Numbers 3-4
Dear RTB’ers,
Ideally you’ve got a Study Bible or a commentary or an online source that explains things. If not, it’s a bit difficult to follow the Levitical assignments by just reading through the text. So, for the sake of clarity…
Levi had three sons – Kohath, Gershon, and Merari. (v. 3:17) Kohath had four sons (v. 3:19), one of whom was Amram, who was the father of Aaron and Moses (I Chronicles 6:3). There is a generational challenge in linking Aaron and Moses all the way back to Levi, who was one of the twelve sons of Jacob at the start of the 430 years that the Israelites were in Egypt. People seemed to have lived longer back then – Joseph lived to be 110 (Genesis 50:22, 26) and Moses was 120 when he died (Deuteronomy 34:7).
But solving that generational problem is not our issue. What we need to know is that the Kohathites became the more prominent of the three sons of Levi and that Aaron had descended from Kohath and Amram. It was Aaron and his sons who had charge of the disassembly of the most holy things (vv. 4:5-14) and the rest of the Kohathites were charged to carry these items. The families of Gershon and Merari had other disassembly and carrying chores.
Blessings!
See also: February 8 (2023) / Numbers 3-4
As for the “generational challenge” of taking 430 years to get from Levi to Moses and Aaron, there are a couple of things to consider. First of all, the 430-year span covers the entire time from when Jacob/Israel moved the entire family to Egypt at Joseph’s invitation until the Exodus. We do not know exactly how old Levi was at the beginning of that period (though it is clear that his sons were already born), but we do know that Moses was born 80 years prior to the Exodus, so 430 years over-states the period a bit for the “generational challenge.” Nevertheless, Levi -> Kohath -> Amram -> Aaron and Moses seem like too few generations for that much time. That’s why we need to recognize here — as well as with nearly all Biblical genealogies — that the genealogies do not necessarily list every generation but instead often just hit the “highlights.” Hence, “son of” can frequently just as well really mean “descendent of.” In that sense, I could say that I am the “son” of my great-great-great-grandfather, and similarly all those included in the census here in Numbers are considered “children of Israel” even though it is obvious that Israel had only twelve sons and one daughter, all of whom were long dead by Moses’ time.
I appreciate your comment, adding more information to the 430-year gap between Levi and Aaron. You put a bit of closure on an item that I had left hanging in the air.