sanctuary had been established in Exo. 30:13<\/span>; see also Lev. 27:6<\/span>. Shekel means weight, and demonstrates the ancient practice of establishing the value of an item by equating it with a measured weight of gold, silver, or even bronze or iron; The shekel weighed about four-tenths of an ounce. It required 1365 shekels to redeem the excess of the firstborn (273) over the number of the Levites. The sum was given to Aaron in lieu of the firstborn. From the beginning it was ordained that those who served their brothers in the capacity of priests and Levites should derive their livelihood from those whom they served. The principle would be extended into the New Covenant of the Gospel by the apostle Paul in declaring that the Lord has ordained that they which preach the gospel should live of the gospel, (1Co. 9:14<\/span>). Denied the opportunity of ordinary livelihood by labor, those whose Occupation involves total service to God in behalf of their fellow men may rightly ask their provision by those whom they serve.<\/p>\n QUESTIONS AND RESEARCH ITEMS<\/strong><\/p>\n 74.<\/p>\n What is suggested when the Lord said, The Levites shall be mine?<\/p>\n 75.<\/p>\n Establish the value of the ransom price of the firstborn if it was paid in gold, and if it was paid in silver, according to the current values of these metals.<\/p>\n 76.<\/p>\n The provisions given in this section are only for a single time and a single circumstance. What regulations were given for consecration of the firstborn of the people and animals later?<\/p>\n 77.<\/p>\n Who paid the ransom money to the priests?<\/p>\n THE SUPERNUMERARY FIRSTBORN REDEEMED, Num 3:44-51<\/span>.<\/p>\n Since the results of the two enumerations disclose an excess of two hundred and seventy-three firstborn above the number of the Levites, Jehovah evinces the exactness of his demands, and sets an example of what men call square dealing, by requiring an equivalent for the services of these unexchanged firstborn. In all ages money has been deemed the equivalent of labour. In accordance with this principle of political economy, Jehovah sets a price upon the services of these two hundred and seventy-three firstborn, namely, five shekels each, about two dollars and seventy cents in the Federal currency, amounting to over seven hundred dollars, reckoning the shekel at fifty-three cents. The entire sum of redemption money was paid to Aaron and his sons as the representatives of Jehovah. The important question here arises, By whom was it paid? Here we have three conjectural answers: <\/p>\n 1 . That the question of redeeming the two hundred and seventy-three was determined by lot; that twenty-two thousand drew lots which entitled them to be offset for as many Levites, and that the supernumeraries drew blanks, which indicated that they, or rather their parents, must pay each five shekels. This is the tradition, and is the theory of the Rabbies. It seems not to be just to the supernumeraries, nor to be in harmony with the dignity of Jehovah.<\/p>\n 2 . Another hypothesis is, that the firstborn were redeemed by seniority, leaving the two hundred and seventy-three youngest to be redeemed by their parents.<\/p>\n 3 . The more reasonable solution of the difficulty is the theory that this money was a tax upon the tribes, and was paid out of a common fund.<\/p>\n The sum here appointed, amounted in value to about 2 shillings and 3 pence halfpenny of our current coin.<\/p>\n Reciprocal: Num 3:39 – and Aaron<\/p>\n Num 3:44-51. The Redemption by Money of the Residue of the First-born.Cf. Num 3:12 f. Since the first-born of Israel (22,273) exceed the Levites (22,000, see Num 3:39), those in excess are to be redeemed at 5 silver shekels (about 13s. 9d.) a head.<\/p>\n Num 3:47. Read, after the sacred shekel. This was the ancient Hebrew or Phnician weight (224 grains), as contrasted with the later Perso-Babylonian weight, which was lighter (173 3 grains): cf. Exo 30:13*, p. 116.<\/p>\n And the LORD spoke unto Moses, saying, This redemption money (see the marginal references) would perhaps be exacted from the parents of the youngest children of the 22,273 Num 3:43. The cattle of the Levites was doubtless taken in the gross as an equivalent for the first-born cattle of the other tribes, which of course, … Continue reading “Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Numbers 3:44”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3745","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-commentary"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3745","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3745"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3745\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3745"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3745"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3745"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
TEXT<\/strong><\/p>\nFuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Peake’s Commentary on the Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"