Cornelius a Lapide
Table of Contents
Synopsis of the Chapter
God claims the Levites for His own worship in place of an equal number of firstborn of Israel. Secondly, in verse 15, the Levites are numbered at 22,000, and the custody of the things of the tabernacle is distributed among them.
Vulgate Text: Numbers 3:1-51
1. These are the generations of Aaron and Moses, on the day when the Lord spoke to Moses on Mount Sinai. 2. And these are the names of the sons of Aaron: his firstborn Nadab, then Abiu, and Eleazar, and Ithamar. 3. These are the names of the sons of Aaron the priests, who were anointed, and whose hands were filled and consecrated to exercise the priesthood. 4. For Nadab and Abiu died when they offered strange fire in the sight of the Lord in the desert of Sinai, without children; and Eleazar and Ithamar exercised the priesthood before Aaron their father. 5. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: 6. Bring near the tribe of Levi, and make them stand in the sight of Aaron the priest, that they may minister to him and keep watch, 7. and observe whatever pertains to the worship of the multitude before the tabernacle of testimony, 8. and guard the vessels of the tabernacle, serving in its ministry. 9. And you shall give as a gift the Levites 10. to Aaron and his sons, to whom they have been given by the children of Israel. But Aaron and his sons you shall appoint over the worship of the priesthood. The outsider who approaches to minister shall die. 11. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: 12. I have taken the Levites from the children of Israel in place of every firstborn who opens the womb among the children of Israel, and the Levites shall be Mine. 13. For every firstborn is Mine: from the time I struck the firstborn in the land of Egypt, I sanctified to Myself whatever is first born in Israel, from man to beast: they are Mine; I am the Lord. 14. And the Lord spoke to Moses in the desert of Sinai, saying: 15. Number the sons of Levi by the houses of their fathers and their families, every male from one month old and above. 16. Moses numbered them, as the Lord had commanded, 17. and the sons of Levi were found by their names: Gershon and Kohath and Merari. 18. The sons of Gershon: Libni and Shimei. 19. The sons of Kohath: Amram and Izhar, Hebron and Uzziel. 20. The sons of Merari: Mahli and Mushi. 21. From Gershon came two families, the Libnite and the Shimeite: 22. of whom the population of the male sex from one month old and above was numbered at seven thousand five hundred. 23. These shall encamp behind the tabernacle to the west, 24. under the prince Eliasaph, son of Lael. 25. And they shall have charge of the watch in the tabernacle of the covenant, 26. the tabernacle itself and its covering, the curtain which is drawn before the entrance of the tent of the covenant, and the hangings of the court: the curtain also which hangs at the entrance of the court of the tabernacle, and whatever pertains to the rite of the altar, the ropes of the tabernacle and all its utensils. 27. The clan of Kohath shall comprise the peoples of the Amramites and Izharites and Hebronites and Uzzielites. These are the families of the Kohathites, listed by their names: 28. all of the male sex from one month old and above, eight thousand six hundred, shall have charge of the watch of the Sanctuary, 29. and shall encamp on the southern side. 30. And their prince shall be Elizaphan, son of Uzziel; 31. and they shall guard the ark, the table, the lampstand, the altars and the vessels of the Sanctuary with which the ministry is performed, and the veil, and all such furnishings. 32. But the prince of the princes of the Levites, Eleazar son of Aaron the priest, shall be over the watchmen of the guard of the Sanctuary. 33. And from Merari shall come the peoples of the Mahlites and the Mushites, listed by their names: 34. all of the male sex from one month old and above, six thousand two hundred. 35. Their prince is Zuriel, son of Abihail: they shall encamp on the northern side. 36. Under their custody shall be the boards of the tabernacle and the bars, the columns and their bases, and all that pertains to this kind of worship: 37. and the columns of the court round about with their bases, and the pegs with ropes. 38. And there shall encamp before the tabernacle of the covenant, that is, on the eastern side, Moses and Aaron with his sons, having the custody of the Sanctuary in the midst of the children of Israel; whoever is an outsider who approaches shall die. 39. All the Levites whom Moses and Aaron numbered according to the commandment of the Lord, by their families, of the male sex from one month old and above, were twenty-two thousand. 40. And the Lord said to Moses: Number the firstborn of the male sex of the children of Israel from one month old and above, and you shall have their total. 41. And you shall take the Levites for Me in place of every firstborn of the children of Israel — I am the Lord — and their cattle in place of all the firstborn cattle of the children of Israel. 42. Moses counted, as the Lord had commanded, the firstborn of the children of Israel, 43. and the males by their names, from one month old and above, were twenty-two thousand two hundred and seventy-three. 44. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: 45. Take the Levites in place of the firstborn of the children of Israel, and the cattle of the Levites in place of their cattle, and the Levites shall be Mine: I am the Lord. 46. But for the ransom of the two hundred and seventy-three who exceed the number of the Levites from among the firstborn of the children of Israel, 47. you shall take five shekels per head according to the measure of the Sanctuary. The shekel has twenty obols. 48. And you shall give the money to Aaron and his sons, the price of those who are in excess. 49. Moses therefore took the money from those who were in surplus, and whom they had redeemed from the Levites, 50. for the firstborn of the children of Israel: one thousand three hundred and sixty-five shekels according to the weight of the Sanctuary, 51. and he gave it to Aaron and his sons, according to the word which the Lord had commanded him.
