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The Second Numbering of the Levites
26: 57-62

The Levites were not counted along with the other Israelites
because they received no land inheritance.

These were the Levites who were counted by their clans: through Gershon, the Gershonite clan (to see link click Au – The Clan of Gershom); through Kohath, the Kohathite clan (see At – The Clan of Kohath); through Merari, the Merarite clan (see Av – The Clan of Merari). These were also five Levite sub-clans: the Libnite clan of Gershon, the Hebronite clan of Kohath, the Mahlite clan of Merari, the Mushite clan of Merari, the Korahite clan of Kohath. However, three sub-clans are missing from the first numbering of the Levites (see Aq – The First Numbering of the Levites). The Shimites and the Uzzielites became extinct because they were probably much too small to receive their own inheritance and were absorbed by the others. In addition, the Korahites might be a name for the Itzharites, and the Korahites, not mentioned in the first counting, Korah was a descendent of Itzhar in 16:1, explaining why Itzhar’s name is missing here.615

The parenthetical passage on Kohath, Amram, and Jochebed is a reminder of earlier sections of the Torah (Numbers 3:1-10 and Exodus 6:20), likely inserted here to assert once more the lineage of Aaron, and to remind the priests of the debacle of Nadab and Abihu. The name of Amram’s wife was Jochebed, a daughter of Levi, was born in Egypt. She bore Aaron, Moses, and their sister Miriam. Aaron was the father of Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar. But Nadab and Abihu died when they made an offering before the Lord with unauthorized fire (see the commentary on Leviticus Bh – The Death of Nadab and Abihu). All the male Levites a month old or more numbered 23,000, an increase of 1,000 from the first numbering, or about five percent (see As – The Census and the Redemption of the Firstborn). They were not counted along with the other Israelites because they received no land inheritance among them; however, they lived in their own Levitical cities (see Gj – Levitical Cities).