NUMBERS 3

THE SONS OF LEVI, THE LEVITES

The sons of Aaron are listed as Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. Nadab and Abihu died from making an unfit sacrifice in Leviticus 10. Eleazar and Ithamar are the remaining sons of Aaron and serve as priests in the tabernacle.

The sons of Levi are listed as Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.

God appoints the Levites to serve in the tabernacle instead of the firstborn sons from the other tribes. Originally, the firstborn sons of Israel were set apart to belong to God. Now the Levites are chosen to take on that role. Since there are more firstborn sons than Levites, the extra ones are redeemed. This means their families pay a set amount of silver, and those sons are released from the responsibility of tabernacle service.