Bible Strands
Numbers 3:17
These were the sons of Levi by name: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Moses records the Levitical lineage at God’s command, bridging the tribe’s enumeration in the previous verse with the clan-specific breakdown that follows.
The words — The phrase וַ/יִּֽהְיוּ־ (va/i.yih.yu-) literally means "and they were," while בִּ/שְׁמֹתָ֑/ם (bi/sh.mo.Ta/m) translates as "by their names," functioning as a standard genealogical marker.
The thread — This exact listing of Levi’s sons appears in Genesis 46:11 and Exodus 6:16, maintaining a consistent ancestral record throughout the Pentateuch.
Why it lands — The verse requires the reader to identify the three foundational branches of the Levitical tribe before the text proceeds to assign their specific tabernacle responsibilities.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
And these were the sons of Levi by their names; Gershon, and Kohath, and Merari.
Cross-references
- Genesis 46:11 The sons of Levi: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.
- Exodus 6:16 These were the names of the sons of Levi according to their records: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari. Levi lived 137 years.
- Numbers 15:5 With the burnt offering or sacrifice of each lamb, you are to prepare a quarter hin of wine as a drink offering.
- Numbers 23:6 So he returned to Balak, who was standing there beside his burnt offering, with all the princes of Moab.
- Numbers 24:1 And when Balaam saw that it pleased the LORD to bless Israel, he did not seek omens as on previous occasions, but he turned his face toward the wilderness.
- Numbers 26:57 Now these were the Levites numbered by their clans: The Gershonite clan from Gershon, the Kohathite clan from Kohath, and the Merarite clan from Merari.
- Joshua 21:1 Now the family heads of the Levites approached Eleazar the priest, Joshua son of Nun, and the heads of the other tribes of Israel
- 1 Chronicles 6:1 The sons of Levi: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.
- 1 Chronicles 6:16 The sons of Levi: Gershom, Kohath, and Merari.
- Nehemiah 11:1 Now the leaders of the people settled in Jerusalem, and the rest of the people cast lots to bring one out of ten to live in the holy city of Jerusalem, while the remaining nine were to dwell in their own towns.