After reading chapter 3:
*Here we are again told about Aaron and his four sons. Nadab and and Abihu are no longer living because they used unsanctioned incense. They died childless. Eleazar and Ithamar are priests and served during the lifetime of their father.
*Yahweh told Moses to present the tribe of the Levites to Aaron and his sons as workers to assist them in the tabernacle care and duties. But, only Aaron and his sons could approach the sanctuary, anyone else would die.
*Yahweh explained that the whole tribe of Levites belonged to him. They were stand ins for the first born sons of the other Israelites. Why? Because all first born Israelites (and animals) belong to God, why? Because Egypt. After all, he didn't kill them when he killed the Egyptian firstborn, and he could have.
*Now the Levite males are counted, every one a month old and up. There were 22,000 all together, another nice round number. It is significantly less than the number of adult males in any of the the other tribes. Next, in order to insure each individual Levite male is the redemption for one of the firstborn of the other Israelites, the firstborn of the other tribes, from one month on up, are all counted. There were 22, 273, an excess of 273 Israelites who didn't have a Levite match. No problem, says Yahweh. Just collect 5 shekels of silver for each one of the 273, then give the money to Aaron and his sons, of course.
*So, Moses collected all that silver and gave it to Aaron and his sons.
One wonders if this was just a one time deal or if an accounting needed to be done any time another Levite male or first born male Israelite was born.
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