Verse 1: These Are the Generations of Aaron and Moses
1. THESE ARE THE GENERATIONS (that is, these are the sons) OF AARON AND MOSES. — It is a metonymy, in which the act is put for the effect, namely "generation" for the thing produced and begotten. In a similar way "generation" is taken in Proverbs 30:12 and 13, Exodus 1:6, Psalm 12:8.
OF AARON AND MOSES. — You will say: Here only the sons of Aaron are numbered; therefore "of Moses" is wrongly added. I respond that the sons of Moses are also numbered here, namely among the Levites: for the Levites called Amramites, who are numbered in verses 27 and 28, were Moses and Aaron (for these are the sons of Amram) with their sons: of whom Aaron with his descendants obtained the priesthood; but the descendants of Moses were counted among the rest of the Kohathite Levites. See 1 Chronicles 23:13 and 14, for which reason Aaron is here placed before Moses as being more worthy than him, because he was priest and pontiff, and because his family had been chosen by God and elevated to the priesthood; but the family of Moses was counted among the Levites, because it was descended from a Gentile mother, namely Zipporah the Midianite, says the author of the book On the Marvels of Sacred Scripture, chapter 25, which is found among the works of St. Augustine, volume III.
Note here, and see partly the wondrous election of God, partly how often descendants degenerate from their parents: for Moses was a prince and lawgiver, but his descendants were obscure Levites, while conversely the descendants of Aaron succeeded their father in the priesthood and pontificate.
Verse 3: Whose Hands Were Filled and Consecrated
3. WHOSE HANDS WERE FILLED AND CONSECRATED. — Here "to fill" means to consecrate. See Canon 32. For to fill the hands is to consecrate the hands for the priesthood: for in the consecration, the hands of newly ordained priests were filled, both with gifts and sacrifices, and with the anointing of oil; hence among the Hebrews "to fill the hand" means to consecrate a priest. The Latin translator imitates this phrase in 3 Kings 13:33: "Whoever wished, he would fill his hand (that is, anoint it with oil), and became a priest." Similar is 2 Chronicles 13:9, and elsewhere. See what was said on Exodus 8:26.
Verse 6: Bring Near the Tribe of Levi
6. BRING NEAR. — Hebrew הקרב hacreb, that is, cause to approach, bring near, apply. Here is the election and separation of the Levites, made by the command of God, for the ministry of the tabernacle and the service of the priests.
Hence it is clear how absurd is the fabrication of Plutarch in his Symposiacs, that the Levites were priests of Bacchus, whom the Hebrews worshipped, and in whose honor they abstained from pork, and that they were called Levites not from the patriarch Levi, but from Lysius, or rather from Evius, which are names of Bacchus.
