The Levite Tribe

(Book of Numbers 3:1 - 3:39)
This is the family line of Aaron and Moses at the time when Jehovah communed with Moses on the mountain in Sinai.  The names of Aaron's sons are as follows: Nadab, the firstborn, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar.  These named sons of Aaron were anointed and ordained to minister as priests.  Nabad and Abihu, however, were killed before the altar in the desert of Sinai when they made an offering to Jehovah of fire from an unauthorized source.  Neither had children.  Therefore, in their stead, Eleazar and Ithamar served as priests under the tutelage of their father Aaron.

Jehovah told Moses, "Call together the tribe of Levi and present them to Aaron so that they may assist him.  They will serve Aaron and the congregation of Israel by performing work in the Tabernacle, taking charge of all its furnishings, and fulfilling the needs of the Israelite people who come to the Tabernacle.  Assign the Levites to Aaron and his sons. From among the Israelites, it is the Levites who are to serve them exclusively.  Aaron and his sons are to be appointed priests and fulfill the duties of the office.  Anyone else who approaches the Sanctum must be put to death.

"I have selected the Levites from among the Israelites to represent every first born male of every Israelite mother.  They will belong to me, for every firstborn is mine.  On the day that I struck down all the firstborn sons of Egypt, I laid claim to all the firstborn of Israel, whether man or beast.  They are mine.  Thus says Jehovah!"

Jehovah again instructed Moses in the desert of Sinai, "Take a census of the members of tribe of Levi, their clans and families.  Count every male one month of age or older."  And Moses made a record of them, as he was commanded by Jehovah. 

The names of the Levi's sons were Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.  Descended from Gershon were the clans of his sons Libni and Shimei, from Kohath -- Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel, and from Merari -- Mahli and Mushi.   Such are branches of the Levite tribe, recorded by family.

Gershon's descendants belonged to the Libnite and Shimeite clans.  In these Gershonite clans were counted 7500 males a month of older.  Their assigned camp was to the west of the Tabernacle.  Their leader was Eliasaph, the son of Lael.  These two clans were responsible for the care and upkeep of the Tabernacle, the tent surrounding the Sanctum and its coverings, the curtains at the entrance to the Sanctum, the curtains enclosing the Tabernacle courtyard around the Sanctum and the Sacrificial Altar and those at its entrance, and all the tent ropes and related equipment.

Kohath's descendants belonged to the Amramite, Izharite, Hebronite, and Uzzielite clans.  In these Kohathite clans were counted 8300 males a month of older, to serve in the upkeep of the Sanctum.  Their assigned camp was to the south of the Tabernacle.  Their leader was Elizaphan, the son of Uzziel.  These four clans were responsible for the Chest of Sacred Records, the Showbread Table, the Menorah, the altars, the sacred vessels used by the priests, the veil surrounding the Inner Sanctum, and all the articles and utensils used in the Sanctum.  Eleazer, son of the priest Aaron, was to supervise those who were responsible for the upkeep of the Sanctum.  

Merari's descendants belonged to the Mahlite and Mushite clans.  In these Merarite clans were counted 6200 males a month of older, to serve in the upkeep of the Sanctum.  Their assigned camp was to the north of the Tabernacle.  Their leader was Zuriel, the son of Abihail.  These two clans were responsible for the framework supporting the Sanctum, the crossbars, posts, plinths, and related equipment, and also the posts and plinths, tent pegs and ropes for the enclosure of the Tabernacle courtyard.

The area in front of the Tabernacle, in the east, facing the rising sun was reserved for the tents of Moses, Aaron, and their sons.  They were ultimately responsible for the Sanctum in the name of the people of Israel.  (Anyone unauthorized approaching the Sanctum was to be put to death.)

According to the census ordered by Jehovah and carried out by Moses and Aaron, the total number of Levites over the age of one month was 22,000.

Notes
1.  It is established by Jehovah that there is to be an hereditary priesthood and that a single tribe, the Levites are to furnish his priests and have sole authority not only in religious matters, but in the practical aspects of worship.  Curiously, not a word is here disclosed about Moses’ progeny.

2.  While the Levites comprise a tribe, his sons Gershon, Kohath, and Merari are founders of three branches of that tribe.  The sons of these three were founders of Levite clans.  Within these clans were various families.  (This is how I have rendered the often confusing terminology.)  Incidentally, even though Levi was a son of Jacob, the Levite tribe is not one of the 12 tribes of Israel, since it did not receive a land inheritance.  Joseph’s descendants are split into two tribes named after his sons Ephraim and Manasseh, making the number 12.

3.  Reference is made to Aaron's eldest sons, Nadab and Abihu, who were struck down dead while they were ministering at the altar.  They violated protocol by lighting the fire under the altar by using a flame from an unauthorized source.  (Reading between the biblical lines, one may conclude that they were drunk at the time.)  Eleazar and Ithamar, Aaron's third and fourth sons, therefore, succeeded to the priesthood.

4.  Of the named figures referred to in this section, the number of sons they father does not suggest that they were greatly prolific.  Aaron - 4, Levi - 3, Gershon -- 2, Kohath - 4, Merari - 2.  This is a credible average of 3 sons.  Considering that an equal number of daughters would also be born and that Levites would only marry Levites, to produce 22,000 living Levite men would require nine generations. This is premised on every couple having six children, and all members of three generations being alive at any one time.  Yet, Aaron is supposedly only three generations removed from Levi.  (Aaron < Amram < Kohath < Levi).  Therefore, at the time of the Exodus there really could not have been 22,000 living Levite men, but, optimally, little more than 300 --the sons, grandsons, and great-grandsons of Levi's 8 grandsons.  This seems very reasonable since it would fit the number of persons who, from a logistical perspective, might actually have been able to participate in any possible Exodus, 600 men and women from each tribe roughly yielding 7000 persons, although this would probably be a maximum and is probably too high.  (The number of descendants a person may have can, of course, vary greatly, for example, although my mother's father's father had 7 children, he has less than 15 living descendants, my mother's mother's father having only 10 -- while my father’s father’ father must have more than a hundred!)