Numbers 3:27 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Numbers 3:27
And of Kohath was the family of the Amramites, and the family of the Izeharites, and the family of the Hebronites, and the family of the Uzzielites: these are the families of the Kohathites.
a family · conjunction + noun, common feminine singular construct
Uzzielites
הָֽעָזִּיאֵלִ֑יha.'a.zi.'e.Li
H5817
an Uzzielite (collectively) or descendants of Uzziel · definite article + noun, gentilic masculine singular absolute
families
מִשְׁפְּחֹ֥תmish.pe.Chot
H4940
a family · noun, common feminine plural construct
Kohathites
הַקְּהָתִֽיha.ke.ha.Ti
H6956
a Kohathite (collectively) or descendants of Kehath · definite article + noun, gentilic masculine 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 26:23 Of the Amramites, and the Izharites, the Hebronites, and the Uzzielites:
Numbers 3:19 And the sons of Kohath by their families; Amram, and Izehar, Hebron, and Uzziel.
1 Chronicles 23:12 The sons of Kohath; Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel, four.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Numbers 3:14-39
The Levites being granted to Aaron to minister to him, they are here delivered to him by tale, that he might know what he had, and employ them accordingly. Observe,
I. By what rule they were numbered: Every male from a month old and upward, Num 3:15. The rest of the tribes were numbered only from twenty years old and upwards, and of them those only that were able to go forth to war; but into the number of the Levites they must take in both infants, and infirm; being exempted from the war, it was not insisted upon that they should be of age and strength for the wars. Though it appears afterwards that little more than a third part of the Levites were fit to be employed in the service of the ta…
Number the children of Levi--They were numbered as well as the other tribes; but the enumeration was made on a different principle--for while in the other tribes the number of males was calculated from twenty years and upward [Num 1:3], in that of Levi they were counted "from a month old and upward." The reason for the distinction is obvious. In the other tribes the survey was made for purposes of war [Num 1:3], from which the Levites were totally exempt. But the Levites were appointed to a work on which they entered as soon as they were capable of instruction. They are mentioned under the names of Gershon, Kohath, and Merari, sons of Levi, and chiefs or ancestral heads of three subdivisions…
And of Kohath was the family of the Amramites,.... So called from Amram, the first son of Kohath, and father of Aaron and Moses; so that Moses and Aaron, and their children, are included in this family:
and the family of Izeharites; of which family was Korah, Numbers 16:1,
and the family of the Hebronites, and the family of the Uzzielites; which four families had their names from Kohath's four sons, Numbers 3:19,
these are the families of the Kohathites; which were as many as both the other sons of Levi.
Dictionary and topics
Amram — Kindred of the High; i.e., “friend of Jehovah.” (1.) The son of Kohath, the son of Levi. He married Jochebed, “his father’s sister,” and was the father of Aaron, Miriam, and Moses (Ex. 6:18, 20; Num.…
Amramites — A branch of the great Kohathite family of the tribe of Levi, (Numbers 3:27; 1 Chronicles 26:23) descended from Amram, the father of Moses.
Gershon — =Ger’shom expulsion, the eldest of Levi’s three sons (Gen. 46:11; Ex. 6:16). In the wilderness the sons of Gershon had charge of the fabrics of the tabernacle when it was moved from place to place,…
Hebron — A community; alliance. (1.) A city in the south end of the valley of Eshcol, about midway between Jerusalem and Beersheba, from which it is distant about 20 miles in a straight line. It was built…
Hebronites, The — A family of Kohathite Levites, descendants of Hebron the son of Kohath. (Numbers 3:27; 26:58; 1 Chronicles 26:23)
Izeharites — (descendant of Izhar), The. A family of Kohathite Levites, descended from Izhar the son of Kohath, (Numbers 3:27) called also “Izharites” (1 Chronicles 26:23,29)
Izhar — Oil, one of the sons of Kohath, and grandson of Levi (Ex. 6:18, 21; Num. 16:1).
Pisgah — A part, a mountain summit in the land of Moab, in the territory of Reuben, where Balak offered up sacrifices (Num. 21:20; 23:14), and from which Moses viewed the promised land (Deut. 3:27). It is…
Uzzielites, The — the descendants of Uzziel, and one of the four great families of the Kohathites. (Numbers 3:27; 1 Chronicles 26:23)
Amram · .Head of one of the branches of Levites — .Head of one of the branches of Levites
Kohath · Levites — Levites
Levites
John Calvin on Numbers 3:5–end
Numbers 3:5-10
5. And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
5. Loquutus est autem Jehova ad Mosen, dicendo:
6. Bring the tribe of Levi near, and present them before Aaron the priest, that they may minister unto him.
6. Appropinquare fac tribum Levi, et siste eam coram Aharone sacerdote, ut ministret ei.
7. And they shall keep his charge, and the charge of the whole congregation before the tabernacle of the congregation, to do the service of the tabernacle.
7. Et custodiant custodiam ejus, et custodiam universi coatus coram tabernaculo conventionis, ut exequantur cultum tabernaculi.
8. And they shall keep all the instruments of the tabernacle of the congregation, and the charge of the ch…
The Kohathites, who were divided into four families, and numbered 8600, were to encamp on the south side of the tabernacle, and more especially to keep the charge of the sanctuary (Num 3:28), viz., to take care of the ark of the covenant, the table (of shew-bread), the candlestick, the altars (of incense and burnt-offering), with the holy things required for the service performed in connection therewith, and the curtain (the veil before the most holy place), and to perform whatever had to be done ("all the service thereof," see at Num 3:26), i.e., to carry the said holy things after they had been rolled up in covers by the priests (see Num 4:5.).
Tyndale Open Study Notes on Numbers 3:27-32
Aaron and Moses, sons of Amram, were descendants of Kohath (see Exod 6:18, 20, 26). Because they were caretakers of the sanctuary (the Most Holy Place) and its very sacred furnishings (described in Num 3–4), the Kohathites were the most highly regarded of the three clans.
Rashi on Numbers 3:26
ואת מיתריו AND THE CORDS OF IT — This means: those of “the dwelling” (the lower curtains) and of “the tent” (the upper curtains), and not those of the enclosure (חצר) mentioned in this verse [although some of these are stated in Numbers 4:26 to be in charge of the Gershonites].
· the Izeharites, the Hebronites, and the Uzzielites
— the Izeharites, the Hebronites, and the Uzzielites
Levites, The · Families, as numbered: Of Kohath — Families, as numbered: Of Kohath
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).
