Parsha Bemidbar: Day 6

(Numbers 3:40-51)

(Study Notes)

So far in this Parsha study, Hashem has commanded Moshe to take a census of the fighting-aged men of the Tribes of Israel aged 20 years and older and a separate census of the Levites (aged one month and older).

(Numbers 3:40)

We being today's portion with Hashem commanding Moshe to take yet another census of every first-born male of the Israelites who are one month old and up. Hashem specifies that the census of the first-born of Israel is to include only the males who are first-born and one month of age and older.

This command may seem mundane, but holds significance when you pay attention to the finer details. We can understand that this census is different from the other two census' taken by Moshe in that Moshe is NOT told to record the ancestral house nor the clan of the first-born males. Meaning Moshe was to to record the Tribe nor the father's name of the individual first-born males. This small detail holds massive significance: it is Hashem's way of calling every first-born male to leave His land of origin and his father's house--the exact command given to Abraham when Hashem called him out of the Ur of Babylon.

This command to leave the ancestral house and clans of their forefathers signifies the truth that Hashem has consecrated all of the first-born males to be "the LORD's" much in the manner that Hashem called the Levites to be His.

The age of one month old is also significant given the lessons we have previously learned when studying Leviticus 12. The male Israelite children are to be circumcised the 8th day. The other is unclean for 30 days afterwards. Since the other needs to feed the child, it is fitting that the male is not counted as consecrated until the mother with whom he has contact with becomes clean. Therefore, when the male child is consecrated to Hashem, he will also be considered clean.

(Numbers 3:41)

After telling Hashem to record the first-borns by name, Hashem then command Moshe to

When Hashem took us out of Egypt, He commanded that all first-born males of the Hebrew people and animals be consecrated to Himself as a reminder of the miracle of the first Pesach and the Exodus. During the first Pesach, Hashem commanded that the Hebrews take the blood of a male lamb or goat and place it on the lintel and doorposts of their homes. This blood literally marked the inhabitants inside the marked house for life and saved the dweller in the house from the angel of death.

חי

In the homes not marked with the blood of the male goat or lamb, the first-born males were killed when the angel of death passed over the land of Egypt on the night of the Jewish Pesach. This distinction between life and death also distinguishes between Hashem's people (which also included a mixed multitude of converts on the night of Pesach) and the idolatrous Egyptians.

The sanctification of the first-born males unto the LORD was (and is) to continue from generation to generation. This was commanded in Exodus 13:11-14 (Revised JPS, 2023)

Yet, here Hashem commands that the Levites be taken in place of the first-borns of the other Tribes, which follows the command to redeem the firstborn given above in Exodus 13:13.

When a male is sanctified to the LORD, he is forever bound to the holy service of Hashem (think of Samuel). The sanctified male will become unfit for regular service and activities. Hashem therefore designated His specially elect Tribe (the Levites) to be a sort of "ram in the bush" for the first-born of the other Tribes should the parents not want to dedicate their first-born son to Hashem. Yet, instead of dying in the place of the first-born son, the substitution (Levite for the first-born of another Tribe) was more in line with the system of kinsman redemption that we learned about when studying Leviticus chapter 27. The Levites paid the price of service to Hashem on behalf of all Israelites in order that all Jews could be redeemed and forgiven of sin eternally.

(Numbers 3:42-43)

As usual, Moshe followed the commands of Hashem and recorded the names of all of the first-born among the Israelites. The total number of first-born males aged one month old and up was 22, 273 souls.

In our last daily portion, we learned that the total number of Levites was listed as 22, 000 even though the number of Levites actually totaled 22, 304-22,306. We mentioned previously that Rashi and Ibn Ezra explained the difference in the numbers of counted Levites by drawing on another law: that a first-born cannot redeem a first-born. So, he commented that the 22,000 number that we are given for the Levites likely excludes the first-born Levites. This tells us that the count of the first-born Israelites included all tribes (the 10, the 2 of Joseph, and the Levites).

