Numbers 3:43

The total number of the firstborn males a month old or more, listed by name, was 22,273.

Berean Standard Bible

Study note

Setting — Moses records the census results immediately after the LORD commanded him to count the Israelite firstborn. This moment occurs during the wilderness organization of the tribes, directly between the LORD's initial command and His subsequent speech regarding the firstborn's substitution.

The words — בְּכֹר (be.Khor) identifies the firstborn son, while חֹדֶשׁ (Cho.desh) sets the minimum age at one month. The phrase בְּמִסְפַּר שְׁמוֹת (be./mis.Par she.Mot) specifies a registry compiled by counted names rather than a rough estimate.

The thread — This enumeration mirrors the Levite count in Numbers 3:39, where Moses and Aaron also tally males by clan at divine command. The structured listing of firstborn males continues the census pattern initiated in Numbers 3:42.

Why it lands — The text requires precise attention to numerical accountability and the formal designation of the firstborn. It asks the reader to note the exact scale of the population and the administrative method used to record it.

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

וַיְהִי֩va/y.Hiand/ it was כָל־khol-every בְּכ֨וֹרbe.Khorfirstborn זָכָ֜רza.Kharmale בְּמִסְפַּ֥רbe./mis.Parby/ [the] number of שֵׁמ֛וֹתshe.Motnames מִבֶּן־mi./ben-from/ a son of חֹ֥דֶשׁCho.desha month וָמַ֖עְלָהva./Ma'.la/hand/ up/ -wards לִפְקֻדֵיהֶ֑םli/f.ku.dei./Hemto/ enrolled [men]/ their שְׁנַ֤יִםshe.Na.yim[were] two וְעֶשְׂרִים֙ve./'es.Rimand/ twenty אֶ֔לֶף'E.lefthousand שְׁלֹשָׁ֥הshe.lo.Shahthree וְשִׁבְעִ֖יםve./shiv.'Imand/ seventy וּמָאתָֽיִם׃ פu./ma.Ta.yimand/ two hundred

King James Version

And all the firstborn males by the number of names, from a month old and upward, of those that were numbered of them, were twenty and two thousand two hundred and threescore and thirteen.

Cross-references

Numbers 3:39 The total number of Levites that Moses and Aaron counted by their clans at the LORD’s command, including all the males a month old or more, was 22,000.