Tropological Sense: The Levites Signify the Clergy
Tropologically, the Levites signified the ecclesiastical state of the clergy of the new law: hence they kept watch between the tabernacle and the camp; because ecclesiastics by their office are mediators between God and the people. The sacred mysteries of these men are beautifully signified by their very names in verse 17. For Levi in Hebrew means the same as "added" and "assumed," namely by God for the ministry of the tabernacle. Gershon means the same as "stranger." For ecclesiastics ought to conduct themselves as strangers and pilgrims on earth, since they are fellow citizens of the saints and members of the household of God. Kohath means the same as "grieving" and "mourning"; for from קהת cas, that is he grieved, it becomes מקהת kehat, that is Kohath, by interchange of related letters, namely aleph and he, and kaph into qoph: for ecclesiastics ought to mourn the sins of the people; hence they also wear dark, that is mourning, garments. Merari means the same as bitterness: for ecclesiastics ought constantly to turn over in their minds death and other last things, which are bitter, and thereby rouse themselves to affliction and mortification of the flesh. Libni means the same as brightness, namely chastity and purity of life. Shimei means the same as hearing and obedience. Amram means the same as exalted people, who would say: Our conversation is in heaven. Izhar means the same as noon or noonday, namely one who fully receives the rays of the sun of justice, that is Christ, and of His grace; for, as it is said in Proverbs 4:18: "The path of the just, like a shining light, goes forward and increases even to the perfect day." Hebron means the same as fellowship, namely social love and discipline. Uzziel means the same as "God is my strength." Mahli means the same as choir, namely of those who sing psalms. Mushi means the same as touching, or taking away, namely sins in the Sacrament of Penance. Eleazar means the same as "God is my helper." Ithamar means the same as "where is the palm?" — because ecclesiastics look toward and await the prize in heaven. So Rabanus here, folio 33, and the two following pages, and in part Rupert.
Verse 7: Let Them Observe Whatever Pertains to the Worship of the Multitude Before the Tabernacle
7. LET THEM OBSERVE WHATEVER PERTAINS TO THE WORSHIP OF THE MULTITUDE BEFORE THE TABERNACLE — that is to say, the Levites shall pitch their camps around the tabernacle, so that they may guard it and its vessels, with which the whole multitude of the people worships God. In Hebrew it reads: that they may keep his charge, namely Aaron's, and the charge of the whole congregation, which Aaron and the whole congregation of the people ought to keep. As if to say: the Levites ought to serve the tabernacle and guard it on behalf of the people and of Aaron the pontiff, as is explained in what follows. Therefore the Levites performed in the worship of God and the tabernacle what the whole people ought to have done; but since the people could not do this by themselves, the Levites were chosen in place of the people, to perform this very thing in an orderly, honorable, fitting, and reverent manner.
Secondly, some understand by the "charge of the congregation" the guardianship of the people. For the priests and Levites are the guardians and preservers both of the people and of the tabernacle, so that they may ensure the people conduct themselves fittingly and reverently in the sight of the tabernacle and of God. It was therefore their duty to keep watch, lest anything be done by the people against the honor and will of God, lest they be entangled in false opinions, lest they give themselves to sorceries or superstitions; but on the contrary to teach them with what rite, worship, piety, and uprightness God ought to be worshipped. In the priests, therefore, rests the entire guardianship of the people, because all the good and evil of the people depends on religion: which, if it is right and devout, brings forth innumerable goods; but if corrupt and perverse, innumerable evils. This is what the Lord says in Isaiah 62:6: "Upon your walls, O Jerusalem, I have set watchmen, all the day and all the night they shall never be silent"; and Canticles 1:6: "They set me as keeper of the vineyards"; and chapter 5, verse 7: "The watchmen found me."
Verses 9-10: You Shall Give the Levites to Aaron
9 and 10. AND YOU SHALL GIVE AS A GIFT THE LEVITES TO AARON AND HIS SONS (that is, you shall offer the Levites to Aaron and the priests, that they may serve them, and this freely, without payment; for the priests are not sufficient for all the ministries of the tabernacle: hence as an aid to them, the Levites) HAVE BEEN GIVEN (in Hebrew given, given, or devoted: they are devoted, that is, absolutely given and donated to Aaron, or rather they are to be given; for they had not yet in fact been given, but were now about to be given in perpetuity) BY THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL — so that by this donation made to Aaron, they might redeem their firstborn from God, as is evident from verse 45. The Levites were therefore what deacons now are to priests: hence Laurence is called a Levite, because he ministered to the holy Sixtus as a deacon.
