47 But the Levites after the tribe of their fathers were not numbered among them.
47 The ancestral tribe of the Levites, however, was not counted along with the others.
47 But the Levites were not listed along with them by their ancestral tribe.
47 The Levites, however, were not counted by their ancestral family along with the others.
47 But the Levites were not numbered among them by their fathers' tribe;
47 But this total did not include the Levites.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Numbers 1:47
Commentary on Numbers 1:47-54
(Read Numbers 1:47-54)
Care is here taken to distinguish the tribe of Levi, which, in the matter of the golden calf, had distinguished itself. Singular services shall be recompensed by singular honours. It was to the honour of the Levites, that to them was committed the care of the tabernacle and its treasures, in their camps and in their marches. It was for the honour of the holy things that none should see them, or touch them, but those who were called of God to the service. We all are unfit and unworthy to have fellowship with God, till called by his grace into the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord; and so, being the spiritual seed of that great High Priest, we are made priests to our God. Great care must be taken to prevent sin, for preventing sin is preventing wrath. Being a holy tribe, they were not reckoned among other Israelites. They that minister about holy things, should neither entangle themselves, nor be entangled, in worldly affairs. And let every believer seek to do what the Lord has commanded.