SEV Biblia, Chapter 3:12
He aquí yo he tomado los levitas de entre los hijos de Israel en lugar de todos los primogénitos que abren la matriz entre los hijos de Israel; serán, pues, míos los levitas;
Clarke's Bible Commentary - Numbers 3:12
Verse 12. I have taken the Levites-instead of all the first- born] The Levites are taken for the service of the sanctuary in place of the first-born. The first-born were dedicated to God in commemoration of his slaying the first-born of the Egyptians, and preserving those of the Israelites. Even the cattle of the Levites were taken in place of the first-born of the cattle of the rest of the tribes. See ver. 45. Several reasons have been assigned why God should give this honour to the tribe of Levi in preference to all the others, but they do not seem to me to be conclusive. Their zeal in destroying those who had corrupted the worship of God in the business of the golden calf, Exod. xxxii. 28, has been thought a sufficient reason. A better reason is, that this was the smallest tribe, and they were quite enough for the service. To have had a more numerous tribe at this time would have been very inconvenient. Aaron, says Mr. Ainsworth, being in his priesthood a type of Christ, all these rites are fulfilled in him. For unto Christ God gave children, Hebrews ii. 13. And they are a congregation of first-born, whose names are written in heaven, Heb. xii. 23, being of God's own will begotten by the word of truth, that they should be a kind of first-fruits of his creatures, James i. 18, to whom he also gives the first-fruits of his Spirit, Rom. viii. 23. These wait on and follow the Lamb, being first-fruits unto God and to the Lamb, Revelation xiv. 4; and Christ hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father, that we may serve him day and night in his temple, Rev. i. 6; vii. 15.
John Gill's Bible Commentary
Ver. 12. And I, behold, I have taken the Levites from among the children of Israel , etc.] Separated them from others, and set them apart for the service of the sanctuary; this was his own act and deed, and which he did of his own will and pleasure, who is a sovereign Being, and might and would do whatsoever he pleased, nor should any object unto him, or contradict him: and this he did, instead of all the firstborn that openeth the matrix among the children of Israel ; he made an exchange of those for the Levites; upon the destruction of the firstborn of Egypt, and saving the firstborn of Israel, he claimed the latter as his own in a special sense, and now he gave up his right to them, and instead thereof took the Levites; nor could the people of Israel reasonably object to this, nor be uneasy at it, but rather be pleased with it; since hereby they were not only freed from the charge of redeeming their firstborn, but since they were the Lord’s, he might have appointed them to be servants to the priests; and every Israelite would choose rather, no doubt, to part with a tribe for this service than to have their firstborn sons employed in it; and there were none so fit as the tribe of Levi, not only because it was a small tribe, but because the priests were of this tribe, to whom they were to minister; and therefore as there was a connection between them, the Levites would readily serve them: it is a notion that has obtained both among Jews and Christians, that the firstborn before this time were priests in the family, but now the Levites were taken in their room; and Jarchi particularly observes, that when the firstborn sinned in the business of the calf, they were rejected, and the Levites, who did not commit idolatry, were chosen in their room; but it does not appear, before the fixing the priesthood in Aaron’s family, that the firstborn in a family were priests, and officiated as such, but rather the father and head of the family for the whole, or everyone for himself, as in Adam’s family, he and his two sons; and moreover, it was a recent thing, and only among the Hebrews, that the firstborn were in a peculiar manner the Lord’s, not as priests, only to be redeemed, and now the Levites were redeemed in their room; it was not to be priests, but the servants of the priests f17 : therefore the Levites shall be mine ; whom he gave to the priests to assist them in their work, which was for him and his glory.
Matthew Henry Commentary
Verses 1-13 - There was much work belonging to the priests' office, and there wer now only Aaron and his two sons to do it; God appoints the Levites to attend them. Those whom God finds work for, he will find help for. The Levites were taken instead of the first-born. When He that made us saves us, as the first-born of Israel were saved, we are laid unde further obligations to serve him faithfully. God's right to us by redemption, confirms the right he has to us by creation.
Original Hebrew
ואני 589 הנה 2009 לקחתי 3947 את 853 הלוים 3881 מתוך 8432 בני 1121 ישׂראל 3478 תחת 8478 כל 3605 בכור 1060 פטר 6363 רחם 7358 מבני 1121 ישׂראל 3478 והיו 1961 לי הלוים׃ 3881