Verse 10: Aaron and His Sons You Shall Appoint Over the Priesthood
10. BUT AARON AND HIS SONS YOU SHALL APPOINT OVER THE WORSHIP OF THE PRIESTHOOD — that is, so that they may perform the sacred functions of the priesthood, which in the old law were four: namely first, to sacrifice; second, to burn incense; third, on each sabbath to place on the table before God the loaves of proposition; fourth, every evening to light the lamps.
Verse 12: I Have Taken the Levites in Place of Every Firstborn
12. I HAVE TAKEN — I have decreed to take, and now in fact I do take and will take the Levites for Myself.
IN PLACE OF EVERY FIRSTBORN WHO OPENS THE WOMB — who is born first from his mother. See Exodus 13:12.
Verse 13: Every Firstborn Is Mine
13. FOR EVERY FIRSTBORN IS MINE. — "MINE" not only by creation, but properly by redemption and liberation, by which I freed your firstborn from the angel striking the firstborn of the Egyptians, Exodus 12:23. Again, "mine" by the just and equitable exaction of this My commandment, who am the absolute Lord of all.
I HAVE SANCTIFIED TO MYSELF WHATEVER IS FIRST BORN IN ISRAEL. — "I have sanctified," that is, I have determined and decreed that it be sanctified, that is, offered and consecrated to Me.
Note: Why God Chose the Tribe of Levi
Note: God here claims Levites for Himself in place of the firstborn of the Hebrews due to Him, and chooses the tribe of Levi for the priesthood and His own worship in the tabernacle, and this first, on account of the zeal with which this tribe avenged the injuries done to God, by slaying the idolaters of the golden calf, Exodus 32:26 and 29; and this is what is said to Levi and the Levites in Deuteronomy 33:9: "Who said to his father and his mother: I do not know you; and to his brethren: I do not recognize you; and they did not acknowledge their own sons: these have kept your word, and have observed your covenant, etc. let them place incense in your anger and a holocaust upon your altar." Secondly, because the tribe of Levi was smaller than the rest, and therefore could easily be fed by the people; which absolutely had to be done, since it had no share of any inheritance: and on the other hand, it was sufficient for performing the ministries of the tabernacle. For these reasons, therefore, the right of the priesthood, which was owed to Reuben himself as the firstborn of Jacob, was transferred as a punishment for the incest he committed to Levi; just as the right of the kingdom and primacy among the brothers was transferred from the same Reuben to Judah; and the right of a double inheritance, which was properly the right of the firstborn, was transferred to Joseph, namely to Ephraim and Manasseh, the sons of Joseph, as is clear from 1 Chronicles 5:1 and 2.
Verse 15: Number the Sons of Levi from One Month Old
15. Number the sons of Levi, etc., every male from one month old and above. — "From one month," so that by this reckoning a larger number of Levites might be obtained, which would nearly match the number of firstborn of Israel, for whom the Levites are substituted by God; elsewhere, however, the Levites are numbered from 25 or 30 years old, because there it concerns their ministry in the tabernacle, which boys could not perform, nor, even if they could, would it have been fitting or proper.
Verse 17: The Sons of Levi Were Found by Their Names
17. AND THE SONS OF LEVI WERE FOUND BY THEIR NAMES: GERSHON, AND KOHATH, AND MERARI. — "They were found," not alive, but in this census and count; hence in Hebrew it reads: and these were the sons of Levi. For they had long since died: for they had entered Egypt with their grandfather Jacob 217 years before; for the Hebrews lived in Egypt 215 years, and this census of the Levites took place in the second year after the departure of the Hebrews from Egypt; but no one at that time lived so long; indeed Kohath lived only 133 years, as is stated in Exodus 6:18.