(Numbers 3:44-45)

We read a repeat command communicated to Moshe by Hashem: That Moshe was to take the Levites in place of the first-born males of Israel and the Levites' cattle in place of the first-born cattle of the Israelites. Hashem then repeats the decree: "The Levites are Mine, the LORD's."

As Hashem's special possession, the Levites were given the special privilege of performing the most holy tasks of the Israelite community. They also became the slaves of Hashem, but (as we have stated countless time before) this state of slave-hood was an honor. It means taking the yoke of Heaven, being a slave to Torah, holiness, and righteousness. Plus, as Jewish "slaves," the Levites are treated with the utmost care by Hashem. Following His own Torah, Hashem fully provided for His Levites. He gave them royal clothing, the most holy portions of food from His table (the altar), He made their dwelling place in (or near) the Holy Temple, and He commanded that the rest of the Israelite population provide the Levites with land, food tithes, and other offerings.

(Numbers 3:46-47)

From the numbers provided above, we see that there were more first-born males of Israel over and above the number of (non-first-born) Levites. Since there were more first-born males of Israel than there were Levites, Hashem set a redemption price for the 273 Israelite first-born males that were over and above the number of Levites.

• Hashem set the redemption price to be: 5 shekels per head.

• The individual shekels were to be measured by sanctuary weight of silver. Meaning, each single shekel should contain 20 gerahs of silver.

(Numbers 3:48)

The redemption price was to be paid to Aaron and his sons

From our studies of Leviticus 27 and elsewhere, we learned that redemption prices were paid whenever a Jewish person sold or vowed their property, possessions, or themselves and then wanted (or needed) to buy back what they had originally sold. The redemption price is to be paid to the one who bought the item/property/person from the seller.

Applying the Laws of Leviticus 27 to the redemption price paid here to the Levites, we see that Hashem set the redemption price according to the prices given in Leviticus 27 when a person wanted to vow themselves to Hashem. However, we see that in the case of the redemption of the first-born, Hashem set one standard price: the price that a person would pay for a male aged one month - 5 years. This price is the standard even though it is likely that this age range did not fit for all of the first-borns of Israel that were above and beyond the number of Levites. Some were likely older.

This redemption price for the first-born males also does not include the 1/5th added measure of the valuation that is required if the person that vowed themselves to Hashem wanted to take back their vow. This exemption of the added 20% is likely due to the fact that the Israelites were not necessarily choosing to buy back their vow of a first-born son. Rather, Hashem made a substitution that did not cover the full number of first-borns. Thus, He did not require the extra price because it was a circumstance that was out of the hands and control of the people.

As mentioned above, this redemption price is paid to Aaron and his sons--the "buyers" of the first-borns. Essentially, the redemption price is given to them as if the male first-born had been in Aaron's service and then the parents (or the first-born) chose to end their vow early.

(Numbers 3:49-51)

Again, Moshe did as Hashem commanded him and he took the redemption money from the ones who were over and above the number of Levites.

We are told that the total monies taken from the first-born of the Israelites was 1,365 sanctuary shekels. Meaning 27,300 gerahs of silver.

(Numbers 3:51)

Moshe gave this redemption money to Aaron and his sons as Hashem commanded.

From 1 Chronicles 5:29, however, we note that Aaron was himself the first-born of Amram. As a first-born, according to Torah (and the arguments of Rashi and Ibn Ezra above), Aaron would require redemption, and therefore could not be the kinsman redeemer of another first-born--he would have been counted as part of one of the first-born of Israel. Meaning that Aaron's count in the Levitical number would be taken away and place in the count of the first-borns, as described by Rashi and Ibn Ezra. If he was counted as one "over and above the number of Levites," Aaron would need to bring the redemption price, not receive the redemption price. So, perhaps the money was given to Aaron's sons only?

Am Yisrael Chai!

Kimberly Davis

Notes for 5/15/2026