1 Chronicles 23:3

Now the Levites were numbered from the age of thirty years and upward: and their number by their polls, man by man, was thirty and eight thousand.

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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
Levites	הַלְוִיִּ֔ם hal.vi.Yim	H3881	a Levite or descendant of Levi · definite article + noun, gentilic masculine plural absolute
numbered	וַיִּסָּֽפְרוּ֙ vai.yi.sa.fe.Ru	H5608	properly · conjunction + verb, niphal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural
age	מִבֶּ֛ן mi.Ben	H1121	a son (as a builder of the family name) · preposition + noun, common masculine singular construct
thirty	שְׁלֹשִׁ֥ים she.lo.Shim	H7970	thirty · noun, common masculine plural absolute
years	שָׁנָ֖ה sha.Nah	H8141	a year (as a revolution of time) · noun, common feminine singular absolute
upward	וָמָ֑עְלָה va.Ma.'e.lah	H4605	properly · conjunction + cardinal number, both genders singular absolute + directional suffix
number	מִסְפָּרָ֤ם mis.pa.Ram	H4557	a number · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine plural
polls	לְגֻלְגְּלֹתָם֙ le.gul.ge.lo.Tam	H1538	a skull (as round) · preposition + noun, common feminine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine plural
man	לִגְבָרִ֔ים lig.va.Rim	H1397	properly · preposition + noun, common masculine plural absolute
thirty	שְׁלֹשִׁ֥ים she.lo.Shim	H7970	thirty · noun, common masculine plural absolute
eight	וּשְׁמוֹנָ֖ה u.she.mo.Nah	H8083	a cardinal number · conjunction + noun, common both genders singular absolute
thousand	אָֽלֶף 'A.lef	H505	hence (the ox's head being the first letter of the alph… · noun, common both genders singular absolute

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

1 Chronicles 23:24 These were the sons of Levi after the house of their fathers; even the chief of the fathers, as they were counted by number of names by thei…
Numbers 4:2-49 Take the sum of the sons of Kohath from among the sons of Levi, after their families, by the house of their fathers,

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on 1 Chronicles 23:1-23

Here we have, I. The crown entailed, according to the divine appointment, Ch1 23:1. David made Solomon king, not to reign with him, or reign under him, but only to reign after him. This he did, 1. When he was old and full of days. He was but seventy years old when he died, and yet he was full of days, satur dierum - satisfied with living in this world. When he found himself going off, he made provision for the welfare of the kingdom after his decease, and pleased himself with the hopeful prospect of a happy settlement both in church and state. 2. He did it in parliament, in a solemn assembly of all the princes of Israel, which made Adonijah's attempt to break in upon Solomon's title and set…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on 1 Chronicles 23:3

the Levites were numbered . . . thirty and eight thousand--Four times their number at the early census taken by Moses (see on Num. 4:1-49; Num. 26:1-51). It was, in all likelihood, this vast increase that suggested and rendered expedient that classification, made in the last year of David's reign, which the present and three subsequent chapters describe. by their polls, man by man--Women and children were not included.

Adam Clarke on 1 Chronicles 23:3

Thirty years and upward - The enumeration of the Levites made in the desert, Num 4:3, was from thirty years upwards to fifty years. In this place, the latter limit is not mentioned, probably because the service was not so laborious now; for the ark being fixed they had no longer any heavy burdens to carry, and therefore even an old man might continue to serve the tabernacle. David made another ordinance afterwards; see on Ch1 23:24-27 (note).

John Gill on 1 Chronicles 23:3

Now the Levites were numbered from the age of thirty years, and upward,.... So they were numbered in the days of Moses, and by his order, and so they were now at first; though afterwards there was a new reckoning of them, 1 Chronicles 23:24. and their number by their posts; or, according to their heads: man by man, was thirty and eight thousand; which vastly exceeds the number in the times of Moses; see Numbers 4:47, but then those above fifty years of age were not numbered, as they now might; since their work in the temple would be much more easy, no burdens to carry, as the ark, the vessels, &c.

The Church Fathers

The text of Chronicles makes a list of the Levites according to the importance and dignity given them by the great Moses. It demonstrates how the successors of Moses were chosen for this purpose and how Zadok was appointed as the high priest, along with his nephew Eleazari, and also Abimelech, nephew of Itamari. It includes two lineages, one of which is connected with Itamari which it attributes to those who descend from them. Also Luke mentions this genealogy in his Gospel, considering Zechariah as belonging to the lineage of Abijah. The aforementioned book [of Chronicles] shows that Abija was the seventh to obtain by lot this inheritance.
— Procopius of Gaza, COMMENTARY ON 1 CHRONICLES 23

The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).

Dictionary and topics

Golgotha — The common name of the spot where Jesus was crucified. It is interpreted by the evangelists as meaning “the place of a skull” (Matt. 27:33; Mark 15:22; John 19:17). This name represents in Greek…
Music — Jubal was the inventor of musical instruments (Gen. 4:21). The Hebrews were much given to the cultivation of music. Their whole history and literature afford abundant evidence of this. After the…
Zacharias — (1.) A priest of the course of Abia, the eighth of the twenty-four courses into which the priests had been originally divided by David (1 Chr. 23:1-19). Only four of these courses or “families” of…
Levites, The · David: Numbered them first from thirty years old — David: Numbered them first from thirty years old

Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).

1 Chronicles 23:3

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on 1 Chronicles 23:1-23

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on 1 Chronicles 23:3

Adam Clarke on 1 Chronicles 23:3

John Gill on 1 Chronicles 23:3

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

1 Chronicles 23:3

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on 1 Chronicles 23:1-23

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on 1 Chronicles 23:3

Adam Clarke on 1 Chronicles 23:3

John Gill on 1 Chronicles 23:3

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Keil & Delitzsch on 1 Chronicles 23:3

Tyndale Open Study Notes on 1 Chronicles 23:3-5