Verse 23: These Shall Encamp Behind the Tabernacle
23. These shall encamp behind the tabernacle. — The descendants of Gershon, that is the Gershonites, therefore pitched camp behind the tabernacle and the court, to the west; the Merarites to the north, the Kohathites to the south, and Moses and Aaron to the east. Note: Here Moses the prince and Aaron the pontiff are commanded to act together, because, as Rupert says, "priestly holiness needs the fasces of leaders and consuls and the swords of kings, and nothing is safer when they agree with one another, nothing more destructive when they disagree." Hence Constantine the Great, Emperor, used to say "that he was a Bishop outside the Church," because he took care as much as he could that the Church be preserved and propagated, yet he did not usurp ecclesiastical functions. And St. Augustine, Tract. 51 on John, teaches that every head of household in his own home ought to exercise "the episcopal office, so that for Christ and for eternal life he may admonish, teach, exhort, and correct all his own," etc.
Verse 25: They Shall Have Charge of the Watch
25. AND THEY SHALL HAVE CHARGE OF THE WATCH IN THE TABERNACLE. — "Watch" is here taken metonymically for the guarding that is done by keeping watch. Again, "guarding" is taken metonymically for the thing to be guarded. The sense therefore is: "They shall have the watch," that is, they shall guard, or they shall have under their custody the things that follow, namely "the tabernacle itself and its covering," etc. This sense is clear from the Hebrew. Hence in verse 32, our Translator calls these guardians of the tabernacle "watchmen of the custody of the sanctuary."
Verse 26: The Tabernacle Itself and Its Covering
26. THE TABERNACLE ITSELF AND ITS COVERING, THE CURTAIN WHICH IS DRAWN BEFORE THE ENTRANCE OF THE TENT OF THE COVENANT. — "Tabernacle" here refers to the innermost veil of the tabernacle, composed of ten curtains, which directly veiled and covered the boards of the tabernacle all around, concerning which see Exodus 26:1 and 6; but the "covering" of the tabernacle here refers to another threefold veil placed over the first veil of ten curtains, namely: the first, a covering of goat hair cloth; the second, a covering of reddened rams' skins; the third, a covering of violet-colored skins, concerning which see Exodus 26. All the veils of the tabernacle, therefore, the Gershonites carried when the camp was on the march.
THE CURTAIN (that is, the veil) WHICH IS DRAWN BEFORE THE ENTRANCE OF THE TENT — that is, of the tabernacle, which is covered and veiled on all sides; for here Moses speaks of the veil that was at the entrance of the tabernacle, and was like its door.
THE CURTAIN ALSO WHICH HANGS AT THE ENTRANCE OF THE COURT OF THE TABERNACLE. — The first curtain, that is veil, was of the tabernacle itself; but this one is of the court, which was in front of the tabernacle: the custody of both is here committed to the Gershonites.
Whatever Pertains to the Rite of the Altar
AND WHATEVER PERTAINS TO THE RITE OF THE ALTAR. — "Whatever," namely of the veils; for only the veils surrounding the altar are discussed here, as is clear from the Hebrew, the Chaldean, and the Septuagint. For this, among other reasons, was the purpose of the court and its veils, namely to serve the altar of holocausts and its rite, that is, its worship, and to cover it on all sides. Therefore the sense in our translation is not distorted, as Abulensis complains; for our Translator, when he says "whatever," leaves it to be understood from what precedes that this refers to the curtains or veils. For the discussion concerns the Gershonites, who guarded and carried no vessels of the altar (for that was the ministry of the Kohathites), but only the veils, as is clear both from this passage and from the next chapter, verse 24.
Distribution of Levitical Ministries
For it should be noted that the ministries of the Levites were so divided by God that the Kohathites guarded, and in the march carried, the sacred vessels themselves: the bronze laver, the ark of the covenant wrapped in the veil that hung before the Holy of Holies, the two altars, namely one for incense and the other for holocausts, the lampstand and the table with its utensils, as is clear from verse 31. But the Merarites and Gershonites guarded, and in the march carried, the parts of the tabernacle and court themselves; but the Merarites carried the solid parts, namely the boards, columns, bases, pegs, and bars, as is clear from verse 36; the Gershonites, however, the coverings themselves, which were soft, namely the veils and curtains with their ropes, as is clear from this verse 26. Here observe that the Kohathites were preferred above the other Levites, and guarded and carried the sacred vessels, because from Kohath through Amram descended Aaron and Moses: hence also Eleazar, the elder son of Aaron, presided over the Kohathites, as is clear from the next chapter, verse 16.
Verse 28: They Shall Have the Watch of the Sanctuary
28. THEY SHALL HAVE THE WATCH — that is, they shall have the custody of the sanctuary, as regards the vessels that follow. This is clear from the Hebrew: see what was said on verse 25.
Verse 31: And the Veil
31. AND THE VEIL — which is hung before the Holy of Holies; for in this the ark was to be wrapped, to be carried by the Kohathites, as I said on verse 26. For all the other veils were carried not by the Kohathites but by the Gershonites, as was stated in the same place.
Verse 37: The Pegs with Ropes
37. THE PEGS WITH ROPES. — By "ropes" understand those by which the columns of the tabernacle were stretched out and secured, as Josephus explains: for these the Merarites guarded and carried; for the other ropes, by which the veils were secured to pegs fixed in the ground, and the curtains were spread out, were guarded and carried by the Gershonites, as is clear from verse 26; and so there is no contradiction here: for the ropes of the columns belonged to the Merarites, but the ropes of the veils and curtains belonged to the Gershonites.
Verse 39: All the Levites: Twenty-Two Thousand
39. ALL THE LEVITES: TWENTY-TWO THOUSAND. — In total they were 22,300; for the Gershonites were 7,500, the Kohathites 8,600, the Merarites 6,200, which added together make 22,300.
You will say: How then are only 22,000 counted here?
I respond: This is done because these 22,000 were substituted for the same number of firstborn of the Israelites, as is clear from verse 41. The remaining three hundred among the Levites were themselves firstborn, and therefore are counted among the firstborn, not among the Levites in this redemption, inasmuch as they themselves, being firstborn, needed to be redeemed, but could not redeem others.
Moses and Aaron are also counted here; for it says "all the Levites." Nor was Aaron the firstborn of his father Amram, because Miriam the sister of Aaron was older than him, as is gathered from Exodus 2:7. For she was already a grown girl when Moses was born; but Aaron at that time was only three years old, for Aaron was only three years older than Moses.
Verse 41: You Shall Take Their Cattle
41. YOU SHALL TAKE THEIR CATTLE — that is to say, you shall separate the cattle of the Levites from the cattle of others, not so that they may be sacrificed or taken away by others, but so that they may be, as it were, dedicated to Me together with the Levites themselves and be Mine, just as the Levites themselves are Mine.
Note: The Firstborn and Ceremonial Law in the Desert
Note: From this point onward in the desert, the Israelites did not offer their firstborn to God, but only in the land of Canaan; for the ceremonial laws were not observed there except at Sinai, on which see more at chapter 5:2. But the Levites never offered their firstborn, because they themselves were ministers and, as it were, the special possession of God; hence they received the firstborn and tithes of others in God's place. See chapter 5, at the beginning.
Verse 46: For the Ransom of the 273
46. FOR THE RANSOM — that is, for the redemption. For God here commands that Levites be given and consecrated to God in place of the firstborn of Israel, and since the number of firstborn exceeded the number of Levites by 273 persons — for the Levites were precisely 22,000, but the firstborn of Israel were 22,000 and 273 more — hence God commands that these 273 be redeemed by a payment, namely five shekels paid per head. Moreover, which of the firstborn of Israel were to be exchanged with Levites, and which were to be redeemed by payment, was decided by lot; hence Abulensis, following Rabbi Solomon, holds that Moses wrote as many slips of paper as there were firstborn of Israel, but on 273 slips wrote "five shekels"; then he mixed them together and commanded that each firstborn take one slip, and the one on whom fell the slip inscribed with five shekels had to pay the same to Aaron, and thus redeem himself.
Verse 48: You Shall Give to Aaron the Price of Those in Excess
48. AND YOU SHALL GIVE TO AARON THE PRICE OF THOSE WHO ARE IN EXCESS — who exceed the number of Levites, and who therefore must redeem themselves by payment.
Verse 50: For the Firstborn of the Children of Israel
50. FOR THE FIRSTBORN OF THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL — who, that is, exceeded the number of Levites, and therefore had not been exchanged with them, but redeemed by payment, that is to say: the money of the 273 firstborn redeeming themselves amounted to 1,365 shekels.